The Black Box of Student Evaluation: Course Participation

In N. Ebner, J. Coben & C. Honeyman (Eds.), Assessing our Students, Assessing Ourselves: Vol.3 in the Rethinking Negotiation Teaching Series. St Paul, MN: DRI Press, 2012

16 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2013

See all articles by Noam Ebner

Noam Ebner

Creighton University Heider College of Business

Yael Efron

Zefat Academic College - School of Law; Mitchell Hamline School of Law; Hebrew University - Faculty of Law; University of Missouri

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

Course participation is definitely at the "subjective" end of the subjective-to-objective scale of possible assessment methods. It may be surprising, therefore, that so subjective a measure is almost universally a part of negotiation teachers’ assessment methods. Ebner and Efron conclude, however, that just because a method is widely used does not mean it is used effectively. Indeed they find, in surveying colleagues, a startling vagueness at the heart of current use. Picking apart their own prior practice, they discover that they themselves have used course participation in grading in ways that do not survive close examination. From these discoveries they proceed to analyze problems that seem inherent in the method, some of which appear daunting. They modestly conclude that to define "best practices" would be premature. As a step toward greater intellectual rigor and future development, however, Ebner and Efron propose five questions which any teacher interested in rethinking the use of course participation might profitably ask.

Keywords: Negotiation, conflict dispute, resolution, teaching, pedagogy, subjective, formative, sumative, evaluation, assessment, course participation, student participation

Suggested Citation

Ebner, Noam and Efron, Yael, The Black Box of Student Evaluation: Course Participation (2012). In N. Ebner, J. Coben & C. Honeyman (Eds.), Assessing our Students, Assessing Ourselves: Vol.3 in the Rethinking Negotiation Teaching Series. St Paul, MN: DRI Press, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2294099

Noam Ebner (Contact Author)

Creighton University Heider College of Business ( email )

2500 California Plaza
Omaha, NE 68178
United States

Yael Efron

Zefat Academic College - School of Law ( email )

11 Jerusalem St.
Zefat, 13206
Israel

Mitchell Hamline School of Law ( email )

875 Summit Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105-3076
United States

Hebrew University - Faculty of Law ( email )

Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, 91905
Israel

University of Missouri ( email )

307 Hulston Hall
820 Conley Avenue
Columbia, MO 65211
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
175
Abstract Views
1,485
Rank
308,114
PlumX Metrics