Hochschuldidaktik

Making Your Classroom Teaching (More) Effective and Exciting (C)


Amount of working units: 12 AE
Max. Number of participants: 12

Dates:

  • THUR, 15th of June 2023; 9 AM-5 PM, Waldweg 26, Room 3.117/119 (Tract I, 3rd floor)
  • FRI, 16th of June 2023; 9AM-12:30 PM, Waldweg 26, Room 3.117/119 (Tract I, 3rd floor)



Registration:
Please register until THUR, 1st of June 2023.
Belated registrations will be considered depending on the registration status.

Course Language: English

Content:
In preparing our classes/seminars/lectures we often focus on making the content easily accessible to the learner. We tend to neglect asking ourselves whether students will feel that they are being addressed directly, whether they will enjoy listening and whether they will be motivated to follow closely and to be active listeners/participants. Whether this will be the case depends on para- and nonverbal elements of communication including our voice as well as supportive facial expressions, gestures and our body language in general. These aspects are what we want to examine in this workshop. You will be offered a brief overview with regard to features pertaining to the speech process and have the opportunity to take part in exercises to increase awareness of your own personal way of speaking, your voice/voice pitch, individual body language including gestures and facial expressions. Attention will be paid to assuring that your spoken and body language are appropriate and suitable for you. You will be invited to give us insight into your personal teaching situation by presenting a brief example of your approach . You will receive input/feedback from the group as a whole and from the two instructors tailored to your individual situation and personal goals. If so desired, we will be able to record presentations to facilitate evalutation. In addition to the seminar room we will also have a lecture hall at our disposal.

Goals:
The participants

  • will become acquainted with various means of expression with regard to spoken language;
  • be able to apply them to their personal teaching situation also when using English as their lingua franca;
  • be able to recognize and understand the interplay between verbal, para-verbal and nonverbal communication means and be able to apply them in an authentic manner to their personal teaching situation.


Used methods:
We will work in small groups and in the group as a whole, performing prescribed tasks based on concrete examples, written texts and participants’ personal wishes. You will receive brief feedback from the instructors and your colleagues. There will also be short plenary discussions.

Keywords:
voice, voice-pitch, body-language, communication, effect

Trainer:
Susanne Wimmelmann: has been on the teaching staff of the “Hochschuldidaktik Göttingen” since 2010 where one of her responsibilities has been to serve as Coordinator of the Research-Oriented Teaching and Learning Program („Forschungsorientiertes Lehren und Lernen“ (FoLL). She has a degree for teaching Social Studies and German at the Gymnasium level and is a state accredited elocution researcher/specialist and speech teacher. Her areas of specialization include, in addition to her responsibilities as Coordinator of FoLL, rhetoric, interpersonal communication and voice training.

David Starr: is a native speaker of English and a Senior Lecturer of English at the University of Göttingen with over 50 years of teaching experience. He has specialized in training (future) teachers of English both with regard to their language skills as well as to their communicative competence. He has taught courses in public speaking, debate and how to prepare and deliver academic presentations at conferences and in a university setting, be it defending a dissertation, appearing for a job interview or lecturing. He has worked extensively with audiovisual equipment in helping learners to monitor (evaluate) their work and thereby become more effective in presenting materials in English.