What do I do?
Once a semester, you'll lead a class section for 40 minutes. This means you'll stand in front of the class, presenting your own material, running exercises, asking questions, and facilitating class discussion. There are three components that are required:
- 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.
Possible activities in your presentation include, but are not limited to:
- Summarize the readings and peer students' critiques.
- Show related examples.
- Design in-class activities.
- Throw a provocative statement and lead an in-class discussion.
Please make sure 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-directional lecture. So please plan ahead and talk to the course staff for feedback and help.
Why do this?
Lectures are boring, and they don't work. You learn better by teaching and engaging.
How do I submit?
Lesson plan: Please email your instructional 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 any feedback or help from the course staff.
Presentation material: Please email your 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 (25%): How organized is the class plan? If everything goes as planned, is it going to be an engaging session?
- Summary of readings and peers' critiques (25%): How well did you cover the main points in the readings? How well did you summarize and reflect on the peer students' critiques?
- Presentation (50%): How well did the overall presentation go? This includes the level of preparation, quality of material, fluidity of discussion, and peer students' reaction.
Late Policy
You should be present on the day of your presentation.