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The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil

A professor explained this morning that business students are more engaging than law students. To combat our apathy, he announced a plan to base twenty-five percent of the course grade on "class participation." *

Yes, you heard right: not "contribution," but "participation." Contribution, which is inversely proportionate to participation, appears to be irrelevant.

Tell me, if I share war stories or choke out a tearful memory of my childhood dog, am I participating? What if I raise my hand and enthusiastically agree with every single thing the professor says? What if I fart loudly?

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to enjoy the class, I'm not going to drop it, and I am not going to complain or point out in class how misguided participation-based grading is. But it is misguided. "Particpation" is a soft factor that rewards memorable or charming individuals who also happen to be loud. Those political qualities are useful and important, but they are also absolutely separate from analysis or mastery of the material, and in a class on substantive law and procedure they should never be allowed to trump. Here, however, they will trump. Boalt's grading system means twenty-five percent of a course grade swallows the curve -- the difference between a P and an HH for almost (if not every) single student will reduce to "class participation."

For my part, I'll participate. I'll try not to say anything too stupid, but apologies in advance to the Monday/Tuesday morning crowd in Room 12 -- I'll be the guy who raises his hand once a day, every day, whether or not he has anything to contribute. You'll be able to distinguish me from everyone else in the room because I'll be wearing a top hat and chewing a long-stemmed cigarette holder. It's memorable.

*He also gave McWho a hundred bucks and told him to "spread it around," a series of events which only further shows how screwy things are in there.

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on January 12, 2009 (boomark / email).