The benefits of class attendance and participation are well known. Research finds what many of us have seen in our own classes – students who attend regularly tend to perform better than their peers who do not (Credé et al., 2010; Moore, 2003). When students attend class and feel free to participate, they help foster a learning community where they connect with peers and instructors and are motivated to learn. These social connections make learning more meaningful and enjoyable and can bring a range of perspectives to class discussions.

In addition, tracking or grading attendance and participation can:

• Encourage students to come to class prepared and ready to engage in the learning activities. 
• Provide accountability and structure, especially for students in their early college years.
• Alert you when students are not coming to class or participating, and allow you to reach out sooner.

This resource will help you consider techniques for encouraging attendance and participation while using grades fairly, reliably, and in a way that contributes to the learning experience. While attendance and participation are often tracked together, you may choose to focus on one or both. In this resource, we address both. 

Before You Grade

Consider Ungraded Strategies First

• Some instructors choose to track attendance without assigning a grade or, similarly, collect student work just to take a look at it. Both are ways to identify and follow up with students who are not attending or who may be struggling.
• Many students have not yet developed certain skills needed to participate effectively in an academic discussion. You may need to spend time in class helping them develop these skills. For ideas, see our resource on Engaging Students in Discussions. 
• Before deciding whether grading attendance and participation makes sense for your course, we encourage you to explore our resources on Encouraging Student Participation in Discussions and Fostering Community and Belonging. If your goal is to increase student participation, strategies that help students feel comfortable participating in their learning community can be more effective than grades (Fassinger, 2000; Rocca, 2010).
• Some students may feel uncomfortable with oral participation in front of a class for a variety of reasons (e.g., language familiarity, anxiety, sensory processing differences). Participation grading methods may reward students who are quick to think and speak, raise their hand, and jump into a discussion, while leaving others who may be thoughtful thinkers out of the discussion. Some strategies that may help include:
  • Providing time for students to think or write before they respond to questions or discuss with peers. 
  • Providing discussion prompts ahead of time.
  • Providing both written and oral options for participating (see suggestions below).

Considerations for Grading for Attendance and Participation

Grading for oral participation is often based on whether an instructor remembers the student participating and can be unreliable and prone to bias (Feldman, 2023; Gillis, 2019; Lang, 2021). We recommend designing a system that uses clear criteria, minimizes subjective judgments about students, does not rely solely on instructor memory, and includes different forms or methods of participation, such as completing an in-class assignment or answering a polling question.

Furthermore, physical attendance in class can be difficult for students managing either temporary or chronic illnesses. Rigid attendance policies may encourage those who are ill to come to class, even when they should stay home. We suggest allowing for some flexibility or options when students need to miss class, such as a certain number of “slip days,” or allowed absences. Offering class slides or notes, class recordings, or a Zoom option can be good solutions depending on the situation.

Clarify Expectations

• Explain why attendance and participation are important and how they support learning (e.g., deeper understanding, better grades, social connections, improved communication skills). 
• Share your expectations in class and in your syllabus. 
• Communicate classroom norms and the community you’re hoping to foster, or co-create them with your students.
• Address the impacts of your attendance and participation policies on accessibility, and offer alternatives when needed.
• Clarify what counts as class participation and how students will earn points. Consider providing a simple rubric or grading criteria, such as this oral participation grading rubric or the 3-point scale, below, which could be used to grade a single class session.

Sample: 3-point oral participation criteria scale

0: Absent
1: Present, but does not participate in class discussion.
2. Occasionally asks or answers questions during class discussion. Does not demonstrate close familiarity with the assigned reading.
3: Participates thoughtfully in discussion, asks questions, and responds with care to other students. Responses include insights and examples from the assigned reading.

Offer Multiple Ways to Participate

Offer ways to engage beyond answering a question in front of the class, and recognize that students may need help developing their participation skills. If feasible, assign quiet and interactive areas of the classroom based on students’ learning preferences (particularly helpful for neurodiverse learners). Various ways to participate can include:

• Asking or answering questions (orally or in writing).
• Leading or participating in a whole-class discussion.
• Brief in-class writing or reflections.
• Diagramming or problem-solving activities.
• Worksheets.
• Pair or small group discussions (can also be paired with a worksheet or reflection).

Options for Tracking Attendance and Participation 

There is no one best way for instructors to track attendance and participation. What works depends on your class size, goals, amount of teaching assistant support, and teaching style. Many of the strategies below can be used for both purposes. If you’re considering using software tools, CTI consultants can help you choose what’s most appropriate for your course. 

Simple Attendance Checks

• Traditional roll-call.
• Checklist or seating chart.
• Canvas Roll Call (see comparison with iClicker and Poll Everywhere).
• Google sign-in sheet with QR code and restricted access.
• Canvas Quiz with 1 or 2 questions based on class content.
• Name-tent cards (picked up at the start of class and returned at the end to signal who was present in class).

Participation Tracking

• Manual notes on the class list, during or immediately after class, based on criteria or a rubric. Consider using a simple scale, such as 1-3 points.
• Polling questions (See iClicker or Poll Everywhere attendance features and comparisons).
• Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides for collaborative work. Ask students to include their names or use different slides or documents for each group.
• Individual or group work submitted during class (e.g., brief written reflection/response, diagram, or worksheet). 
• Photos of in-class work uploaded to Canvas Assignments or Discussions. 

Dual Purpose Strategies (Attendance & Participation)

• Electronic polling questions.
• Written work collected during class.
• Group or individual work uploaded to Canvas.

Self-assessment

• Ask students to set their own goals for participating and periodically ask them to self-assess how they have been doing and any skills that they’d like to improve (Gillis, 2019). For example, a talkative student might set a goal to use specific examples from the reading and encourage others to participate, while a quieter student could set a goal of speaking once a week in class. In either case, the student can identify an area to focus on and note if they are seeing improvement. 

Tips for Simplicity and Fairness

• Allow 2-3 absences without explanation or penalty, or drop the lowest grades on in-class work, to reduce stress and the need for make-up opportunities.
• Limit participation grading to less than 20% of the total grade.
• Consider grading activities for completion rather than accuracy (e.g., yes/no, complete/incomplete, or a 1-3 scale) to incentivize learning rather than points.  
• Offer multiple means of participating rather than relying on oral participation, which can introduce subjectivity and unconscious bias.

References

Credé, M., Roch, S. G., & Kieszczynka, U. M. (2010). Class attendance in college: A meta-analytic review of the relationship of class attendance with grades and student characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 272–295. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654310362998

Fassinger, P. A. (2000). How classes influence students’ participation in college classrooms. The Journal of Classroom Interaction, 35(2), 38–47.

Feldman, J. (2023). Grading for equity: What it is, why it matters, and how it can transform schools and classrooms. Corwin Press.

Gillis, A. (2019). Reconceptualizing participation grading as skill building. Teaching Sociology, 47(1), 10–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X18798006

Lang, J. M. (2021, April 9). Should we stop grading class participation? The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/should-we-stop-grading-class-participation

Moore, R. (2003). Attendance and performance: How important is it for students to attend class? Journal of College Science Teaching, 32(6), 367–371.

Rocca, K. A. (2010). Student participation in the college classroom: An extended multidisciplinary literature review. Communication Education, 59(2), 185–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520903505936