The Microteaching Evaluation

1
The Microteaching Evaluation
Many of you will end up taking the micro-teaching
examination. Advance preparation for this exam
can be the difference between passing and
failing, so we will devote several hours to this
over the next two days.
2
The Lecture

• You have a ten-minute time slot to give a short
  lecture and answer questions
• Your lecture must be at least 6 minutes long if
  it is not, you must stand there silently until 6
  minutes has passed
• It is OK if your lecture is too long they will
  stop you when they are ready with no penalty

3
The Lecture

• The lecture should be on a topic in your field
  that interests you
• The evaluators will not be scientists, so do not
  give a lecture at a high level it should be at a
  level appropriate for a good high-school student
  who may not have a particular interest in science

4
The Lecture

• During your presentation you want to demonstrate
  that you can speak and explain concepts clearly
• While enthusiasm for your topic is not one of the
  rating criteria, the truth is that if you are
  enthusiastic you are very likely to receive a
  higher score when you are excited about what you
  present, your audience will be more attentive and
  understand you better

5
The Question Period

• When you are done with your presentation the
  evaluators will ask you some questions
• Remember that they are not scientists and will
  not understand most or all of the technical
  aspects of your presentation
• This means that they are likely to ask ques-tions
  that are off the wall, which is to say that
  they may be only vaguely related to your topic

6
The Question Period

• If you get questions like this, the thing to do
  is to remember that this evaluation is intended
  to assess how you will perform in a classroom
• Think about a student who asks a question that is
  not really relevant and how you would deal with
  it in the classroom
• Be polite and respectful, and treat the question
  as if it is a sensible one even if it is not

7
The Question Period

• To give yourself time to think about how to
  answer a question like this, you might start by
  saying something like Thats an interesting
  question. Im not an expert in that field, but
  heres what I know.
• As an example, perhaps you have given a talk on
  the solubility of gases in liquids, and an
  examiner asks you if drinking Coca-Cola leads to
  global warming. How do you answer?

8
What we will do to prepare

• Talk about your topic
• Hear from students who have already gone through
  this process
• Practice tomorrow

9
How you will be rated
PRONUNCIATION Segmentals _____ 1. Mispronounces
many sounds understandable only with great
difficulty _____ 2. _____ 3. Mispronounces
frequently, but can be comprehended _____
4. _____ 5. Few if any errors nearly native
10
How you will be rated
PRONUNCIATION Suprasegmentals _____ 1. Foreign
accent, stress and intonation make speech
virtually unintelligible _____ 2. _____ 3.
Requires concentrated listening _____ 4. _____
5. Sounds nearly native
11
How you will be rated
PRONUNCIATION Fluency _____ 1. Halting,
fragmentary, word-searching _____ 2. _____ 3.
Too slow, too fast, un-English pausing but
generally comprehensible _____ 4. _____ 5.
Sounds nearly native
12
How you will be rated
GRAMMAR/VOCABULARY _____ 1. Frequent errors make
comprehension difficult _____ 2. _____ 3.
Frequent errors, lack of communicative
grammar _____ 4. _____ 5. Few if any errors
13
The overall score
1 Can barely be understood 2 Can only be
understood intermittently listener can not take
notes at all Pronunciation difficulties
completely overshadow message Vocabulary and
grammar inaccuracies impede communication
14
The overall score
3 Can only be understood with
concentration Too fast or too slow,
unnatural pauses non-American-English
intonation listener finds it difficult to take
coherent notes and listen at the same
time Phonetic and/or grammatical
inadequacies require listener to focus on
word and phrase level and miss the message
as a whole
15
The overall score
4 Fluent, easy to listen to, short tune-in
period Can be understood without undue
concentration Listener can take notes No
gross grammatical or phonetic distractions Su
fficient vocabulary and grammar to convey
message