Factors Affecting Student Factors Affecting Student Participation Participation in Discussion and Why it Mattersin Discussion and Why it Matters

Classroom Classroom ParticipatioParticipationn

Cheryl L. GainesCheryl L. Gaines

Eighth GradeEighth Grade

Allen Jay Middle SchoolAllen Jay Middle School

BackgroundBackground

• I chose this the topic because I am concerned with the trend I have noticed in my classroom.

• Why is it that some students always participate in classroom discussions and other refuse to join in?

BackgroundBackground“A thoughtful classroom discussion

helps students develop critical thinking. Talking in a group helps them learn to organize their thoughts and present them coherently. They also learn to be active listeners, holding other peoples’ ideas up to critical analysis. Through this they realize there are alternative ways of looking at a difficult problem.”

David Elkin & Freddy Sweet

Schools in the Middle, 1998

Research QuestionsResearch Questions• Does the format of discussion groups

(whole class vs. small) affect the frequency of student participation? ...or engage different students in discussion?

• Does the level of participation really

determine the level of understanding students gain from class discussions?

• And do factors such as gender, race, academic ability, and personality affect which students participate in classroom discussions?

ParticipantsParticipants• 75 Eighth Grade Language Arts students

• 43% African American, 41 % Caucasian, 12% Asian, and 4% Hispanic.

• Three academic groups: advanced (19 students), middle level (45), and (EC) inclusion (11 students are learning disabled or other handicap impaired.)

• 60% of the students are males and 40% females.

Instructional ProceduresInstructional Procedures

• My study was conducted over a period of five weeks.

• Class literary discussions were held for 15 to 20 minutes.

• I took on the role of facilitator. I supplied students with a topic and a goal, but stayed out of discussion as much as possible.

Data CollectionData Collection• I recorded 10 sessions of classroom

discussions (5 small group & 5 whole class).• I used seating charts to record the

frequency of participation in small and whole groups. I only counted relevant answers.

• I kept notes about observed behavior. • I asked other subject area teachers to

indicate student participation [Frequently (F), Occasionally (O), or Rarely/Never (N)] in their classes to compare interest levels.

• I gave students a survey on classroom participation to find out student perceptions and feelings about class participation.

Data AnalysisData Analysis• I transferred all information collected during

class discussions to a database along with other relevant student information such as academic level, grades, gender, and race.

• I tallied information from student surveys and teacher charts which I compared with the classroom data to draw a variety of conclusions.

• I use the database to graph the information to understand it better.

• Much of my results reflect all 75 students. However, some results were calculated using only select groups.

ResultsResults

Rate of Change Small Groups Had on Participation

1210 10 9 9 9

-15

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Brittanie Thy Siera Derek Daniel R BrittanyH JoshM

Whole Group vs. Small Group Whole Group vs. Small Group ParticipationParticipation

Small groups resulted in greater frequency of participation among students who never participated in whole group and little or no decline among those

who participated regularly in whole group.

Small Group vs. Whole Small Group vs. Whole ClassClass

AIG Participation

02468

101214

Whole Class

Sm GroupEC Participation

0

5

10

15

20

What about AIG and EC students?

Both groups participated more in small groups.

Participation and Participation and GradesGrades

How Participation Affects Grades

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Ronnie

Ashley

BJo

shM

Jose

phP

Cody

Sterlin

g

War

ren

Rose

Daniel

G Kris

David

Mar

quisi

aRob

in

Josh

Mi

Katar

ina

Ashley

MAnd

yElija

h

Josh

FKat

ie

TotalGrade

The more frequently a student participated, the higher their average.

Participation by Participation by RaceRace

• Each groups’ average grade was related to their participation level with the exception of Asian students. Average Participation by Race

85 86

81

95

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Caucasian AfricanAmerican

Hispanic Asian

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Average Participation

Average Grade

58%

43% 42%

50%

0%

7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

FrequentParticipation

OccasionalParticipation

Rare/ NoParticipation

Students' Perceived Participation by Gender

Male

Female

Participation by Participation by GenderGender

31%

17%

36%

15%

33% 33%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

FrequentParticipation

OccasionalParticipation

Rare/ NoParticipation

Actual Participation by Gender

Male

Female

In general, the In general, the boys boys participated participated more in class more in class discussion than discussion than the girls.the girls.

Neither group correctly perceived their participation rates.

Interest vs. PersonalityInterest vs. Personality  L.A. Math Sci/SS

Ronnie Frequent Frequent Frequent

AshleyB Frequent Occasional Never

JoshM Frequent Occasional Frequent

JosephP Frequent Frequent Occasional

Cody Frequent Frequent Occasional

Sterling Occasional Frequent Frequent

Warren Occasional Occasional Frequent

Rose Frequent Frequent Occasional

Daniel G Occasional Frequent Occasional

Kris Occasional Frequent Frequent

       

David Occasional Never Never

Marquisia Never Occasional Occasional

Robin Never Never Never

Josh Mi Never Never Never

Katarina Never Never Never

AshleyM Never Never Never

Andy Never Occasional Never

Elijah Never Occasional Never

JoshF Never Never Never

Katie Never Never Never

Personality

Outgoing

Talkative/Outgoing

Talkative

Talkative/Outgoing

Talkative

Quiet/Reserved

Outgoing

Talkative

Talkative

Talkative

 

Quiet/Reserved

Talkative

Quiet/Reserved

Talkative/Outgoing

Quiet/Reserved

Quiet/Reserved

Talkative

Quiet/Reserved

Quiet/Reserved

Quiet/Reserved

Personality rather than interest in a subject area played a bigger role in whether students participated in class.

DiscussionDiscussion• There are many factors which influence

student participation in class.• According to student surveys, 96% of

my students think participation is important, but only 83 % claim to participate.

• Both whole group and small group discussions are valuable, but small group seems to be a more comfortable setting for most students.

DiscussionDiscussion• Reasons listed by students include:

– Afraid of messing up being wrong– People might pick on me– Other may not agree

• Grades seem to play a large role in whether students choose to participate in class.

• Whole class is as valued as small group but more uncomfortable, so…

DiscussionDiscussion

• Teachers must find ways to make students more comfortable with whole group:– Participation grades– Affect on grades– Class can create participation rules– Keep a journal or scoring chart– Innovative whole class strategies

Future DirectionFuture Direction

• I would like to look at how different whole and small groups strategies work with in my classes and see which engage the most students and produce the best results.

• Another topic: What can we do to help middle school students who are non-readers or barely literate.

References & Resources:

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http://www.crlt.umich.edu/crlttext/P4_1text.html

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