I really like Vinci and Kitty’s approach to this topic, by providing different examples from different aspects to let use share our opinions through compare and contrasting them. This really sparked some debate about which picture is more inspiring, and which title is better.
In this seminar, we first compared different examples of paragraphs, titles, and pictures respectively. These are the main elements in a blog post. After that, we discussed about the purpose of reading blog posts, it is really important to know the purpose of our audience. Finally, after knowing all the important elements, and purpose for a blog post, the hosts gave us an example of a blog post, and we shared what we think is good/bad about this post. Instead of piling up a bunch of good blog post related questions in PowerPoint, this structure gradually triggers our thinking about what a good blog post is, ultimately forming a whole picture of a good blog post. I think it would be nice if future seminar could use similar structure.
I think the most inspiring thing about this seminar is the comparing and contrasting way of asking question, this approach is especially good for seminar topics that consists more of personal opinions, debatable, and not so academic.
I agree with you. I remember some of our earlier seminars last year featured some successful use of images or comparative texts but it has been a while since any leaders attempted this.
When I first started pioneering this seminar approach in university, leaders often did this. I’ve been in seminars where the leaders introduced some visualized data (a graph or chart) and the subsequent discussion was about how to interpret the data and drawing conclusions. In the design university I worked in, we had interesting discussion on the minutiae of differences between fonts and the impact this has on a reader. Interesting stuff and useful knowledge for you to take with you into high school and beyond 🙂
Also good to see that you have noted the importance of a clear title 🙂