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How many times have you stood at the front of a lecture
hall half way through a critical presentation only to be greeted by the
silent scream: Stop it! You're killing me!
Every teacher who's ever been there knows the lecture hall is a tough
room. So how do the masters connect with their students? How do they
keep their students heads from doing the nod and snap as they barely
remain conscious? How do they keep them interested and engaged for 50
minutes?
Although many articles have been written on the subject, one of the best
is How About a Quick One? by North Carolina State University chemical
engineering professor Richard M. Felder.
In it Felder observes: "Of all instructional methods, lecturing is the
most common, the easiest, and the least effective." Hardly an
encouraging statement, but he goes on to describe some simple ways for
retooling dull lecture practices with more interesting and active
instructional methods.
Some that have proven both effective and efficient include:
- In-class Group Problem-Building
- In-class Group Problem-Solving
- In-class Group Trouble-Shooting
- In-class Group Brainstorming
- In-class Reflection and Question Generating
One or two of these, taking roughly five minutes each, strategically
breaks up a lecture period, stimulates class participation, engages
student attention and elevates interest in the subject at hand, all of
which maximizes the teaching moment.
The only time you really want hear the "Stop it! You're killing me" line
is in somebody else's comedy routine. Boring is as boring does. If
you're bored with the lecture you've prepared, what of your students?
You don't have to be a spellbinder to be a good teacher but, as Felder
observes, there are definitely "better ways" of presenting lectures and,
in doing so, becoming a better teacher.
To learn more about implementing active instructional methods in your
classroom lectures, read Felder's complete article - online at:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Columns/
Quickone.html |
