Jan
2
To lecture, or not to lecture?
- From time to time, a story hits the media that decries that bastion of undergraduate education, the lecture. It’s too passive, the criticism goes; it encourages rote memorisation rather than promoting conceptual understanding. Cue interesting discussion on Twitter, because some geologists aren’t willing to give up on the lecture quite yet…
- Physicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Tool : NPR
- Re: pseudoteaching and eliminating lectures… I get it, I think, but there’s always room for raw info, context, short readings, etc.
- @kwinkunks Eliminating lectures might work for problem solving physics, but not content driven geology.
- @eruptionsblog Hm, I see your point but I think there’s still room for (lots) more more interactive teaching in geology.
- @kwinkunks Oh yeah, I agree, but getting rid of lectures isn’t feasible in my mind.
- So at least some geoscientists see a place for the ‘sage on the stage’ - and Erik is a lecturer himself.
- @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks Is lecture best way to deliver geology content?
- @mzphyz @kwinkunks It might not always be the best way depending on the topic, but I think it is necessary.
- @mzphyz @eruptionsblog Such a broad subject, hard to generalize. Lectures are only high-impact if the lecturer and the listeners are skilled
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz I mean, lectures are often dull or esoteric, and I’ve seen listeners just sit there & (unsurprisingly) absorb little
- @kwinkunks @mzphyz But lectures never stand alone - they are the foundation that smaller activities and labs are constructed.
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz Right, but I think there’s a benefit to integrating even more, with lecture ‘snippets’ rarely longer than ~20 mins
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz I’m torn tho — in a way, it seems like pandering to short attention spans, low work ethics and entitlement issues…
- It’s less exciting than the ‘total teaching revolution!’ angle, but the consensus seems to be that adapting the lecture format to include more interactive aspects is the best strategy. But it is not without its challenges.
- @eruptionsblog if all profs taught that way this wouldn’t be an issue, but too many just lecture w/ no active learning @kwinkunks @mzphyz
- @kwinkunks completely agree, best learning happens when students have to use information to accomplish something.
- @EarthlikePlanet Yes. Would be truly great if sometimes “accomplish something” meant doing something new, not just completing a toy example
- @kwinkunks @mzphyz Training students how to listen and take effective notes is the key. The pandering is what worries me.
- @kwinkunks @eruptionsblog Skilled listener—key (& seriously neglected) concept. CU classroom/clicker rsch v. interesting on this.
- @mzphyz @kwinuks @ccarrigan @sciencegeekgirl Has anyone ever tried using clickers with small classes? My largest class is 25.
- Expert’s @sciencegeekgirl, but page of resources: bit.ly/vIegix @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks @ccarrigan
- CWSEI - Clicker Resources
Clickers are wireless personal response systems that can be used in a classroom to anonymously and rapidly collect an answer to a questio… - @eruptionsblog @mzphyz @kwinuks @ccarrigan @sciencegeekgirl I used clickers in a 50-student class, but disc worked better w/out them.
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz @kwinuks @ccarrigan @sciencegeekgirl Also, the expense to students was a problem - finances often hinder my students.
- Clickers are quite big at the moment. I saw a poster at AGU which was experimenting with a mobile web app rather than dedicated equipment (although smart phones are still not cheap).
- But we digress…
- @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks What do you regard as content in ‘content-driven’? I’m thinking facts/information. Versus methods/how-to/process.
- @mzphyz @kwinkunks I’m thinking the background facts/ideas needed to actually tackle process and methods.
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz For the sake of the students’ critical thinking, the key there is to be clear about what is fact and what is idea :)
- @kwinkunks @eruptionsblog Maybe personal idiosyncrasy, but lectures’ve always seemed inefficient way to impart/absorb straight information..
- @mzphyz @kwinkunks I guess I’m in the minority these days when it comes to the use of lectures. I guess I’m old fashioned.
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz @kwinkunks Some people are better able to get content from lectures than others, but overall, most efficient way…
- …to get students to low-level cognitive objectives (knowledge, comprehension) Attention to S interaction can address application objs…
- But higher-level objs. (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) can’t be addressed well w/lecture.
- @mzphyz @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks Which means that in strictly lecture class, some S’s at disadvantage thru no fault of their own.
- @mzphyz @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks I’m not advocating for or against lectures per se, but like diet, lecture should be part of mix & balance.
- @lockwooddewitt I couldn’t say it better. @mzphyz @kwinkunks
- @lockwooddewitt @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks Efficient for..? Institution/prof/student? Convenient for 1st 2, often low S/N for last. IMHO :-).
- @mzphyz @lockwooddewitt @kwinkunks I’ve got nothing else - I just know that I (and others I know) did fine with lectures & readings (con)
- @eruptionsblog @mzphyz @kwinkunks Again, those of us who do OK with lecture say, “it worked fine for me.” But ONLY lecture unfair to some.
- This is a good point - those who end up doing the teaching are those who did well under the current system. This might lead to a skewed perspective of it’s overall effectiveness.
- @lockwooddewitt @mzphyz @kwinkunks I would never teach a “lecture only” class & at the same time, never a “no lecture” class. Mix is best.
- Just to show that there are no simple answers here, Lockwood reminds us that there truly is nothing new under the sun:
- Historically, Turn against lecture has happened before: post-Sputinik alphabet curricula (early 60’s), mid-late ‘70’s, late 90’s-present.
- What I’m seeing at higher ed level echoes what I’ve seen at grade school levels, and misses point. Issue is to integrate lecture w/other…
- …methods, not “lecture is the/is no way to teach. It is ONE way of many, and should be balanced with at least a few others.
- @eruptionsblog @lockwooddewitt @mzphyz I like the idea of letting reading do most of the background, then working & discussing in class
- @kwinkunks @lockwooddewitt @mzphyz I’ve try the “read and discuss” model and it only works when all the students carefully read - a rarity.
- @kwinkunks @lockwooddewitt @mzphyz Instead, everyone just stares at each other silently for an hour. Students need tools before discussion
- It seems that we might need more data, then.
- @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks @mzphyz I’d love to see an anti-lecturing advocate run an open (recoreded) class instead of “lecturing” about it.
- @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks @mzphyz The std. model when ugrad was “read before lecture.” Pig-headed me, I skimmed, clarified, examined after.
- @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks @mzphyz But I was not typical S, in that I honestly wanted to know and understand, was indifferent to grades.
- @lockwooddewitt @eruptionsblog @mzphyz Heh, ‘indifferent to grades’ does not characterize a lot of students today…
- @lockwooddewitt @eruptionsblog @mzphyz I feel like the thrill of discovery and intellectual freedom is missing from the undergrad world
- @kwinkunks @lockwooddewitt @mzphyz How so? There are many opportunities for such if they take it - but many are still too grade oriented.
- This is indeed a problem, although in many ways it is a rational response by the students to the system they find themselves in.So lecturing is not dead. Nor is it perfect, but nor should it be killed. I support this point with reference to another educational tool that gets a lot of bad press:
- @eruptionsblog @kwinkunks @lockwooddewitt @mzphyz I think lectures are like Powerpoint: possible to use very well, easy to use badly ;-)
Posted at 10:53 PM
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