# participation point



## xi (May 9, 2006)

School starts today. :sigh And one of the class has 20 participation points. I never give comments in discussion section and my English sucks more when I'm nervous. I think I gonna give up those 20 points. :sigh


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

I never talk in class either. Weird, but discussions are even harder for me than presentations. If talking's too hard then do a good job on other aspects of the class, and you'll most likely still pass


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## LarryDavid (Oct 17, 2006)

I've had a million teachers pull that participation part of your grade on the syllabus a million times, and I have never been graded down for not saying anything.


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## xi (May 9, 2006)

There are teachers that actively ask you question and give you participation points if you answer it correctly. But I've been graded down cuz I didn't do participation and presentation in the class. I think the nature of the discussion section of my class is to make comment. I'm trying to search another class but it seems a lot of classes even give more points for oral discussion. 

It's a genetic class with open book and notes exam, so I bet the exams gonna be very conceptual since there's no question just base on memorization. :sigh I really don't know if I can pull off that 20 points by doing well in other parts.

boy, my discussion section has only 10 people. Although I only have to go to this section once in a week, I'm starting to worry. I think there will be introduction at the first day of discussion section.


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## shygirlxx (Sep 7, 2006)

My teachers usually say that at the beginning of the year, but i don't actually remember it affecting my grades even though i never raise my hand or participate in class.


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## ColdFury (Nov 6, 2003)

Professors routinely use "participation points" to give themselves wiggle room for when they determine student grades. If a student has been working hard and trying, they might give them a few extra points to bump them up to the next grade letter.


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## Cacciato (Aug 8, 2006)

There are other ways to get participation points, if the teacher thinks you are making a good effort, even if you don't talk, you will get points, like don't rest your head down on the desk. 

If you have some projects, if you go a bit above and beyond that can translate into participation points.


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## mserychic (Oct 2, 2004)

You should talk to yr teacher.. even though that's hard to do I know. I did in one class that required lots of talking. She was really nice and gave me an alternate project to do so I could still get the points


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## xi (May 9, 2006)

Finally I went to the discussion session. The session was supposed to have only 10 people, but it turned out that there were more than 20 people. I think that might because my TA explains thing quite well. There was no introduction at all, which was very good for me. As for the participation point, other people answered things quickly, oh man, it was like a competition! A lot fo people including me didn't even understand the stuff at all, but some freaks answer them in a second and got the points.


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

One of my classes required class participation that amounted to 20% of the final grade. I dropped it soon after I found out, so now I feel like an inadequate failure. I finally had to admit to another one of my professors that I have anxiety, so I became exempt from her daily participation points (that amount from 0 to 5 for _each_ class session.) She asked if I had a problem leading class discussion one day with a partner (which is also a requirement for each student.) I lied and told her that I felt comfortable doing it, because I can't stand knowing or admitting that certain accommodations must be made for me.


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## aquamus (Oct 22, 2006)

[edited]


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## infinite_time (Jul 18, 2005)

*Re: re: participation point*



LarryDavid said:


> I've had a million teachers pull that participation part of your grade on the syllabus a million times, and I have never been graded down for not saying anything.


Same here. I've had a lot of teachers write it in their syllabus, but never a teacher that was then later strict about it or called a student out over it. I don't always speak up. Some classes I've been talkative, and others I have said rarely a thing. What I have tried to do to compensate for it is this.... In class I always look at the teacher for most of the time when they're speaking (even if it's a three hour class). A lot of students around me usually don't look at the teacher and doodle in their notebook (or even sleep!). Seriously, it's like that in most classes I've taken, unless the teacher is really interesting. But I figure if the teacher knows I'm making eye contact with them and looking alert the *whole* class time... than even if I don't speak up and participate in that sense, I make it obvious that I am paying attention. I know that not all teachers are nice and understanding, but I just always try to compensate for my lack of talking in this way. I sometimes try to say hello to the teacher when entering class, or goodbye to them when leaving the class too.

Good luck xi!


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## 0rchid (Aug 19, 2006)

I TOTALLY feel you. I finally registered for a English/Comparative LIterature class that I need for my essay-writing courses but I'm scared ****less to go to the tutorials. The TA seems nice enough and I made a post about actually saying something and that I felt proud but right now, it's the night before the tutorial and I am so scared for it. We had to read Faust and it's a pretty tough novel, and I have no idea how the TA is going to lead the tutorial. Is she going to point to people and have them say what they thought about it or is she going to let people ask questions about certain points of the book, all I can think about is my usual dumb-*** answers along with my face turning red. I just wish there was some easy solution out there that would keep my face from turning red, that's all I want.


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## Restless Mind (Jul 19, 2006)

Drella said:


> I lied and told her that I felt comfortable doing it, because I can't stand knowing or admitting that certain accommodations must be made for me.


Yeah, I know how you feel. It's like asking for handicap points. Then they lay the 'give it a try and see how you feel' speech on your arse. How do you even reply to that?: "No, I will not try." Riiight.

If a student has to talk to their teacher (in private) about a problem they have, it should be taken seriously! They shouldn't talk students into doing something they obviously are not comfortable with; they should _accommodate_ their needs.


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## Nameless Loner (Dec 21, 2006)

They say one of the most important skills you take away from school is public speaking. The more you speak the more it will become routine. In university, we had profs that picked on people who did not speak. 20% is a lot. But if you feel that participating might be too much for your SA I suggest you talk to your prof about your condition. I am sure he/she will come up with a compromise with you such as handing in a written summary every week or something.


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