By Halcyon Orvendal
If you have had an English class with me at some point over the past eight semesters, you will know I am a committed and vocal participant, eager to add to class discussions. As an English literature student, a large part of my area of study relies on in-class discussions to extrapolate and dissect the structures and meanings of our material. Yet, I have often wondered why there are only a select few other students who consistently engage and participate in class conversations.
Across departments and areas of academia, the ways in which certain classes are conducted impacts how students participate in class and with each other. Lecture based classes promote less engagement than roundtable style classes which are more reliant on students leading the conversation. In the humanities, where the “right answer” is an ever-elusive concept, a variety of interpretations make the material most engaging.
I often wonder, in spaces where ambiguity is embraced, why are people so hesitant to express their opinions in class environments?
In a post-COVID society, after significant setbacks in the development of our generation’s social skills, college classes provide the perfect space to interact over a set of shared interests. Studies, such as one published by Taylor and Francis, have shown that students who participate regularly in college classes do, on average, 25% better on tests and benefit from practice in communication and collaboration skills.
A May 2020 scientific article in Life Sciences Education demonstrated the overwhelming benefits of class participation, including improved “critical thinking skills” and “better understanding of course content.” When a “stronger sense of belonging” is fostered in educational environments through encouraging student participation, students experience less anxiety.
I do not think this pervasive, national trend can be so easily written off as just a general fear of public speaking. I know my classmates have profound insights, using their years of college and personal experience to build up stores of knowledge that apply to many of our class discussions.
If it is not as simple as the fear of attention, what else adds to students’ hesitance in sharing their voices and knowledge with their peers?
In 2024, a sub-sect of the National Library of Medicine for scholarly articles, found three main themes in their search to answer the same question I have presented. The first declares that there are a wide variety of factors that impact students participation, including “instructor characteristics, peer influence and course material.” Secondly, students weigh these factors in complex ways, and “this internal calculus varies by student.” Their third discovery was that women are less likely to participate than men, putting a “greater emphasis on fearing peer judgment.”
This study was specifically in an introductory evolutionary biology class, comparable to the BIO-100 course I took last semester to fulfill my Natural Sciences requirement (do not wait till senior year, kids.) Like the rest of my courses, there were a handful of students who regularly raised their hands to ask or answer questions.
In reference to the third theme of the study, Lewis & Clark’s gender demographics reflect a majority of students are assigned female at birth, making up 60% of our student body.
In the discussion of their results, the authors found that students are more likely to participate when the professor or lecturer is perceivably warm and when classes are structured to encourage conversation, such as small group discussions. They also discovered that there can be a snowball effect — peers can have positive, encouraging influences on their classmates when they share ideas.
Students are more likely to share when the area of study is interesting to them, thus, as my own experience supports, higher-level classes cultivate better student-led discussions. If the material is too easy or too difficult, students are apprehensive to speak out. The ideal middle ground is where the substance of the class is “challenging, but students think it is within their reach.”
In my English classes, the 100 and 200-level courses had a few standout participants, as students pushed their way through general education requirements. As I have advanced into the 300s and 400s, many of my peers are willing and primed to use their years of education to further expand the scope of what is possible in conversation, pushing and stretching the ideas of what material can mean in various contexts.
It can be nerve-wracking to push yourself into the conversation, especially when it is quickly moving and complex. However, discussions are about engaging actively with the material, with your peers and with your learning process. You might feel like your question is basic or that your interpretation is too out there — but the humanities are often where the most exciting discussions begin. Literature, history, anthropology and many sciences all live in interpretation, and every voice adds a point to the conversation.
In college, there is a space for every kind of student. I find that in addition to the incredible repertoire of professors and educators at LC, I gain incredible insight into the material from engaging with my fellow classmates in the learning process. Through structuring classes to encourage small discussion groups, choosing one of the small collections of students to volunteer points from their conversation, professors can encourage students to participate more frequently.
We all benefit from hearing the opinions of others. Even in disagreement, those conversations provide academic fodder to improve points. There are other things at play when students do not participate, not due to lack of care or understanding. But when conversations are sparked, and you feel hesitant to share your own understanding of the material, consider how your perspective enriches the experience for everyone.
College is not about knowing everything already — you are allowed to ask questions and get things wrong. Trying new things and putting yourself out there can be scary. But I promise, you are smart at the end of the day. Pro tip: a safe bet is connecting anything within literature back to Shakespeare or Twilight.
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