Whenever you plan to make a presentation about Peer-Led Team Learning workshops, include students if at all possible -- they are the most convincing salespeople!

Having student leaders lead a group of faculty and/or administrators in a sample workshops allows participants to experience the workshop, and will lead to provocative questions. As the sponsoring faculty person, don’t answer questions that student leaders should answer. Topics that are appropriate for students include questions about training (what they got, what they do), workshop processes, and leader roles.

Faculty responsibilities:

     1. Recruiting - may have to talk to parents (depending on the age of the student)

     2. Travel arrangements:

      ¨      discuss convenient arrangements
¨      make arrangements
¨      expense -- payment

     3. Prepare for type of meetings: professional, scientific

     4. Conduct - dress code

e.g., students can be themselves (don’t have to buy suit) 

    5. Interaction with participants

            -- e.g., do not be intimidated by faculty

    6. Attendance at social events as part of the professional meetings (e.g., banquets, etc.)

            - required participation 

    7. Proper training

            - content
            - expectations
            - types of questions
                        -- what they should ask
                        -- what they expect from faculty   
  

    8. Networking - importance of and how to do it

Description of activity:   Demonstration of a Workshop

Role of participants:   Tell participants to forget they are faculty, and become students for the next hour, and let the peer leaders lead them through the activity.

 Instructions:   Divide participants into groups of 6-8, preferably gathered around a table. Assign a student leader to each group of participants.
Select activity to which faculty are not likely to have the answer. In order for the faculty to experience what the  students are experiencing, it’s better that they do not know the answers. 

Time:   The Demonstration should be allotted at least 40 minutes, although an hour is better. The debriefing can be 20 minutes or more. 

Materials:   Suggested activities:

a.         Kinetics; Dalton’s Postulates
            Small whiteboards (one per group), dry erase markers
            Pennies or dried beans or jelly beans or paper clips….
            Cups
            Or: pushpins and corkboard     

            b.         S’mores
                        You may want to purchase supplies: graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars. Be
                        aware that a discussion of cultures can come from this exercise, as making "S-mores" is
                        associated with campfires...it may not be a common experience. 

Training:   A training session will have had to be held prior to this activity so that the student leaders are prepared for the demonstration and familiar with the material.
If the number of participants is known, recruit and invite an appropriate number of student leaders from your campus. If unable to do that, recruit leaders from local institutions and train them.
Sometimes, if student leaders are not available, it is possible to recruit faculty members, but this is the least desirable option.
The goal of the demonstration is to work through a problem in the group. There is no answer key, as this would limit discussion.

Discussion/questions:   When the workshop activity is completed, participants and workshop leaders should debrief
 as a large group and discuss what has been experienced.

Key questions for facilitator:

                                                -     How did you feel?
                                                -         What was the role of the leader? What was the leader doing?
                                                -         Why not use answer keys?
                                                -     How are undergraduate leaders different from graduate students: undergraduates as
                                                      facilitators, guides; graduate students are closer to the role of expert, answer-giver.