I want to utilize the good papers that the students handed in for the same course last year. The students’ papers often uncover new areas of the field which is very relevant for the next group. I therefore pick guest lecturers among the students from the year before.
Teaching:
I invite the students that wrote the best papers of the course last year to present their cases for the current group. This way the older students become guest lecturers for the current students.
I invite five or six older student to make a presentation each of about 25 minutes for the current group. After the presentation there is time for questions and discussion. The execution is quite straightforward since the students know the format from other guest lecturers and need no further explanation.
It relieves me of a great work load that the guest lecturers have such exemplary analyses and good cases within the framework of the course which means that I can concentrate on other matters.
The students find it inspiring to hear what older students chose to write the exam about and the presentations give good ideas for their own exam topics.
It is also an opportunity for the older students who get to be the guest lectures. They rise to the occasion. The presentations are well prepared, precise and good – and it is fun for them too. Normally an exam paper is just handed in and that’s the end of it but here they get the chance of presenting what they have been working with.