Педагогические науки: 5 Современные методы преподавания

Ковальская Н.В., Присяжнюк Н.М.

Национальный технический университет Украины «КПИ», Украина

STUDENTS’ PRESENTATIONS CHALLENGE OR REWARD

The sphere of our interests in recent years deals with students’ out of class activities. We have already investigated the challenge of the first students’ conference “Alma Mater” which is traditionally organized for the first year students at the very beginning of their high school education at the National technical university of Ukraine “KPI” [1]. The idea of self-directed students’ projects as a specific kind of long-term home assignment was also worked out and applied for our students - future interpreters and translators [2].The next more or less logical step in this area is students’ presentation, its preparing and feedback, its advantages and drawbacks

Thus our aim in this article is to offer encouragement and ideas to colleagues who think about their students’ giving presentations. Our experience has been that although the ideas contained in presentations can often be valuable, they are not always presented in the most effective way.

We would like to suggest how a presentation can be effectively planned and delivered by the students under the supervision of a lecturer. The following areas are of great importance and may be considered as a specific plan of actions for the lecturer:

• Choosing a topic

• Planning

• Delivery

• Choosing a topic.

It is a great idea to choose a topic which is of current interest for the students. Thus lecturers may propose their students to start with practical ideas which they have worked for them in the classroom. Besides, they should try to back up their ideas with some kind of theoretical justification. Being entrusted with more demanding and stimulating tasks and activities students are encouraged to choose a topic that is interesting to them and thus they usually derive more profit. Since students learn to communicate better if they are presented with language learning stimulating activities we propose the ideas for projects related to their future professional interest. The range of possible topics is quite broad, and many of the student-developed topics are unique. In our case the students are bound to actively take part in self-directed projects with presentations as a long-term home assignment as well as participating in the conference “Alma Mater” (mentioned above).

• Planning.

Lecturers must warn students to consider their audience before they begin to plan a presentation. A group of peers (at English classes) may call for one type of approach and a group of students of different courses and university lecturers (at students’ conferences) may call for another one. Think about what they already know. How much background needs to be given? Do key terms need to be defined and main points need to be simplified? And what should be the balance, for example, between entertainment and information? Avoid the material that may be offensive.

Once the students have assessed the needs of their audience, a plan can be made. Whether the presentation is 10 minutes or an hour, the framework remains the same:

• Introduction of idea(s)

• Development of idea(s)

• Conclusion

To avoid confusion, handle one topic or idea at a time. Give your students a chance to use a mindmap or the traditional “table of contents” approach with headings and subheadings they are usually used to from the school years.

To grab the audience attention the fresh opening is a must. It can take the form of a challenge, a topical reference, an activity, or a quote. Some students like to present an outline or where they are going, others prefer to keep the audience in suspense as the talk unfolds. Either way, it helps a lot if the audience can actually see an outline of the main points as you make them.

This is where visuals[3] can play a key role. The range of possible facilities nowadays is quite wide but before preparing them, check what the facility has to offer: overhead projector, projected computer screen, a slide projector, room to display charts or posters. It is recommended for the students to use coloured highlight markers to mark on their personal notes when to use the visuals.

Once the plan is complete by the student-presenter, s/he can fill in the details. All the statements and proposals should be backed up with facts. Ask them to think about how to prepare their notes for the actual presentation. They may work from numbered cards or from notes on paper. The students may choose to work from a whole written text, but in this case it must be presented in interactive style, maintaining plenty of eye contact.

• Delivery

This is one of the most exaggerating points in the art of presentation. Student may fail even with the best presentation if it is not delivered well. The lecturer’s role at this stage can hardly be overestimated. Start preparing your students to the delivery of their presentations long before the event. Ask them to practice a lot at home, to rehearse the talk and time until they feel comfortable with it. It is recommended to use the same notes they will be using at the actual presentation to become familiar with their location on the page.

The voice of the student-presenter must be in prime working order. S/he must speak slowly and clearly to the entire room, and take care not to favour one side. Eye contact should be maintained. The pace must be varied to reduce the possibility of boredom. Students should make use of their body language as well. They should bear in mind that their posture, movements, facial expressions, and appearance all reflect on their message. It is better to use them to their advantage.

The outline for students’ presentations proposed here is widely and successfully used in the process of teaching foreign languages at the linguistic faculty of the NTUU ”KPI” for several years already. We suppose that getting our students used to such a procedure and gradually making them familiar with it we give them a great chance for the future successes in their carrier development after graduating from the university.

References

1. Присяжнюк Н., Залучення студентів факультету лінгвістики до творчої діяльності./ Присяжнюк Н., Ковальська Н.//Матеріали IІ міжнародної науково-практичної конференції «Сучасні тенденції викладання іноземних мов у вищій школі: технології навчання». - 2011 р . - К.:НТУУ «КПІ». - С. 103-105

2. Kovalska N., Self-directed projects / N.Kovalska, N.Prisyazhnyuk //Матеріали IV міжнародної науково-практичної конференції «Сучасні тенденції викладання іноземних мов у вищій школі: технології навчання». - 2012 р . - К.:НТУУ «КПІ». - С. 67-70.

3. Дерієн С., Ільченко О. Стратегії впливу: секрети ділового та фахового письма. Посібник. - К.: Видавниче підприємство «Едельвейс», 2012. – 231с.