In-Class Participation Through Technology in a Political Science Context

One of the most challenging facets of encouraging student participation in classroom discussions is navigating the complex dynamics of personal behavior and interpersonal interaction that leads to what the research refers to as student “silence." Despite a nominal desire to avail themselves of the attention of their professor and peers in class, students will often decline to participate for a number of reasons including personality characteristics which disfavor speaking publicly, gender dynamics and expectations, a lack of comfort with the dominant in-class language and a fear of embarrassment/social sanction. In-class technology provides one possible mechanism for bridging this gap. This study seeks to ascertain whether the use of an online participation platform (Peardeck) is associated with increased participation of students who, for various reasons, are less likely to participate than their cohorts in a public affairs/governance classroom.