Transcript GTA Training 2011 Managing Seminars

GTA Training 2013
Teaching and Supporting Learning
Anna Goatman
Senior Lecturer in Marketing
and former GTA
Why am I here?
• To share my experiences of seminar teaching
• To give you some hints and tips
• To give you confidence
• To bridge the gap between the lecturer
perspective and the GTA perspective
• To improve the seminar experience for students
and GTAs
My experience
• Started teaching seminars in 2004
– Taught throughout my PhD
– Taught on around 5 different courses (levels 1, 2, 3 and PGT)
• Offered a full-time academic job on the basis of my
seminar teaching in 2008
• Still teach seminars now (some on the same course I
started teaching on in 2004)
• Promoted from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer in 2013
What are seminars for?
What makes
a good seminar?
Before the first seminar
• Talk to the course leader about what they expect you to
deliver
• If you are part of a GTA team for course, have a team
meeting at the beginning of the semester
• Read the full course outline
• Request access to Blackboard
• Possibly attend the lecture(s)
• Possibly sit in on somebody else's seminar
Get the right atmosphere
• Body language
• What you wear
• Room layout
A bit about me
Discuss in advance how the course co-ordinator wants you to
deal with unprepared students.
What are you going to do with Students who won’t participate?
Students who don’t participate?
Students who are late?
Students who are rude?
Students whose phones go off?
Tactics for getting them talking
• Highlight that the seminar is a forum for
discussion
– Explain that it’s OK to be wrong, but not to be silent
• Have a brief starter activity (5 minutes) to get
everyone involved
• Divide the seminar into smaller groups to
discuss different questions.
Encourage debate
Think about different ways of asking the same question
Break questions down into smaller parts
Encourage the students to ask questions
Of you
Of each other
Play devil’s advocate
Have a vote
Dealing with dominant students
• Formalise group feedback
• Ask questions to specific individuals
– Pull names out of a hat
– Pick at random from the register
• Ensure that different students present
each week
Tactics for getting them working
• Make the feedback process formal
–
–
–
–
Flip charts
Visualiser
White boards
Mini PowerPoint presentations
• Move around the room
• Introduce some controlled competition
• Offer small prizes
– Sweets/ chocolates usually do the trick
Avoid:
The feedback loop
• Keep the channels of communication open
– with the course co-ordinator
• Raise any problems
• Offer feedback on how things are going
• Make suggestions
– with the students
• Check how things are going
• Ask for comments
Things I wish I’d known
Sometimes the students want to be
there… and sometimes they don’t
You know more than you think you do… but
sometimes the students know more than you
You can’t plan for every eventuality… but
how you deal with the unexpected matters
You are not a personal tutor/ academic
advisor… but you can make a difference.
…and finally
• Keep in mind what the seminar is supposed to achieve
• Students should feel comfortable, but not be complacent
• Most students do not aspire to be you
• Reflect on, and learn from, your experience
• Teaching is a privilege, not a right
– Don’t tell them that you’re only doing it because you get paid
• Enjoy the experience
…it might just get you a job