Professors often tell students that class participation is expected and contributes to part of the grade. Rarely do professors actually reveal to students what classroom participation is. Here is a participation rubric that makes visible to both professor and students what the main traits of class participation are, and (2) exactly what level of performance is expected for satisfactory demonstration of each trait. Distributing the rubric publicly reveals course expectations clearly and engages students in conscious self assessment. It also clearly justifies the professor's end-of-term evaluation.

A Student Participation Rubric

Click here for one example     of a student participation     rubric.

The rubric presented here contains some common items, both positive and negative, that professors regard as contributing to (or detracting from) class participation. Many other traits contribute to participation, so great variety is possible in what is listed.

A professor might use a rubric such as this one by handing it out at the beginning of a semester and saying, "When I mention 'class participation,' here is what I mean. At semester's end, I will use this sheet to record how well I see your fulfillment these expectations. You write one, too. If there's a question about your participation grade, we can compare these forms and have a conversation on those items where we differ significantly in our judgments."