The seminar is one of the main forms of classroom instruction. Along with a lecture, consultation, independent and other types of work, this lesson is developed according to a certain methodology and pursues specific goals. In the article we learn about what constitutes a seminar at the university, according to what scheme it is built and how to prepare for it correctly.
What is a seminar?
This term should be understood as a variety of audit exercises. Workshops are classified as practical work. They are intended to systematize, deepen and consolidate the knowledge gained on topics covered. With the active participation during the seminar, the student acquires the skills of practical application of the available information, develops personal qualities and improves his intellectual level. In addition, practical classes are an integral part of the training of future specialists, since they allow you to get basic theoretical experience, indispensable for the implementation of professional activities in the future.
The number of seminars and the duration of each lesson is set by the curriculum of each discipline. The substantial part of the work is also noted here. Seminars are an indispensable element of the humanitarian and socio-economic disciplines in which the consolidation of knowledge requires familiarization with additional literary sources. This type of class is conducted exclusively under the guidance of a teacher, whose duties include the preparation of all the necessary educational and methodological documentation for the lesson, intermediate or final control.
As a rule, a seminar at a university is held on the most complex topics and sections covered. The teacher’s task is to form and develop students' research thinking skills, independence, and active participation in thematic discussions. At seminars, students share their conclusions and conclusions, hone their ability to reasonably express their personal point of view and defend it.
The functions of this type of classroom work
First of all, it is worth noting the control function of the seminars. Being an element of systematic independent work, the results of the classes allow the teacher to conclude about the content and depth of the knowledge received by the student. At seminars, the teacher has the opportunity to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a particular group, the whole stream or individually of each student. Timely identified gaps in the students' knowledge will indicate to the teacher the teaching errors made by him in the process of presenting the topic.
Depending on the form of the seminar, the function of accounting and control is reflected to varying degrees. For example, in a detailed conversation and a quiz, the control function plays a more significant role, and in individual reports, speeches with abstracts, it is less significant. At the same time, one cannot fail to mention cognitive and educational functions, the ratio of which varies depending on the type of seminar.
Special purpose
The objectives of the seminar are to develop cognitive skills, the desire for independent thinking and creative self-sufficiency of students. If a lecture, as a type of classroom work, is necessary to familiarize yourself with the educational material, then the seminar is intended to deepen, expand, detail and generalize the learned information.
In some cases, the teacher reserves the right to communicate additional knowledge on the topic being studied during practical and seminar work. In the process of training, students practice practical methods and use effective methods of analysis of the theoretical concept of the discipline, as a result of which they acquire skills in using modern scientific approaches.
Educational technology for seminars
In order to achieve the goals and solve the required tasks, practical work in most modern higher educational institutions of Russia is carried out using new educational technologies. Teachers do not refuse to use traditional methods of seminar classes, which allow finding consistent answers to questions of interest and performing training exercises in order to consolidate the previously stated theoretical course.
In the innovative type of technology, the game principle prevails, a modeling scheme is used to hone interpersonal communication skills. Quite interesting and popular methods of the seminar, according to teachers, are those in which the principles of partnership are implemented.
The use of relevant educational technologies involves the organization of various training and verification activities:
- business and role-playing games;
- quizzes
- marathons, implying the expression of one’s own ideas, worldviews, thoughts;
- didactic games;
- playing out specific situations.
During seminars, students have the opportunity to make a report, abstract, and participate in their discussion. In addition, other educational technologies are used - intellectual and communicative trainings; competition for mindfulness and smartness. The seminars are designed to help students smoothly transition from theoretical training to independent practical activities.
Lesson content
To implement the tasks facing the discipline, the teacher must:
- Prepare the methodological support of the lesson in advance;
- to plan and organize independent work of students;
- stimulate the development of creative abilities and the initiative of students through the individualization of the curriculum.
Any type of seminar should meet the requirements of the work program, approved at a meeting of the subject-methodological commission of the department. The practical task of students is the main content of the seminar. It is formed in such a way that there are no direct repetitions of the questions voiced at the lecture. In addition, the practical task should contribute to the search for additional sources of literature, the development of logical thinking and the ability to look for alternative solutions.
On certain topics of the discipline, it is possible to prepare two reports on the most pressing issues at once. Speakers are appointed in advance. Each speaker is assigned a specific topic. The principles of building practical classes and seminars:
- relevance;
- reasoning;
- relationship with other disciplines.
The material that the student submits to the seminar should include a reference to the modern achievements of science or technology in the field of study. The content of the report should be as close as possible to the actual professional activity in the specialty and be based on knowledge and skills formed in the learning process in previous classes.
Types of workshops
Teachers of domestic universities note three types of seminars:
- those conducted to deepen the studied thematic section;
- those that help to work out the individual, most important and methodologically typical topics of the course;
- specialized research.
The choice of the type of seminar depends on the theoretical part and the features of the sources and manuals recommended for it. Equally important is the level of preparedness of the group, the organization and performance of the student team, its specialization and professional orientation. When choosing the type of seminar, the teacher must also build on the experience of previous classes.
Practical exercises differ in the form of the exercise. There are several of them, and each of them is designed to ensure the implementation of all the functions of the seminar. In Russian universities, seminars are held in the form of:
- detailed conversation;
- a dispute;
- discussion of reports and abstracts;
- commented reading;
- exercises for independence of thinking;
- written examinations;
- colloquium.
Detailed conversation
This form of lecture and seminar is one of the most common. It involves the preparation of all students in the group on planned issues with a single list of recommended literary sources. A detailed conversation at the seminar may contain not only the students' speeches, but also the opening and closing words of the teacher. Students' answers are heard on a personal initiative or by the call of the head.
This form of the seminar allows you to involve the maximum number of students in the discussion of problematic issues with a competent, well-thought-out formulation and use of motivational, prompting answers in the form of clearly formulated additional questions to the speaker and other students. The teacher’s task is to maintain a high degree of concentration by focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the speeches of classmates, new, previously undefined aspects that were opened in the process.
Reports and essays
Seminars on philosophy or history are usually built on a system of pre-prepared reports, which allows students to instill the ability to think independently, the desire to search for new facts, arguments, examples, ideas. In creative and scientific activities, these skills play a paramount role.
It is advisable to submit 2-3 reports to the discussion of the seminar, the duration of each of which should not exceed 15 minutes. In some cases, in addition to the speakers, opponents and co-rapporteurs may be appointed, who are allowed to familiarize themselves with the contents of the reports in order to avoid duplication. Topics of seminars conducted in abstract form can be very different. They may coincide with the wording of the paragraph in the work plan or partially with one of its sides related to the practical relevance of the problem. In addition to the collective one, the possibility of conducting individual work with speakers is also not ruled out, which is not possible with a seminar conducted in the form of a detailed conversation.
Interestingly, the discussion of essays by students at seminars allows a deviation from the main topic towards related disciplines, approved in the curriculum by the subject-cycle commission. An abstract is a written work devoted to a specific historical or theoretical problem, a review of a work of art, a scientific monograph led by a teacher. In contrast to the usual type of report, the content of the work involves a significant in-depth study of the topic, the presence of their own theses, conclusions.
The abstract is read during the workshop by the author himself. To qualitatively prepare for this type of work, students need at least two weeks. In pedagogy, seminars conducted with abstract reports are considered appropriate at the final stage of studying a specific section, when its main provisions have already been discussed.
Preparation of an essay is a very effective way to introduce a student from the first courses to research activities. The teacher recommends the topic of reports to students themselves. At the same time, participants in the seminar can propose their topics, provided that they are directly related to the specifics of the discipline being studied. Before approving the topic chosen by the student, the teacher should familiarize himself with the plan prepared by him and recommend additional literature.
Debate Workshop
Unlike other forms of conducting an audit lesson, this is considered to be the most convenient for students to develop skills in bringing only confirmed official data as arguments. The dispute can be used both as an independent seminar form and as an element of other types of practical exercises.
The most interesting seminars are debates when combining several study groups. Pupils of one of them prepare reports, and the second - prepare to act as opponents. The distribution of roles is agreed in advance. It is important that the issues brought up for discussion always have significance from a theoretical and practical point of view. The debate can be organized by the teacher spontaneously or pre-planned. Controversy usually erupts quickly, spontaneously. During the discussions, students work out the efficiency of their mental reactions and learn to uphold a personal worldview in a dispute.
The conference
This is another model for the organization of seminars, which has much in common with practical work, built on the reporting system. For all available points in the lesson plan, the teacher instructs students to prepare short reports. At the beginning of the seminar, the leader takes the opening remarks, after which he passes the baton to the first speaker. At the end of the presentation, each listener in the audience should ask at least one question on the topic. Accordingly, questions and answers are the main part of the workshop.
The essence of the seminar conference is the need for in-depth training of students. It is known that raising a question requires a detailed study of a particular topic. The more thorough the training, the more difficult the student will be able to ask. If the speaker does not know the answer, any participant in the conference who has expressed a desire to express his point of view can answer the question.
Other workshop forms
Reading sources with comments is a type of organization of work at a seminar that aims at meaningfully introducing students to the recommended literature. Commented reading of the source is rarely the only element of the lesson. As a rule, the work is much like a detailed conversation, its duration is no more than 20 minutes. Commented reading is a great way to teach students to navigate information sources.
Solving tasks on the independence of thinking can be an independent element of both a detailed conversation and relate to the discussion of reports. The most popular tactics for conducting the lesson are as follows: the head of the seminar offers several urgent questions regarding a specific topic or simulates complex situations that need to be addressed and further analyzed. This type of practical work contributes to the improvement of students' abilities to delve deeply into the essence of theoretical problems.
In order to clarify or deepen the level of knowledge, some teachers prefer to hold seminar workshops. They are often organized in extra time for those students who are not particularly active in seminars.
How to plan a seminar
When preparing for a seminar on philosophy or any other humanitarian discipline, it is important for the teacher not to lose the relationship between the practical task and the lecture. The seminar should not repeat it, but at the same time, the leader should maintain a connection between its content and the fundamental provisions of the lecture material.
Sometimes teachers when developing a seminar use a different sequence:
- first, students in 15-20 minutes are introduced to a lecture that reveals general questions and problems on the topic;
- then time is given for independent work;
- the rest of the lesson is devoted to holding a seminar and covering issues poorly understood by students.
You can make a plan for conducting a practical lesson in another way. For this, the lecturer provides the group with a lecture plan and a list of recommended literature sources. The teacher names several issues of theoretical importance and practical interest, but since it is not possible to cover them during the lecture due to lack of time, a detailed discussion on this topic will be planned at the upcoming seminar on psychology, philosophy, sociology, legal and other disciplines. Interest in the topic will awaken student curiosity, and aggravate the desire to sort out problems.
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Methodical development of the seminar
The teacher who is preparing to conduct a survey in the audience, first of all, it is necessary to think over its structure. Seminars in universities must have:
- title reflecting the topic;
- goals and objectives of the lesson;
- consistent plan;
- materials to control the level of knowledge;
- training examples.
The most crucial part of the seminar is the control of acquired knowledge. This section is undesirable to reduce or completely exclude from the plan of the school hour. In order to control knowledge, we conduct an individual interview with each student, check written assignments, get acquainted with the conclusions, conclusions or other materials of students - all this allows you to objectively assess the degree of development of the theoretical part of the discipline within a certain topic.
For the final interview, the teacher should prepare control questions and test exercises in advance. The choice of tasks depends on the purpose of the seminar, its content. Summing up, the head of the seminar summarizes the points made during the lesson, uses simplified formulas for memorizing, answers questions of interest and gives students appropriate marks, noting the most active and poorly trained people, sets a topic and a date for working out, announces the task for independent work at home.
When developing seminars, methodological recommendations serve as a specific framework from which to build on. During the preparation of practical work, the teacher must familiarize himself with the order of its preparation, having studied the requirements of the work program of the discipline and formulated the goals and objectives of the lesson. Only after this can we begin to develop an audit workshop plan.
The head independently models the introductory and final parts of the practical lesson, pre-distributes to students questions and individual assignments, including research and creative ones. In addition, the teacher must instruct students on how to prepare for the seminar. For this, the teacher reads out the sources of literature that are most suitable for the topic being studied, and shares with students recommendations for organizing independent work in preparation for the seminar. It must line up in sequence:
- Any seminar begins with an introductory part, in which the goal, objectives are stated and the main concept of practical work is stated.
- The main part of the lesson includes presentations by speakers and co-rapporteurs, organization of discussions, where everyone has the opportunity to reveal their vision of the problem.
- The final stage of the seminar is a generalization and evaluation of the results of students.
For convenience and clarity, the teacher is recommended to draw up a detailed summary of the seminar in advance with the distribution of the plan items in time. When organizing practical exercises, the principle of joint activity plays an important role. According to studies of various teaching methods, in joint educational activities aimed at finding answers, the process of thinking and mastering knowledge is more effective. Seminars are effective when they are held as pre-prepared collective discussions. This technique of building a practical lesson allows you to follow the dynamics of the development of scientific thinking among students.