Issue | Possible Solutions |
Students will not prepare or participate | - Ask them why
- Set specific tasks
- Break in to subgroups with a specific task or question to report back on
- Set ground rules at the outset, explaining expectations about participation
- Keep control and ensure that the points that you want to emerge do so by asking open ended questions
- Create an atmosphere conducive to discussion
- Allow time to create familiarity and trust within a new group.
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One student dominates the discussion | - Thank the contributor and then invite the others to speak and respond
- Have a round (each person speaks or passes the right to speak onto the next person)
- Break into subgroups and appoint the dominant student as facilitator
- Use your non-verbal communication such as hand gestures to invite comment from other students
- Identify the high and low contributors and assign roles accordingly.
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Students are silent when you ask a question | - Ask easier questions
- Confront the students by saying something similar to "I feel that you are worried about being wrong"Give them time to think and then write down notes before speaking
- Try smaller groups and a pyramid sequence (pairs to reflect and share, then fours to develop principles or rules, then larger groups to compare merits and report back to whole class).
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Students do not listen to each other | - Confront the students by gently asking them why they are not listening, say something like "I wonder if you agree with the contribution the previous student has made"
- Remind them of the ground rules
- Change the seating arrangements
- Ask them to paraphrase what the other students are saying.
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Students complain about how you run the tutorial | - Ask for suggestions on how they would like the tutorial run
- Brainstorm possible alternatives
- Explain why you do things
- Write criticisms and possible solutions on the whiteboard.
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Students use sarcasm or other "put-downs" | - Confront the students by asking them why they are not taking the other students seriouslyRemind them of the ground rules
- Invite discussion about the consequences of such behaviour
- Be assertive.
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Students take notes rather than participate in the discussion | - Encourage brief notes rather than reams
- Build into each tutorial 5-10 minutes of exercises related to building skills needed at university - this is particularly useful to first year students
- Encourage students to create handouts to accompany their presentations - these should include lists of references as well
- Provide handouts of key points to be covered to be added to during the session - this prevents constant writing and focuses the note taking.
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Taking good notes in an unstructured situation | - Summarise key points on a board such as a concept map throughout the discussion
- Use the last 5 minutes of the session to synthesize the discussion
- Ask students to summarise their understanding of the session by asking them to write down 3 main points from the discussion and write a one minute paper
- Assign 1-3 students as minute takers to make notes and then report back to the class at the conclusion - share the responsibilities.
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Encouraging familiarity | - Use attendance registers or ask students to state their names when they answer questions during the first 3 or 4 weeks
- Get students to talk to in pairs and then introduce their partner to the whole group.
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