What do I do?
Once a semester, you'll lead a class section for 30 minutes. This means you'll stand in front of the class, presenting your own material, running exercises, asking questions, and facilitating class discussion. Here are the three steps that are involved:
- Share your lesson plan with the course staff and get feedback. This is a written document (maximum one page) that needs to be sent to the course staff. Please include a high-level outline, possible discussion points, and any interactive component you're planning.
- Read peer students' critiques for the assigned reading and summarize them. Cover them during your presentation.
- Submit your presentation material after your presentation.
Your presentation should include the following:
- Summarize the pre-class material and peer students' critiques. Showing related real-world examples is often a good idea.
- Lead an in-class discussion by asking questions, giving prompts, or throwing provocative statements.
- Design and run an in-class activity, which should ask students to analyze, design, make, or present something.
Key in your session is to include
interactive components, such as a short design exercise, a simulated crowdsourcing task, a poll, group brainstorming, etc. Surprisingly, designing for interactivity requires more time, thought, and effort than preparing a one-way lecture. So please plan ahead and talk to the course staff for feedback and help.
Why do this?
One-way lectures are boring, and they don't work. You learn better by teaching and engaging.
How do I submit?
Here's a timeline for a Tue (Thu) presentation:
- Sun (Tue) night: Email your lesson plan by 11:59pm two days before class, which would be Sunday (if presenting on Tue) or Tuesday (if presenting on Thu). This is to give you enough time to iterate on your plan and get feedback or help from the course staff.
- Mon (Wed) noon: TA sends you student responses.
- Mon (Wed) afternoon: Prof sends you feedback on the lesson plan.
- Mon (Wed) night: Send your (tentative) slides by 11:59pm the night before your presentation. All discussion points and activity should be finalized. Minor tweaks can be made until the class. This is to ensure that Prof can better sync his part of the class with the presentation.
- Tue (Thu) after class: Email your final presentation material by 11:59pm the day of your presentation.
How is it going to be graded?
Your presentation will be graded by the course staff. Here's the grade break-down:
- Lesson plan (20%): Submitted on time? How organized is the class plan? If everything goes as planned, is it going to be an engaging session?
- Summary and Analysis (15%): How well did you cover the main points in the pre-class material? How well did you summarize and reflect on the peer students' critiques?
- Discussion (15%): Did you facilitate an engaging and deep discussion aroung the topic? Did students actively participate in the discussion? Were your questions and prompts well thought out?
- Activity (15%): Did you design an engaging activity that reflects the topic of class? Did students actively participate in the discussion? Were your instructions clear? Is time well-managed? Did the post-activity discussion point to the main lessons?
- Presentation (35%): How well did the overall presentation go? This includes the organization, your delivery both verbally and visually, level of preparation, quality of material, fluidity of discussion, and peer students' reaction.
| Criteria |
Weight |
Excellent |
Very Good |
Good |
Poor |
| Lesson Plan |
20 |
20 |
16 |
12 |
8 |
| Summary & Analysis |
15 |
15 |
12 |
9 |
6 |
| Discussion |
15 |
15 |
12 |
9 |
6 |
| Activity |
15 |
15 |
12 |
9 |
6 |
| Organization |
15 |
15 |
12 |
9 |
6 |
| Articulation & Delivery |
10 |
10 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
| Visual Aids (material / slides) |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
| Overall (engagement) |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
Extra Credit
First volunteers are often at a disadvantage. Presenters in the first two sessions will get extra credit: 10% for the first session presenters and 5% for the second session presenters.
Solo vs Team Presentation
You will be presenting alone or in a team of two. When presenting in a team, you should work closely with your partner to plan the 30-minute lesson. The general expectation for two-person teams will be higher than for one-person teams, in terms of the level of preparation, coverage of the pre-class material, etc.
Late Policy
You should be present on the day of your presentation. No late presentations are allowed.