When do students give the presentations during class?
Students give their presentation near the beginning of class. In Algebra I, students
usually go after we discuss homework and before we begin the new lesson of the day. In
Calculus, the problem to be presented is the "Warm Up" problem of the day. The
class does the problem at the beginning of the period and the presentation follows as the
explanation of the solution. I used to do it this way with Algebra, but the word problems
were daunting when they first entered class and it was not very successful. I found it
easier to engage the students in class with traditional warm-ups that connected to current
topics. I would like to try mixing it up a bit more, but it depends on the types of
problems being presented.
How much class time do the presentations take?
When everything runs smoothly, each presentation takes about 5 minutes. Five minutes is
the guidelines I give the students. If students are not fully prepared, presentations can
take longer as they try to figure it out as they go along. In our class, the video
technology can cause the most delays when there are difficulties.
How do you factor presentations into the course grade?
In Algebra, I weigh project work as 10% of the course grade. This includes their
presentations along with other mini and major projects we do in class. Often this work
helps students raise their grade. On the other hand, grades do drop when students do a
sloppy job or are very late in presenting. Projects weigh 10-15% in the Calculus class where
more emphasis is placed on tests and quizzes.
But I don’t have a video camera?
The video technology adds another dimension to the presentation work. However, this
technology is not necessary to implement presentations in the classroom. Students
can still gain immediate feedback from their presentation via the audience’s
questions, teacher’s questions, peer critiques, project grade, and the
presenters’ own feelings and instincts about their work. With the video, students are
able to become their own audience members and they learn a lot from that experience. They
like to comment on their presentation style when reflecting on their observations.
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