This research study, undertaken across a department, presents the results of two focus groups in which twenty undergraduate students offer their views on participation assessment and its underlying goal of student engagement. Barriers to fairly assessing participation are discussed along with their solutions. Assessing participation, though, isn't just about identifying and then dealing with problems, as necessary as that is. It's also about fostering and acknowledging personal and academic growth on the part of the student and, as strange as this may sound, on the part of the professor.