Jeebus! I Wish I *Had* a Seminar This Semester!
Aside from the graduate field seminars, my courses this semester have 114 people, 112 people and 1 person. So my problems are not Chris Bertram's:
Crooked Timber » » Getting students to speak: Here we are, at least in this part of the world, at the beginning of a new academic year. Teachers everywhere are facing the prospect of groups of sullen silent students, or groups composed of the cowed majority plus one ignorant loudmouth who you can’t shut up.... And then there’s the temptation to overcompensate and turn those seminar groups into a mini-lecture where you do all the talking.... Teachers, students: what are your hints and tips for small group teaching? What works and what doesn’t? What’s the optimal size? Do sex ratios in groups make a difference to the dynamic? And what are the other pathologies that I haven’t even mentioned?
Comments:
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If we’re only talking about ten people, why not randomly pick one and ask them what they think, like in school? This will ensure that next time around everybody has at least read the text, which will in turn probably cut down on the silence. It might seem a bit bossy or cruel to shy students, but speaking in public is one thing one should learn at uni and in such a small group it shouldn’t be all that scary. What was scary was when our professor asked people at random to read a few of the humongous sentences from the Phenomenology of Spirit in front of a group of around 50 people, instantly interrupting you when you got the emphasis wrong on one of the many subordinate clauses and publicly chastising you for not having comprehended Hegel’s train of thought.... novakant....
WAIT! Get comfortable with long silent pauses. Be quite and wait for the students to talk. The is a battle of the wills the teacher is well placed to win. WAIT! Allow students to keep talking and debating amongst themselves even if it appears that they are not getting to the heart of the issue. I usually stop myself from interrupting on at least the first two occasions I get the impulse to do so. Often I am pleasantly surprised that when students do eventually get to an important discussion. They seem to learn much more if they get to the heart of the issue and then I can simply explain to them why what they are talking about is important.... Be funny and energetic, or at least try... students... really want you to succeed at being entertaining, so you just need to avoid making a complete ass of yourself.... aaron_m....
I am a grad student. In most of the seminars I’ve been in, many of the students will animatedly discuss the material—before class, while waiting for the professor to show up; during breaks, after the professor leaves. The prof shows up, gets us all quiet, then asks us to talk. Don’t do that. posted by anomie....
Here are all my tricks—-1—have a short writing assignment based on the reading 2. make them formulate discussion questions at the beginning of class 3. make them freewrite for 10 minutes on a significant passage at the beginning of class, then discuss responses 4. Circle within the circle. Divide the class into two groups. One must sit in the middle and discuss the reading; the other surrounds it and evaluates the discussion. Then the groups switch. This works particularly well if you split the group into talkers and non-talkers. You, of course, say nothing. The entire burden of the discussion is on them. 5. Talking ball. You have a tennis ball. You throw it into the group. Only the person who has the ball can talk and they get to choose who they throw it to next. You don’t talk at all.... miranda....
I’ve also had a lot of success with very short (but graded) paper assignments (no more than 500 words). To do them students have to focus their minds on the kinds of questions or observations they might make during class. When these papers are due (students call it “thesis defense day”) discussions come very easily and they maintain a high level of clarity and focus. posted by jcasey....
My preferred method: assign specific reading and some questions, even if only ‘what is it that this author wants to convince you of?’, ‘what is the author’s argument?’. Tell the students to write short answers. With luck, that makes them select the important material, and prevents interminable presentations in which the entire reading is summarised. At the start, select a student by some obviously random method to present what they wrote. The point of the obvious randomness is to make sure that no one can afford not to prepare.... iain...
