Presentations and Discussions
Students will lead in-class presentation of assigned readings and facilitate in-class discussion of those readings. Class will use a discussion format that combines both small-group discussion and class discussion.
Our goals for this discussion format are to:
- Provide smaller groups in which students may feel more comfortable raising questions and insights.
- Provide a structure in which small groups can then raise questions to the class.
- Designate responsibility for facilitating this structure.
The discussion format should not be interpreted as limiting class ability to discuss additional questions and insights as they emerge. Students are encouraged to raise additional questions throughout presentation and discussion.
Student Presenters and Facilitators
Students will sign up to collaborate as a group in presenting assigned readings and facilitating in-class discussion of those readings.
Presentation groups will consist of at least one student per assigned reading. The entire group is responsible for presentation of the entire set of assigned readings, and students are expected to collaborate in development and delivery of presentations. If a student in a presentation group is unexpectedly unable to deliver an in-person presentation, other presenters are expected to be familiar with and prepared to deliver the presentation.
Small-group discussions will then be facilitated by presenters and by additional facilitators who have signed up for this role. The number of additional facilitators will be determined according to course enrollment and the desired size of small group discussions.
Presentations
Each class will begin with approximately 25 minutes of student-led presentations of the readings.
This should be organized as:
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Less than 1 minute to introduce the day’s research topic and any research guest.
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Approximately 7 minutes for each assigned reading:
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Brief acknowledgement of the authors and any notable background.
You will not have time to share the background of all authors, but should briefly research each author and concisely share your most important findings (e.g., background that other students might want to know if they encountered a prominent author at a conference).
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Primary contributions of the paper (e.g., artifact, empirical, theoretical contributions).
Present the primary contributions reported by the authors. Characterize these in terms of the contribution types presented by Wobbrock and Kientz (e.g., as reported by the authors, based on your own understanding).
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Key additional details of contributions and methods (e.g., system details, study design, theoretical insights).
Additional details needed for a high-level understanding of the presented research activities.
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3 key findings, ideas, or takeaways from the reading.
Present what seems most important about this reading.
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Approximately 3 minutes introducing a range of key connections and opportunities for discussion.
Briefly introduce at least 5 distinct directions people might explore in small-group discussions. These should be based on observations in or across the assigned readings, and we encourage you to draw upon insights shared in discussion posts. This presentation is not a substitute for small-group or class discussion, and it is not intended to exclude other potential opportunities for discussion. Your goal is to help people see multiple opportunities for meaningful discussion.
Student-led presentations will typically be followed by additional comments from the instructor or a research guest.
Small-Group Discussion and Facilitation
Presentations and associated comments will be followed by approximately 20 minutes of student-led small-group discussion.
Students will self-organize into small groups with each presenter and additional facilitator. To maximize opportunities for individual participation, students must ensure the size of groups remains balanced and should avoid consistently joining groups with the same people. Facilitators will track who is present and participating in each small-group discussion.
Students should feel comfortable discussing a range of connections, insights, or questions related to the readings (e.g., drawing upon insights shared as discussion posts, drawing upon discussion opportunities raised in presentations, drawing upon additional comments raised by the instructor or a research guest). Staff and research guests may participate in these discussions, but discussions are expected to be student-led.
The facilitator of each small group is then responsible for contributing a question from the group to class discussion. Questions to the class should explore topics that a group and a facilitator feel will benefit from larger discussion (e.g., because a group found a question interesting but was unsure how to approach it, because a group had a compelling discussion around a question where they want to seek additional perspective, because a group had a compelling discussion around a question they think will benefit the class). As questions are asked by each small group, facilitators are additionally responsible for ensuring that raises a distinct question (e.g., if a group raises a question that a facilitator had planned to ask, that facilitator is responsible for choosing a different question to ask).
The class will use a shared document for facilitators and groups to track participation and draft potential discussion questions. Facilitators may choose to pre-populate this document with potential questions if this will help them feel more comfortable with this responsibility.
Presentation and Discussion Logistics
Sign Up
Presenters and additional facilitators will sign up using a shared document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e8__5CSjknBdcDE1R8fYbzctd18s0l8s3hxfC9UJYXU/edit
Shared Documents
Each class will be facilitated using templates provided in a folder in the course Drive. Presentations will be prepared in a single shared Slides deck to minimize switching overhead. Facilitation of small-group discussion will also use a single shared document.
Folders for each day of presentation and discussion will be in the course Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13vHGA0QND7_KURsE6gJNiPZzF26Kxk65?usp=sharing
Submission of Draft Slides
As documentation of preparation for presentations, presentation groups are required to submit a near-complete PDF of the combined presentation Slides deck by 5pm two days before class (i.e., Sunday 5pm for a Tuesday class, Tuesday 5pm for a Thursday class). Slides are expected to be complete, except they may still be missing the final section on opportunities for discussion (i.e., understanding that presenters may want to prepare these slides after the discussion post deadline of 5pm the day before class). Presenters may continue to iterate on any portion of the presentation prior to class, further improving upon this draft before class.
https://forms.gle/szGmmMFeaFNCCCSR8
Presentation Group Feedback
After each class is complete, presenters will be asked to provide brief confidential feedback on contributions in group preparation for presentations and discussion.