Research Article on Student Participation

As stated in my introduction, I would like to increase or encourage active participation by my students. Too often, a few students dominate the discussion with many students never taking an active part in discussion. Encouraging students to participate during class time is important to facilitate the learning process and encourage deep learning to take place Below is an article entitled: “The ‘Millionaire’ method for encouraging participation.” In this article, researchers at Lancaster University (UK) noted that students with certain cultural and education backgrounds are often reluctant to participate in class discussion. This article provides some initial insight into the use of the Personal Response System (PRS) to encourage class participation at the postgraduate level. The author found that students' participation levels were increased when using the PRS, and further class discussion and debate was stimulated as a result.

Beekes, W. (2006) The ‘Millionaire’ method for encouraging participation. Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 7, No. 1, 25-36.