Урок 11 клас " Вища освіта"

                      The Demonstrative Lesson                                                                                                                                                       “A University Degree. Is it Worth Getting?”

 Objectives:

• To improve students’ knowledge and use of the lexical material on the topic “ Higher Education”;
• To develop listening and communication skills on topic;
• To provide the students with an opportunity to express and justify their opinions about getting a university degree, using the lexical structures as: In my opinion/ view; I think/ believe that; I am strongly/ totally in favour of/ against; It seems/ appears to me that;
• To motivate the students to operate group activities in order to know better how to cooperate within a group;
• To stimulate the students’ critical thinking and spontaneous speaking while discussing for and against studying at a university;
• To train the students to make their own conclusions and to share them with the other students;
• To provide the students with the information about of the most popular universities in the world;

Equipment and visual aids:

• Pictures of the top world universities ;
• Handout material;
• TV and a flash drive.

Procedure of the Lesson

1. Preliminaries of the Lesson

Warming up activity.

Greetings.

Good morning, dear students! I’m glad to see you at the lesson. Let’s greet our dear guests.

 And now I’d like to start our lesson with watching the video and after that we’ll find out the topic of our lesson. (The video “Top Famous Universities in the World of 2018”)

So, what are your assumptions (speculations) about the topic we are going to discuss today?  (Students’ answers)

Great, you’re right! Today we’ll talk about higher education and discuss all for and against points of getting a university degree. Would you like to study at one those   you’ve seen in the video? Why are they so famous all around the world?

I think it is the most important and a topical subject for you currently, as all of you are finishing school this year and deciding about your future career and  what university to choose.     Have you already chosen the university? Or maybe, some of you decided not to go to university? And who is right: those students who want to get a degree or those who think that it is not necessary for them?                    That’s why I’d like to know your points of view about getting a degree. So, I suggest to discuss the topic and express your ideas.

2. Introduction

Practicing the lexical material

Well, students, to begin with, I’d like to know if you understand and can operate the lexical material on topic well. Look at these words and phrases  and give them the definitions or synonyms:

• A university – ( an educational institution that promotes learning and where students study for a degree);
• A university graduate – ( a person that has completed course at a university);
• To get a degree – ( to graduate from the university, to complete the education at the university);
• Tuition fees – ( money students pay to a university for education);
• To win a scholarship to a university – (to be given full funding to attend an educational institution due to high grades and quality of work);
• To do well in your exams –( to achieve good results in a test);
• A gap year – ( it is a break students take before returning to a permanent job or university study, when they need more time to decide what to do in life);
• To drop out – ( to stop doing smth before finishing it);
• Due to – (because of);
• Determined – ( firmly decided);
• Skills –(the ability to do smth well; talents);
• To struggle – ( to fight, try very hard);
• To establish a business – ( to start / set up your private company);
• To require – (  to demand of,  to expect)

Well done, children,  I see that you know the lexical material well. So, let’s continue our lesson.

3. Main part of the lesson

Developing speaking skills

Look at the board, please! Here you can see the photos of the most famous and considered to be the best universities in the world, we have watched the video about at the beginning of the lesson.  Would you like to study at one of them? Of course, I’m sure that you would! So, now let’s discuss what are the benefits of studying and getting a university degree? 

You have the handouts on your desks. There are some phrases that can help you to think of the ideas and express your point of view. Skip them through. You have 1 minute.

• To become a well/ high qualified specialist;
• To become a more self-confident and more independent person;
• To get well-paid job in the future;
• To make interesting acquaintances and meet lifelong friends;
• To be disciplined and determined;
• To build character and develop your skills and talents;
• To learn how to get along with people of different backgrounds and cultures;
• A lot of employers require a diploma, necessary skills and qualification
• To become more mature and responsible;
• To get a valuable experience of communication with intelligent people/Academe;
• To become a highly educated and broadminded person;
• To have more opportunities to establish a successful business in the future;
• To have more opportunities in the life and to be in demand as high- qualified specialist;
• To hold a higher position in a society and fulfill your own ambitious;
• To get a prestigious job and then get a promotion in a career;
• To have better level of life and better working conditions.

One more point, students, while making sentences in order to express your opinion and justifications, don’t forget using the necessary linking words.

You may see them in the table on the board:

• To list/ add points: Firstly, First of all, To start/ begin with, Secondly, Finally, In addition, Furthermore, Moreover
• To introduce advantages:  The first/Another advantage of, One point in favour of, Without a doubt, Certainly there are many arguments…
• To introduce examples/ justifications: For example/ instance, such as, like, because, as, since, as a result, therefore…
• To give your opinion: I think / believe that…, I am strongly/ totally in favour of…., In my opinion/ view, It seems/ appears to me that….

Great job, children! Wonderful, you’ve made a long list of benefits and the reasons why young people should get a degree.  But what do you think are there  only good points of studying at the university? Or maybe there are some difficulties or even drawbacks?

 I suggest listening to a text which is called “What’s a university education worth?” It’s about the situation in the UK and what do British people think about getting a university education nowadays.

Developing listening skills

You have the handouts on the desks and before listening the text, in order to understand everything well, let’s do some work. Use the words and phrases in the table to complete the sentences below.

Pre-listening vocabulary activity

There are some more tasks, so while listening to the text decide if each of the statements are true or false. Then complete the sentences using vocabulary from the preparation activity.

               Transcript

             After listening activity

Now we realize what problems students can face during studying and after graduation.

           Group work.  Developing spontaneous speech

 Next I suggest to divide into two groups, one of the group will be the representatives from the different universities. Their task is to tell the students about all the advantages of studying at the university and persuade them to enter the university and get a higher education.

Another group is the free- lancers and people who don’t have a university degree, but they have a successful business or career. Their task is to tell the student about all problems they face while studying at the university and after graduation.

The downsides of studying at the university:

• High prices for tuition fees;
• It is always stressful to pass examinations;
• It is not easy to get a well-paid job for a person with a degree;
• Almost all prosperous companies require work experience;
• Students experience a lot of difficulties living alone, miss their families and friends;
• The workload is very huge, consequently a lot of students  struggle to keep up or decide to drop out;
• It can be a waste of time if you can change a decision about your future career;
• It can be hard to make friends and get along with students of different backgrounds;
• Studying at the university is very expensive, so a lot of students have to borrow money and this can create debts;
• Life after university ends up being quite disappointing for a lot of graduates;
• Graduates often feel their first job doesn’t live up to their expectations;
• The lectures at the university give you guidance, but you have to do an enormous amount of research by yourself
• It is a good idea to take an online course in order to get the necessary education;
• To take a gap year if you need more time to decide what you really want to do in your life.

Presenting the answers. Discussion.

Making conclusions.

Thus, children, we’ve known and discussed all the advantages and drawbacks of getting a university degree. So, I want to know what decisions you have come to about our question and actually the topic of our lesson?  “A university degree. Is it worth getting?” Maybe somebody has changed the decision?

 Here you can see different cards. I ask you take one of them and stick on the board into three columns. The red cards with the benefits, the blue ones with the drawbacks, and the green are the other suggestions. (Students’ answers)

Great, children, we can see that all of you consider that it is necessary and very important to get a higher education in any case. And all of you are going to enter a higher institution and to get a degree. I’m very satisfied with your work today. All of you were active, worked hard and gave very interesting ideas throughout the lesson. ( Announcing the pupils’ marks)

Setting the home task

Choose a university you like or you are going to enter  and write an essay about all for and against points or  an advertising brochure about the requirements for admission, degree courses, a scholarship, awarding programmes , extracurricular activities and some more interesting information about this university.

 I’d like to finish our lesson and say that important thing is that, you learn to love something, work hard, be focused and disciplined and then you will be ready for when the right opportunity comes your way! So, I wish you good luck and find yourself in the life and be successful in any case.

 And as the Roman philosopher Epictetus said “ Only the educated are free!” I mean free in their thoughts, in their actions and in their choice.

To become a well/ high qualified specialist;

To become a more self-confident and more independent person;

To get well-paid job in the future;

To make interesting acquaintances and meet lifelong friends;

To be disciplined and determined;

To build character and develop your skills and talents;

To learn how to get along with people of different backgrounds and cultures;

To become more mature and responsible;

To get a valuable experience of communication with intelligent people/Academe;

To become a highly educated and broadminded person;

To have more opportunities to establish a successful business in the future;

To hold a higher position in a society and fulfill your own ambitious;

To get a prestigious job and then get a promotion in a career;

To have better level of life and better working conditions.

A university

To get a degree

Tuition fees

To win a scholarship to a university

A gap year

To drop out

To establish a business

Determined

To require   

Skills

To struggle

To establish a business

To require   

The downsides of studying at the university:

• High prices for tuition fees;
• It is always stressful to pass examinations;
• It is not easy to get a well-paid job for a person with a degree;
• Almost all prosperous companies require work experience;
• Students experience a lot of difficulties living alone, miss their families and friends;
• The workload is very huge, consequently a lot of students  struggle to keep up or decide to drop out;
• It can be a waste of time if you can change a decision about your future career;
• It can be hard to make friends and get along with students of different backgrounds;
• Studying at the university is very expensive, so a lot of students have to borrow money and this can create debts;
• Life after university ends up being quite disappointing for a lot of graduates;
• Graduates often feel their first job doesn’t live up to their expectations;
• The lectures at the university give you guidance, but you have to do an enormous amount of research by yourself
• It is a good idea to take an online course in order to get the necessary education;
• To take a gap year if you need more time to decide what you really want to do in your life.

The benefits of going to university:

• To become a well/ high qualified specialist;
• To become a more self-confident and more independent person;
• To get well-paid job in the future;
• To make interesting acquaintances and meet lifelong friends;
• To be disciplined and determined;
• To build character and develop your skills and talents;
• To learn how to get along with people of different backgrounds and cultures;
• A lot of employers require a diploma, necessary skills and qualification
• To become more mature and responsible;
• To get a valuable experience of communication with intelligent people/Academe;
• To become a highly educated and broadminded person;
• To have more opportunities to establish a successful business in the future;
• To have more opportunities in the life and to be in demand as high- qualified specialist;
• To hold a higher position in a society and fulfill your own ambitious;
• To get a prestigious job and then get a promotion in a career;
• To have better level of life and better working conditions.

High prices for tuition fees

It is always stressful to pass examinations

It is not easy to get a well-paid job for a person with a degree

Almost all prosperous companies require work experience

Students experience a lot of difficulties living alone, miss their families and friends

The workload is very huge, consequently a lot of students  struggle to keep up or decide to drop out

It can be a waste of time if you can change a decision about your future career

It can be hard to make friends and get along with students of different backgrounds

Studying at the university is very expensive, so a lot of students have to borrow money and this can create debts

Life after university ends up being quite disappointing for a lot of graduates

Graduates often feel their first job doesn’t live up to their expectations

The lectures at the university give you guidance, but you have to do an enormous amount of research by yourself

It is a good idea to take an online course in order to get the necessary education

To take a gap year if you need more time to decide what you really want to do in your life

You can work and get an extramural or correspondent education