Assessing class participation in physical and virtual spaces: current approaches and issues

Learning occurs best when students are given opportunities to be active participants in the learning process. As assessment strategies are being forced to change in the era of Generative AI, and as digital technologies continue to integrate with education, it becomes imperative to gather information on current approaches to evaluating student participation. This mini-review aimed to identify existing methods used by higher education teachers to assess participation in both physical and virtual classrooms. It also aimed to identify common issues that are anticipated to impact future developments in this area. To achieve these objectives, articles were downloaded from the ERIC database. The search phrase "assessment of class participation" was utilized. Search was limited to peer-reviewed articles written in English. The educational level was limited to "higher education" and "postsecondary education" in the search. From the 2,320 articles that came up, titles and abstracts were screened and 65 articles were retained. After reading the full text, a total of 45 articles remained for analysis, all published between 2005 and 2023. Using thematic analysis, the following categories were formed: innovations in assessing class participation, criteria-related issues, and issue of fairness in assessing class participation. As education becomes more reliant on technology, we need to be cognizant of issues that came up in this review regarding inequity of educational access and opportunity, and to develop solutions that would promote equitable learning. We therefore call for more equity-focused innovation, policymaking, and pedagogy for more inclusive classroom environments. More implications and potential directions for research are discussed.