Present-TEACH
Teach (Not-Present) Guidelines
Every conversation is potentially an act of persuasion. To teach the classmates (your audience) is hence to persuade them of the explorations and conclusions of your team for your chosen issue/theme/topic, and findings related to it. This final act of sharing your research with a concrete audience (your classmates; assume I am not there) is your moment to teach them on a subject that they will have little familiarity with:
- BEST PRACTICES: You have been on the receiving end of teaching for a looooong time. Do what your good teachers do well, and avoid what they don’t. (Don’t repeat their mistakes; imitate what they do well.)
- BE PREPARED: Preparation has no substitute. The Speaking Center could be a resource: http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x15986.xml;
- WHY OVERWHELM?: Time limit on the one hand, and human ability to absorb only so much are constraints that need guide what must be included (or not);
- CREATIVITY & RIGOR (BOTH): Employ images, audio/video etc. for your teaching of the topic. Use the whiteboard if it’s useful for clarifying complicated points. However, please do not LOSE intellectual rigor for the sake of just being interesting OR fun. The good old academic adage “show not tell” is almost always relevant;
- TIME LIMIT: Recognize that you are operating within time constraints. Leave some time for Q & A.
- CONCLUDING INSIGHTS & TAKEAWAYS: Leave your classmates with one, two OR three concrete Insights.
