by Matthew Huddleston

Created on: June 16, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

Seminar Teaching Techniques in the High School Classroom

While seminar style classes are an expected norm at the college level, there has been a long standing movement to eradicate seminar from the high school classroom. Secondary teacher training currently borrows more from the primary levels than the collegiate. Teachers are encouraged to provide rapidly changing instructional formats, introduce variation in the modal activities, and utilize instructional tools to maintain student motivation in the subject.

In contrast, seminar teaching tends to put the burden of motivation on the student. Seminar teachers can, however, provide tools and techniques to make the sessions more than just a speaking and listening exercise. Introducing seminar classes in high school is also very important for students who plan on attending college. High school students who are used to group work, worksheets, board work and multi-media presentations are often overwhelmed at the idea of sitting at a desk in a lecture hall taking notes for ninety minutes at a time.

All students, not just those who are college bound, can benefit from the focus and reflection necessary to successfully utilize a seminar class. There are several specific techniques that secondary teachers can use to engage students more fully during a seminar.

Seminar Frequency: Due to the curriculum of most high school subjects, a strict regimen of daily seminars is not realistic. Instead, choose specific days to deliver seminars. Make the seminar day a regularly scheduled part of your curriculum week, say every Wednesday. In this way, students are more likely to mentally prepare themselves for the change in teaching style. You may want to announce seminars as part of a teaching unit, such as the first day of a new unit being devoted to a seminar session. You can also use the seminar technique in shorter form to start or end each class, a way to focus your students on specific elements of the curriculum. No matter how you schedule the seminar sessions, make an attempt to make them a regular part of your curriculum. Avoid random or unplanned seminar sessions.

Seminar Notes: Students must be expected to take notes during the seminar. Two elements of establishing a habit of note taking by students are a defined style of notes and incorporating the notes into the grading. Students learning to take notes should not be expected to keep clear, efficient notes on their own. Instead, they must

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