How
to Ensure that your Presentation is Effective
1)
Don't assume that discussions lead themselves, or that
your fascinating subject matter guarantees success.
2) Do not simply ask questions and hope that someone answers them.
3) Plan the discussion. What topics do you want to cover? In
what order? What will you do if nobody says anything?
4) Use your own experience in good and bad discussions as a guide.
5) What tends to silence people? What kinds of questions are intimidating,
off-putting, unanswerable, patronizing? What kinds invite good discussion? How
do you build on previous comments and help the class to do so?
6) You need not have answers to every question you raise, but you should raise
good questions, know where in the text to look for answers, and have a plan for
leading a discussion that might discover answers.
7) Don't limit the discussion to questions on which you have answers. Use the
discussion as an occasion to inquire jointly with other prepared students into
questions you find interesting and important.
8) Be creative! Do something different. Make it interesting. Use small groups,
use the board, use a computer, use props, and use dramatization. Use your
imagination. There's lots of room for creativity in this assignment. (Try to
make sure that your innovations enhance, or at least don't detract from, the
content.)
9) It's hard to discuss conclusions, but it's easy (and fun and useful) to
discuss arguments for conclusions.
10) You don't have to be experts who lecture or who have all the answers. If
after a while you feel under pressure to expound or expatiate, then something
has gone wrong. Back out of it rather than give in to it. This should be a
discussion.
11) Remember all the bad discussions you've had to sit through. Don't repeat
their mistakes!
12) In both the presentation and discussion portions of the hour, address the
class, not me.
13) The presentation and discussion slots will be filled first-come
first-served. Warning! Think ahead and select early, because you will want time
to prepare. You may also want to present in one week rather than another based
on our reading for that week or your workload for other courses.
14) I will not instantly bail out a bad discussion. There is some instruction
in living with the consequences of poor preparation, backing out of a bad
question, or dealing spontaneously with a tired or unmotivated class. I will
try not to intervene unless I think we have already taken the benefit of that
instruction and are wasting time.
15) Make a few notes during the discussion, so that you can competently
summarize what has been said at the end of the seminar.
Handout Adopted from the OHASSTA website… http://www.ohassta.org/adobefiles/pol_seminaranddiscussions.pdf