emergence and education
Class participation and the 20/80 rule
You have probably heard this saying about how in any group 20% of the people due 80% of the work. Think about class participation in your average class of 30 students. Probably six students due 80% of the participation. You might even go farther and say that one student accounts for 1/3 of the participation, a second for about 1/6 of the participation, and the next four together for about 30%.
The rest of the students participate only on occasion. And in a FTF class that works out OK, even if the professor wishes more students would participate more often. In fact, in a sociological kind of way, the class discussion has adapted to the 20/80 pattern of behavior.
You can see a similar pattern here. I'm not sure that I'd say 4 students make up 80% of the class participation, but I would be willing to say 8 students make up 75-80% of the participation in this class. Then there are six students with very little participation and another six in the middle. Unlike the FTF class, there are no time pressures here that prevent students from having a chance to participate. As we know, social media are designed to make maximal use of occasional participants. It doesn't cost anything to the community to have lurkers or people who just post now and then.
However, in the context of an online class, this behavior is costly to the students who do not participate. Not participating online is like not showing up to an FTF class. If you haven't posted in two weeks, that's like not coming to class for two weeks. Is that something you would do in an FTF class?
The syllabus offers a specific formula by which you are evaluated for a grade in this course, but the bottom line is this: have you demonstrated a strong understanding of and genuine intellectual engagement with this course? All of the assignments in this course essentially are opportunities for you to make this demonstration. Not participating is not a good sign.
Fortunately, there is still time to make amends.
The rest of the students participate only on occasion. And in a FTF class that works out OK, even if the professor wishes more students would participate more often. In fact, in a sociological kind of way, the class discussion has adapted to the 20/80 pattern of behavior.
You can see a similar pattern here. I'm not sure that I'd say 4 students make up 80% of the class participation, but I would be willing to say 8 students make up 75-80% of the participation in this class. Then there are six students with very little participation and another six in the middle. Unlike the FTF class, there are no time pressures here that prevent students from having a chance to participate. As we know, social media are designed to make maximal use of occasional participants. It doesn't cost anything to the community to have lurkers or people who just post now and then.
However, in the context of an online class, this behavior is costly to the students who do not participate. Not participating online is like not showing up to an FTF class. If you haven't posted in two weeks, that's like not coming to class for two weeks. Is that something you would do in an FTF class?
The syllabus offers a specific formula by which you are evaluated for a grade in this course, but the bottom line is this: have you demonstrated a strong understanding of and genuine intellectual engagement with this course? All of the assignments in this course essentially are opportunities for you to make this demonstration. Not participating is not a good sign.
Fortunately, there is still time to make amends.
About
Badge
Groups
-
ENG 672: Seminar in Li...
10 members
-
PWR 399: Rhetoric SP 2009
17 members
-
SP 2009: Writing in th...
27 members
-
Writing Workshop
6 members
-
Fall 2008 PWR209
21 members
© 2009 Created by AlexReid on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
