1. Small Group Teaching Melodee Beals & Kate Bradley With thanks to Fiona Skillen and Valerie Wright

2. The Importance of Seminars Develops students' understanding Encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning Develops analytical, organisational, communication and collaborative skills

3. Analytical Skills – Through exposure to a variety of views, ideas and problems Organisational Skills – Preparing evidence or a case for discussion – Leading a group of students in discussion Communication Skills – Participation in discussion, preparation of debates, role play etc. – Presenting a case to other students and listening, questioning and responding Collaborative Skills – Working together and negotiating with others What Sort of Skills does Small Group Teaching Develop?

4. Students are Able to – offer their ideas, opinions and anecdotes for appraisal and acceptance – clarify, extend and develop their statements to meet and satisfy the criticism and questioning of their peers – develop their language skills to ensure effective communication of their ideas – be willing to challenge the views of others and to accept challenge to their own views – develop the ability to compromise and to form consensus of opinion – work together to analyse a problem or issue

5. Good and Bad Expectations What are your main concerns about undertaking small-group teaching?

6. When things go wrong… – Lack of preparation – Goal of the discussion unclear to students – Transforms into a lecture – Tutor asks questions and then answers them – Tutors always asks the same type of question – Domination by 1 or 2 students – Focus is on recall knowledge rather than analysis – Tutor is too critical of student responses – Students are unsure what the tutor is asking – Students expect / want a lecture / to take notes

7. Student types… Silent Know-it all No preparation Tends to go off topic Shy Talkative Model student Belligerent Distracting Prejudiced

8. Strategies that may help Changing seating arrangements Setting expectations and ground rules Safety: rewarding students and reducing their feeling of risk Making group smaller via buzz groups, pyramids, debates etc Use of extra prompts: images, primary sources, websites, artefacts Using different formats within seminar

9. Preparations How would you prepare for a small-group seminar / tutorial? What makes an effective seminar? What methods worked well for you either a tutor or as a student?

10. No One-Size-Fits-All Format Whole class discussion Workshop – Students divide into small groups and given tasks to complete Debate – Students divide into two groups and take opposing positions Student-led – Students decide focus of discussion, and tutor is an observer Brain-storming – Students suggest questions to follow up with discussion Presentations – Can be used to ensure that everyone contributes Problem-based Learning – Students are given a historical problem Snowball – Individuals, then pairs, then fours discuss together Role-play – Students are given a particular point of view, and argue from it

11. Hints to Running a (Mostly) Smooth Seminar Check out the room and facilities beforehand – Chairs – Computer – Overhead – Whiteboard / Chalkboard Make a rough ‘lesson plan’ – Allocate time for housekeeping issues Ice-breaker Topic discussion General summary and questions at the end – Decide what outcomes you want to achieve

12. Small Group Teaching Melodee Beals & Kate Bradley With thanks to Fiona Skillen (University of Glasgow) and Valerie Wright (University of Dundee)