Subject: Re: [IFETS-DISCUSS] Assessing student participation
From: Bill Williams (bwilliams@ESCE.IPS.PT)
Date: Fri 06 Jun 2003 - 16:02:14 MEST
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 15:02:14 +0100 From: Bill Williams <bwilliams@ESCE.IPS.PT> Subject: Re: [IFETS-DISCUSS] Assessing student participation
David Bremer said:
>Those of us who are merely listening are indeed participants in a
>discussion.
and this has been supported by Peter Twining and Frances Bell but personally
I have some difficulties with it as it stands.
It might be more true to say “may indeed be participants in a discussion”
but, whether or which, it does bring up a number of questions:
- can someone who does not contribute to a discussion still be called a
participant?
- how can the tutor/moderator distinguish between the learner who is
conscientiously reading but not contributing, who I prefer to call a
Read-only Participant (ROP) rather than use the slightly pejorative term
lurker, and someone who has tuned out or dropped out? Does this matter?
- are we assuming that learner activity on an online course will only be
discussion? If the task in hand is a group one, to prepare document for
other participants for example, does it matter if some do not contribute at
all?
- are we assuming that it is the product of “discussion” rather than the
process which is important?
I guess part of the answer to all of these is that it really depends on the
specific context, pedagogical approach and methodology of the course we are
referring to.
Bill Williams
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