Rhonda:
I share your position on this subject. Moreover, what you have stipulated here applies also to an online environment.
Satrohan
As an instructor, when students are repeat offenders I find it to be distruptive to the class and other students in the traditional evironment. When students do not suffer consequences it allows them to think that their behavior is acceptable. If you set the policy upfront in the course outline I believe any student who fails to live up to their responsibility knows the outcome. Grades should reflect what the student puts into the course.
Quiana:
I hold two opinions. The first is that as humans, we are gregarious; so learning in thephysical presence of others might be preferred by many.
The second is that humans tend to follow the lines of least resistance; and this is somewhat reinforced by the "what's in it for me" expectation. Many students are not likely to complete learning activities that do not contribute to their final grade or would lead to a better grade.
Satrohan
One concept that we have discussed is the alienation that one feels when they cannot physically be near others. One way to prevent that is to participate in the classroom as much as possible. However, students will not participate on their own. So I would award points for participating in the discussion forums and in the chats. I would also reward those who participated a great deal. Letting students know that the more they participate the more they can gain from the course.
Quiana
Libby:
I believe most students would consider this as a fair proposal.
Satrohan
I think attandance should only be used as a reward and not punishment. In other words, maybe as extra credit for perfect attendance?
Rodolfo:
Your observation that external factors can affect the performance of students as well as instructors is acknowledged. These factors can affect the level of student participation in an online course. we should try to identify those factors that we have control over, and see what can be done to help the students as well as ourselves---the instructors.
Satrohan
I totally agree. There are many things that we can do to improve the students´performance in class. However, many teacher don´t have the time or the energy to implement those strategies in the classroom. Actually, a lot of them in my country work for many hours to make ends meet.
They are my unknown heroes, but that is a different chapter. The point that I´m trying to make here is that there are external factor that affect our performance and the students as well.
Rodolfo
Marc:
You have mentioned some excellent strategies for encouraging participation in the online environment. We should keep in mind that implementing strategies for maximizing learner participation could lead to an increase in the workload of the instructor. One Instructor in this course mentioned what I would consider an extremely high student to instructor ratio in her school. Strategies fo increasing student participation would be very successful if the student to instructor ratio is low, for once students increase their participation, the instructor must provide constructive feedback in a timely manner to maintain the momentum.
Satrohan
I completely agree about the fact of rewarding as a whole during the course, if learners feel that their effort is being acknowledged, I think that they would strengthen their commitment and thereby they would understand that if they stop, they know they will lose everything they had strived for.
Moreover, we can revise the intitution's policies and take the necessary actions whether deducting points or penalizing tardiness in any other permitted way. However, I firmly believe that if learners are highly motivated by effective teaching, their learning is being enhanced, and the teacher is teaching active and engaging classes, I think this is the best way of disarming learners from being late and thus maximizing their participation toward a good learning atmosphere.
Marc Del Alto
Rodolfo:
If I were the Instructor, I would reward for punctuality, attendance, as well as participation, with a higher weighting on participation. i would also deduct points for being late and far than desirable attendance with these two having a higher weighting than participation. I will have to take into consideration the student's overall profile before I decide how much to deduct for participation.
I surely welcome other comments on this question Rodolfo has raised.
Satrohan
