Seminars, tutorials and group projects

Almost all careers require you to work as part of a team, so learning how to make a positive contribution to group activities is a crucial key skill to acquire.

Seminars and Tutorials

For many subjects, small-group teaching is a characteristic of university education. You get as much out of tutorials as you put in. So:

a. Prepare

It's essential to prepare before a tutorial. You will probably be asked to do some reading beforehand.
Bring your notes along and highlight anything which you need to have answered.

b. Take part

You will learn by taking part. Specifically:

• Listen to other people's ideas and arguments
• Put forward your own ideas and arguments
• Listen to other people's responses to your arguments
• Try out new ideas
• Carefully analyse people's ideas and arguments and criticise the weak points

c. Logic

It's more civilised to criticise weak arguments and poor logic rather than to attack the person who presents them.

d. Notes

Take notes if you can. You may have to wait till afterwards, but it's worth noting the key ideas which emerge.

e. Key skills

The skills which you learn by taking part in tutorials make graduates highly valued in the work-place. Employers are really keen to hire people who can:

• Analyse a line of reasoning
• Spot flaws in the argument
• Persuade people of the value of their own argument (without attacking others).

Group Projects

On some courses you will be expected to take part in a group project, often taking up most of your final year.

a. Benefits of group projects

Working on a group project is very useful experience.

b. Key skills

Group work helps you develop several skills which your employer will want you to have:

• leadership
• working in a team
• negotiating with people
• motivating people.

c. Self-awareness

Working in a group helps you identify your own strengths and weaknesses. You will discover if you are best at:

• innovating
• leading
• completing things
• writing reports
• resolving conflicts

Again, it's something your employer will want to know.

d. Results

Effective groups can achieve much more than individuals working alone: you can apply a wider range of skills to a problem, and you can learn a lot by sharing and discussing ideas.

e. Stages of group projects

Effective groups go through four stages:

• Familiarisation
• Preparation
• Activity
• Completion

Familiarisation

The group members get to know each other and their skills and interests. They work out what they want to achieve:

• the product, which might be a report, presentation, poster, etc.
• the time scale
• the assessment; how will your product be assessed?

Good communication will be very important, so the group members share addresses, phone numbers and Email addresses.

Preparation

The group decides:

• what needs to be done
• how to do it
• how to divide up the tasks fairly, and at the same time
• how to make best use of people's skills and interests

Activity

The group members get on with their allotted tasks. While this is happening, communication is crucial; regular meetings are very important.

Completion

You will probably have to give a presentation and/or write a report.

Committees are lousy at writing anything, so it's best to delegate the first draft to one of the team.
If the report has a chapter written by each team member, one of you needs to be the editor to make sure the overall style is consistent.