Kelsey: Contributing in Seminars and Discussions
Kelsey shares her advice for expressing yourself in seminars and discussions.
When starting university, you most likely will be introduced to seminars. These are smaller classes than lectures where you will have a seminar leader guiding the session, initiating discussions and allowing students to ask questions. It can be a highly rewarding experience as you can gain a further understanding of the content you are learning in lectures as well as a chance to listen to other people’s knowledge. It can be intimidating sharing your thoughts in seminars especially when you don’t personally know the people you’re in the class with, but this is a judgement free zone where everyone is in the exact same boat as you.
Preparation is so important to ensure you get everything out of your seminar, it means you can already have some background knowledge which you can contribute to the class and form questions about the content. Seminars can be given in multiple formats, these could be question and answer sessions, a PowerPoint your seminar lead will run through or prework may be provided for you to complete. It is highly recommended to complete any prework given to get the most out of your seminar.
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Seminars are the chance for discussions, to ask questions about any of the content you may be unsure on and develop your knowledge, preparing you for future examinations. When contributing to discussions, you may feel hesitant but remember there are no silly answers, and other students may be thinking the same as you. What is the worst that can happen if your answer is wrong? It is a chance to learn and hear other people’s knowledge and opinions. Respect the other people in the seminar and be open-minded, you will hear varied viewpoints which may differ from yours. You can build on these contributions by adding your own thoughts too but ensure to do it in a respectful way, avoiding offensive language.
If you feel like you may have struggled to express your views or contribute your thoughts and would like to chat to the seminar lead, contact them via email or stay behind after the seminar to avoid having unanswered questions.
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Illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon.