| Summary: | As well as content, what are we teaching our students and what opportunities can we take to influence their current and future success as graduate students, professionals, and contributors to a wider society? One thing we can teach them is a sense of professionalism; however, that is defined in different disciplines and varying career paths. By substituting for the often vaguely-defined “participation” component of a grade a “professionalism” mark, a place is created for students to learn and exercise mature approaches to their work and their roles within the university. Presented as a proactive and positive element within the student’s control, instead of a punitive grade component, the professionalism mark can result in dramatic changes in class behaviour, participation, attitudes, accountability, and self-motivation. The following scenarios outline different situations, which may ring true to a number of instructors and which professionalism marks might address.
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