Seminar

A gathering of people to discuss a “STATED TOPIC”

Seminar is an advanced group technique which is usually used in higher

education. It is an instructional technique it involves generating a situation for a
group to have a guided interaction among themselves on a theme. It refers to a
structured group discussion what usually follows a formal lecture or lectures
often in the form of an essay or a paper presentation on a theme.

Types of Seminar

Seminars can be classified in to four types;

 Mini Seminar
 Major Seminar
 National Seminar and
 International Seminar
1. Mini Seminar
Its coverage and scope are small and simple. A small population is enough to
hold this seminar. A discussion held over the topic taught or to be taught with
the students is known as Group discussion. Such group discussions held in an
organized way within a class room, it is called mini seminar. This mini seminar
gives the students training in questioning skills, organizing the information and
presentation skills of seminar. A mini seminar is felt necessary because it gives
good experience to conduct a major seminar at Institutional level.

2. Major Seminar
These types of seminars are conducted by institutional or departmental level for
a specific topic or subject is known as Major seminar. Usually students and
teachers are participating in this type of seminar. This major seminar can be
organized at department level for every month. A specific topic or subject is
selected for the theme of the seminar.

3. National Seminar
An association of any kind particularly with academic or professional interest or
an organization (Government, Firm, etc.,) conducts this type of seminar at
National level is called National seminar. The subject experts are invited to the
seminar for discussion. The Secretary of the seminar prepares the schedule and
functionaries for seminar.

4. Inter- National Seminar

Usually the seminar is conducted by an international organization or agency is
known as International seminar. Theme of this seminar has wider aspects.
Globalization, Renovation, Atomic energy agreements, Policies implementation
and modification etc., are examples for themes of International seminars. A
Nation or its body can conduct or organize the international seminar.

One may have to know about the following points regarding Seminar

 The purpose of seminars

 Making a presentation
 Controlling the discussion
 Participating in the discussion
 Listening and note taking
 How to conduct a seminar
 How to participate in a seminar
 How to prepare presentation handouts
1. The purpose of seminars: There may be several purposes of a seminar like;

 Education
 To introduce any new concept among a society
 Making a network
  Sharing one’s own ideas on a particular topic
 Trading and Business
 Military Purpose etc. Or
We can say that the overall purpose or goal of seminar is seminar is to create a
space and time for students’ engagement, engagement on the idea level (the
intellect, the intuitive, the emotions). the individual level (unique perceptions),
and the social level (community).

2. Making a Presentation

A presentation concentrates on teaching something to the audience. A good

presentation means that the audience understood the message. The first rule is to
place yourself in the mind of your audience. The second rule is to provide the
minimum amount of information to the audience; this helps overcome the
temptation to fill presentations with details meant to impress the audience.

Your main goal in presenting this seminar is to communicate your topic to an

audience of mixed backgrounds and interests. This should not be a technical
paper such as would be presented at a professional meeting. Your seminar
should tell a scientific story in a way that everyone present can understand and
go home with some lesson learned.

So, Make sure to:

 Try not to cover so many ideas, stick instead to a major theme.

 Focus on what the audience needs to know about the subject and not on
what you want to tell them.
 Don’t give too many experimental details unless the method is the main
point of the talk.
 For each set of data, explain the significance of the findings, don’t just
only show it.
 Don’t assume that the audience will know what you mean.
  Make transitions from one topic to another logical and smooth: “now I’d
like to tell you…”
 Unlike a written report, the audience must be able to immediately grasp
the information. So, keep it simple.
 Use repetition as a tool to help the audience remember important points.
3. Participating in the Discussion

When preparing for such a group session you may wish to:

 Focus your mind on the session title or topic.

 Read any handouts or preparatory materials you have been given.
 Make links between the subjects due for discussion and your other
studies. The seminar won’t exist in isolation.
 Think about what you don’t already know - what do you need to get out
of this discussion?
 Prepare a list of questions and problems that you would like discussed.
 Ensure that you have successfully carried out any tasks beforehand such
as making a presentation or preparing a reading list.
4. Listening and Note Taking

If part (role) of your seminar is used for the presentation of information, either
by your tutor or another student you should:

 Take some notes

 Avoid writing everything down
 Concentrate on the presentation of the material.
The important aspect of your seminar is that you actively participate and
contribute your thoughts and opinions. Obviously you cannot do this if you are
scribbling away in a note book!

 Write down key words, issues or references when you need to.
 Keep these notes as brief as possible.
  Jot down just enough to help you pick up the threads at a later stage.
 Use a skeletal structure to jot your ideas down quickly and efficiently
5. How to conduct a Seminar?

Seminar is conducted or organized by the committee proposed for this purpose

only. This committee constitutes a chairperson, Organizing Secretary and
subject experts who are expertise in the theme proposed for seminar. The
organizing committee guides and helps with the functions of Chair person and
organizing secretary. Usually a seminar has been conducted with the following
team of organizing body.

A. Chairperson or President / Convenor of Seminar: Naturally, S/he may be

the apex person of the Institution / Department / Government / Firm /
Policy maker of the concerned body or agency.
B. Organizing Secretary of Seminar: Usually he is nominated by the Chair
person or President of the Seminar committee. S/he must be a good
administrator and subject expert in the field proposed theme of the
seminar. He must be the person of tolerance and capable of doing things
in right time with right persons.
C. Chairperson of the Technical Session of seminar: S/he must be the person
with expertise in the theme proposed for the seminar. S/he would have a
good experience to perform all the activities of technical session which is
vital to the seminar.
D. Speaker of Seminar: S/he is the active participant of seminar presenting
his / her paper among the other participants in the presence of Chair
Person of Technical session of seminar.
E. Participants/Paper Presenters of Seminar: The people who are
presenting papers and observing the paper presentation by participating in
the seminar are termed as Paper presenters and Participants of the
seminar.
6. How to participate in a Seminar?

As a student you will be involved in a great deal of discussion; both formal

academic discussions and discussion in small groups. Much of this discussion
will happen in seminars (small discussion groups). In this section we will look
at the purpose of these seminars, and the discussions that take place, and how
you can get more out of your seminars.

7. How to prepare Presentation Handouts?

Like any academic project, before giving oral presentations presenters need to
prepare and plan ahead. In order to be thoroughly prepared it is recommended
that you work through this series of steps, taking the following considerations
into account:

 Identifying the purpose

 Considering the audience
 Selecting the content
 Organising the structure
 Designing visual aids
 Rehearsing your presentation
 Delivering your presentation
 Evaluating your performance
You may choose to work in a different order to the one above and might find it
useful to repeat certain steps to make sure you are fully prepared for your
presentation.