tutorial presentation advice? (1 Viewer)

[pushthebutton]

Was wondering whether any of you 2nd/3rd/4th/5th year etc. students had any tutorial presentation advice for us 1st years? Are there any things that you've seen done that have been very effective?

Any tips on how to do the rapporteur's job well would also be greatly appreciated (I don't want to just get up there, ramble on and be repetitive). How prepared should we be before the tutorial as rapporteurs?

Also, is there anything that we should defintely, defintely avoid?

 

[Jinglebell]

Showing parts of movies is always good for CC1/2. If you get the flaneur week, take your tut group out for a walk. If you get something that has an obvious fun activity attached to it, go for it. Last year I heard of tut groups dancing, making up their own hip hop rhymes, pitching ideas for reality tv, all sorts of wacky stuff. Cultural studies tutors generally love all that sort of stuff, so don't be afraid.

Group activities/discussions are always good to take up time, also often people will talk in small groups more than in a whole class situation (I am one of those people). And you can get the groups to then report back, which will often spark a bit of a debate.

Bribes are good. Even if you just bring a bag of lollies to pass around, the class and tutor will love you for supplying them with sugar instead of them sitting there thinking 'I really should have got a coffee on the way here'. This tip is x1000 if you have a mid-late afternoon tutorial, they're hell for everyone involved.

Rapporteur is for Power and Change, yes? Is that when you present to your group or when you make notes and report back/post online/whatever it was? I'm having trouble remembering that far back

Uh, what else...I think the biggest thing is to plan with your tut group in mind. I had a horrible tut in first semester where *no-one* would talk, and my inexperienced group made the mistake of trying to have a class discussion. We crashed and burned. Learn from my mistakes!

And remember that tutors are (with a few notable exceptions) on your side, and if you're dying they'll help you out. In most cases it's very, very hard to fail a tut presentation, so don't stress it!

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Yes, it would be extremely hard to fail a tut presentation, especially in first year. Especially if you are near the start of the semester.

Lollies are tops.... so are film/music/more lollies in CC1/CC2.

Usually people present a bit of a summary of the readings (because by about week 2 or 3, everyone in the tut will stop doing them lol) and then maybe have a group activity to get the conversation rolling. Also, maybe think of some thought provoking questions that you can ask to get the group discussing things.

Tut Presentations are not you just talking to the class/group... you should get the class involved, and get conversation going. If the class are all talking and arguing and watching excerpts from videos, it is less work for you and people will learn more than if you just talk at them for an hour.

Good luck!!!! It's not as scary as it seems. Plus working in your groups on tute presentations is a great way to get to know people and make new friends. It becomes quite social when people get to know each other.

 

[Jinglebell]

Yes, it would be extremely hard to fail a tut presentation, especially in first year. Especially if you are near the start of the semester.

The only exception to this rule that I know of is Sue Burgess, who I know to have failed at least one group in first semester last year, and she came perilously close to failing mine. And she gave no feedback on assignments either, just crappy marks. Not that I'm bitter

But yeah, well said Ash (after my spectacular ramble there). Just make sure you engage the group and you should be fine!

 

[braindrainedAsh]

What did she teach? I forget? I never had her, but did she do some lectures because the name is familiar.

Also, in Colonialism and Modernity, Rayyar could be quite harsh on tut facilitation. But by second semester, you usually know what to expect.

 

[D.Larie]

I had a horrible tut in first semester where *no-one* would talk, and my inexperienced group made the mistake of trying to have a class discussion.

Isn't that what you're supposed to have? A class discussion?

I'm so worried...I have to do a tutorial presentation all by myself and I'm not a very good talker.
I think the lecturer did a mistake. He seperated the class in 2 big groups...and everyone (in each group) got assigned a topic.
So mostly everyone's single.

I thought the WHOLE class is supposed to be divided in groups of 2 or 3, right??

How am I going to lead a class discussion for one whole hour? Like I said, I'm not a good talker.
I'm freaking out...

 

[Jinglebell]

Sorta, but sitting in a big circle and asking questions of an unwilling group is less fun than poking yourself in the eye with a rusty nail. Try splitting the group up, at least to start with, and then have each group report back.

Only dealing with half a class could be better than leading the whole class, and you can still confer with whoever is doing the same week for the other half of the class, or even a friend presenting the same topic in a different tutorial.

As Ash and I have said, it's not all about sitting there having a big wanky intellectual discussion as a whole group, and you don't have to talk at them for the whole hour or whatever. Try to mix it up a little, this will make it easier to fill up the time as well as keep everyone interested.

And most importantly: DON'T STRESS!!! It'll be fine, everyone is generally sympathetic to the poor person stuck trying to make them care about some random crappy topic!

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Every tutor splits up the class differently....

Also, something to consider is that by about week 3 or 4 everyone will have stopped doing most of the readings.... so that makes it hard to have a deep and meaningful discussion from them.

Try and find broader topics or issues that you can pull from the readings that people can talk about with just an every day knowedge and experience. E.g. If you get the reality TV week in CIE, ask people to name as many different reality shows as they can lol. That wastes lots of time.... plus then the class will digress in to critiques of dodgy reality shows and you have less work to do....

In second year it appears to be harder to bludge and cruise your way through, so enjoy it while you can!!!!

 

[olay]

thanks for the tips guys. btw, sue burgess, that's that chick that lectures CIE right? :S if so ..... man, her lecture was boring. at least she seemed nice.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

CIE= boring and MIS (second semester)=really boring, except for John Carr's lectures.

 

[Jinglebell]

thanks for the tips guys. btw, sue burgess, that's that chick that lectures CIE right? :S if so ..... man, her lecture was boring. at least she seemed nice.

She seems nice at first, but after a semester I learned to dislike her severely. And yes, she is a boring, boring lecturer. And a boring talker in tutorials. And I could go on about my combined hatred for CIE and her, but I won't

And John Carr rocks my socks. He's so my stereotypical picture of a quirky academic type. I heard a rumour that he teaches the psychology elective, which was very influential in me choosing it.

Ash, who was that lecturer who kept telling lame jokes and then pausing for laughter only to be greeted by painfully awkward silence? Because I would highly recommend skipping this guy's lectures, you're too busy cringing to absorb anything!

 

[bridget.]

She seems nice at first, but after a semester I learned to dislike her severely. And yes, she is a boring, boring lecturer. And a boring talker in tutorials. And I could go on about my combined hatred for CIE and her, but I won't

my god, so boring. so very boring. i was praying for it to rain skewers so the pain of my eyeballs popping would distract me from the so very boringness of it all.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Oh man I can't remember which lecture that was with the pausing for laughter thing.... I can't even remember what subject it was in!!!!

Someone told me that you don't have CIE on Mondays this semester.... that sucks, because it is just so easy to skip your monday morning lecture and start your week that little bit later....

 

[D.Larie]

Thanks heaps!

What's do we if we're the Reporter?

What do we report on? To whom? how long?

I'm so worried because I'll be Reporting in a few weeks time.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

You just write down the things that your group discussed, any good ideas/input people had..... it's pretty easy you just basically write down what people say and then summarize it back to the group.

 

[roseangel]

CIE= boring and MIS (second semester)=really boring, except for John Carr's lectures.

John Carr's my CIE tutor. Nobody was going a tute presentation thingy last week so he decided to get us interested by spending the whole lesson just talking about male genetalia. He started off with Freud for all of three seconds, then penis, penis, penis all the way. I kid you not. We were afraid. Very, very afraid.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

LOL John Carr was also my tutor for CIE and we had the penis class as well ROFL.... have you had the lesson where he talks about the church for like an hour, using the words "signs" and "semiotics" every three seconds?

He is cool though.... plus when you have his lectures for MIS you will realize how much more interesting he is than some of the other lecturers lol.