UW-Stout
Teaching and Learning Center
June 2007
Lecture Strategies
In response to many comments about lecturing and active learning, the TLC has assembled this annotated bibliography of sites that give clear, helpful advice on lecturing and combining lecturing and active learning.
A. Look over these four sites first.
Lecture planning and Lecturing
Douglas D. Dankel II. University of Florida.
http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~ddd/lecturing-talk/index.htm
A PowerPoint on Rationale and presentation of lectures.
See especially “Types of Lectures” http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~ddd/lecturing-talk/sld006.htm (five types: Informal oral essay – persuasive; Expository - explain what and why; Provocative - challenge and question assumptions; Demonstration - how to; Lecture – discussion). Read slides 6, 7, 8.
Preparing to Teach the Large Lecture Course
Office of Educational Development. UC-Berkley
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/largelecture.html
(excerpted from Tools for Teaching, Barbara Gross Davis)
Key Point: “Research shows that lecturing is as effective as other instructional methods,such as discussion, in transmitting information but less effective in promoting independent thought or developing students' thinking skills (Bligh, 1971). In addition to presenting facts, try to share complex intellectual analyses, synthesize several ideas, clarify controversial issues, or compare and contrast different points of view.”
Explains five types of lectures: Expository lecture; Interactive lecture; Problem solving, demonstrations, proofs, and stories; Case study method; Short lectures framing discussion periods.
Active Learning With PowerPoint
University of Minnesota. Center for Teaching and Learning Services.
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/
Includes sections on how to assess whether students grasp the point, various strategies to use in class, and an example of active lecturing
See especially “Twelve Active Learning Strategies”
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/learning.html
(Opening Question, Introductory Think-Pair-Share, Focused Listing, Brainstorm, Questions, Think-Pair-Share, Note Check, Question and Answer Pairs, Two-minute paper, If you could ask one last question, Final question)
And “Using PowerPoint to Facilitate Classroom Assessment Techniques”
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/assessment.html
(Focused listening, Two-minute paper, muddiest point, classroom opinion poll)
Interaction Skills
Center For Teaching Excellence. University of Illinois. http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/Did/docs/QUESTION/quest_foreword.htm
A comprehensive but easy to grasp discussion of effective ways to question. Key Point: “Some instructors believe that interjecting questions during instruction is a natural process which should be spontaneous. However, questions can become an effective teaching strategy when employed thoughtfully and less than effective when poorly employed.”
B. Other Effective Sites.
Delivering Effective Lectures.
Rick Sullivan and Noel Macintosh.
Reproline: the Reading Room.. Orig. pub by US Agency for International Development.
Discussion of effective and ineffective lectures, when to lecture, and interactive lectures. This paper is linked by many sites.
Developing Active Lectures: Eight Steps to Effective Lecturing.
Center of Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development, Ferris State University.
The eight steps focus on relating to students and include tips on activities for mid-lecture and methods of holding attention.
Ten Ways to Make Your Teaching More Effective
Office of Educational Development. UC-Berkley.
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/tenways.html
Tips on every aspect of teaching, including building interaction.
Suggestions for Effective Lecture Preparation and Delivery
University of Minnesota. Center for Teaching and Learning Services.
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/guides/effective.html
Focuses on introduction, body, and closing.
Traditional Teaching Effective Lectures
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Center for Teaching Excellence.
http://cte.umdnj.edu/traditional_teaching/traditional_lecture.cfm
This is an amazing bibliography with links to, eventually, hundreds of sites. Also check their Active Learning Site http://cte.umdnj.edu/active_learning/index.cfm
Crafting Effective Lectures
UMBC Faculty Development Center. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County).
http://www.umbc.edu/fdc/fdceffectivelectures.htm
“Lecturers begin at a disadvantage. As Bligh points out, lectures are most effective at communicating information, but less effective than other teaching strategies in promoting thinking, inspiring interest in a subject, or teaching behavioral skills. But this does not mean that lectures can't motivate students or provide the structured knowledge students need to explore and resolve problems in a discipline.”
Preparing Effective Lectures
New Mexico Wing. Aerospace Education. United States Air Force Auxillary. Civil Air Patrol.
http://cybermesa.com/~bjackson/Papers/EffectiveLecturesH.htm
Strategies for involving your listeners and for maximizing understanding
(excerpt from Active Training: A handbook of techniques, designs, case examples and tips.)
Triple A Approach to Lecture Intervention—Project Portal Co-operative Learning Object Exchange
http://www.newmediaworkshops.com/tripleAlecture/
CLOE is a collaboration between Ontario universities and colleges for the development, sharing, and reuse of multimedia-rich learning resources
See especially “Resource Links”
http://www.newmediaworkshops.com/tripleAlecture/
And in “Resource Links,” be sure to look at the rather complex but good “Processes for Developing Powerful Pedagogy, and Increasing Instructional Repertoire”
http://ltag.education.tas.gov.au/proflearn/pedagogy/processes.htm
Types of Lectures
Elmhurst College Learning Center
Written to help students, this site classifies lecturers as Textbook Repeaters, Just New Stuff, and Half and Half.