Reflections on College Students’ Class Participation in Erbil City

Class participation is an important aspect of student learning. Classroom time is a golden opportunity for students to speak up and learn to express their ideas however, the vast majority of students struggle and are reluctant to participate which is linked to a variety of factors. This study was conducted among college students, to identify the effects of students’ self-related and external factors on their participation, whether there is a difference between the level of participation and the factors impacting it, among students of different universities. Our study demonstrated that, among all students, 66% are participating. The level of preparation is positively correlated with the frequency of participation as 87.5% of students who are fully prepared before class session participate, while only 54% of those who are not prepared are participating. Students whom their colleges evaluate them based on their class participation are more likely to participate than those students whom their colleges don’t (92% vs. 60.7%). The most common factor affecting student class participation is level of preparation before lectures followed by approach of college for their evaluation. The highest level of participation is among students of HMU followed by students of Tishk International University, and the lowest level of involvement is at Salahadin University