Lecturing
As an instructor who primarily delivers course content through lecture, I find it necessary to almost put on a show to make students pay attention. But if the show goes well, all are happy.
Hi Jenni,
Right you are. Lectures are for sharing content as well as getting students involved in the learning process. By keeping it entertaining the students are having fun as well as being helped to focus.
Gary
I agree that it is that lectures must be entertaining. I also feel that the lectures are a place to talk about professional experience and where that subject applied. The lecture is also as stated in the last reply a place to engage students and make them feel part of the lecture and they usually appreciate being talked with instead of talked at or to.
A good show is indeed what it is, you can not give them to much at once. You have to work vital information in small bits, occasionally ease back to see if eeryone is getting the correct needed information.
Hi John,
I hear you loud and clear since I start teaching at 4 and finish at 10. My students are tired and I have to work extra hard to keep them engaged using a wide variety of activities.
Gary
I'm glad I'm not the only one! Jokes, stories, powerpoint, video clips, especially with night classes you have to keep them awake to educate them!
Hi Charles,
Great to hear how the material has been of help to you. I am excited for you and to hear about how your benefit from all of your efforts.
Gary
The material on lecture has given me a new look at being in the front of the class, wearing many hats to have a success story is unique in itself. The studen experience should be comfortable in how they receive the shared information using the different learning-styles. I am looking forward to apply some of these new found methods.
Absolutely! It is definately a show. Tjhis genereation is also used to watching TV all the time(generally) so we also have keep it as seamless and smooth running and entertainig as possible. i do make my lectures interactive soliciting questions frequnetly from the students.
Useful.
The attention span of adults is an important consideration, as incorporation of the "min-lectures" and class participation.
Hi Bruce,
You make a number of good points about different delivery methods and class management strategies. Our different personalities have us bring different methods to the classroom. What we have to do as instructors is to keep the needs of our students at the center of our planning. In my years as an educator I have found that students do like to be entertained and have fun while learning. Thus, I plan my classes to offer such. I set high standards and have clear polices for my students to follow. I have never had any problems with students feeling the courses were not of merit because we took some time to laugh or play a course content game, etc.
Yes, each "show" will be different depending upon the instructors and their abilities to deliver content. That is the interesting part of teaching for students. We are all different so they get to see many different ways of approaching their career field content.
Gary
Although putting on a show is, for some of us, a frightening concept. I know with some of the "traditional" teachers I work with, the concept of entertaining to any degree is not only a foreign concept but also one that is slightly frowned on. "We should just be able to present the information without having to motivate the students; they're here to learn, not to have fun!" seems to be the operating procedure here. I think that every teacher does need to have a good show, but with the realization that this show will be different for each teacher. Some like jokes, some like stories, some like emotion-charged delivery, and some like bright pictures and bullet points -- work on strengths and develop weak areas.
Absolutely will this method work. Time and time again, this is usually a fool-proof way of engaging the students.
Hi Carlos,
Hope the mini-lectures work out for you. If you pause and let them catch their brains up with the content then they will stay engaged and focused on the content.
Gary
Lecturing is the hardest part of any course. Too long and you lose the student's attention. I like the suggestion of breaking up the lectures with demonstrations or case studies.
Gary is right about edutainment. We live in an entertainment society...just look at the proliferation of hand-held entertainment units, big screen TV, computers, and the list goes on.
People are socialized to value being entertained. Church speakers are flamboyant, pitchmen are hilarious, and even some traffic cops put on a show. In a recession, it is said that show-business is recession proof. What's a teacher to do in an entertainment-society!
Yes, the simple answer is become an "edutainer." But, that's not so simple...it takes study, creativity, and practice. Oh, not to mention timing! Humorous antecdotes, simple magic tricks, appropriate Gary Larsen cartoons, challenging interactive games, and the like just don't happen. To be an edutainer, one must be creative, rehearse, practice in front of others, develop a keen awareness of the arousal level of the "audience," and above all enjoy what s/he is doing. I'd write more, but now, I have to go practice the endless rope trick. I'm teaching Monday.
Hi J,
What are some of the factors you consider when you rethink your presentation strategy?
Gary
lecturing is a form of art if you deliver the relevant points without any misundertanding then the students will maximise their learning. but there is always some one that did not got it so you have to rethink your strategy
That's exactly how I feel too. That it's like a performance. I am excited to try these mini lectures idea. Usually I lecture, group discussion, question for 45 minutes then take a break.
I totally agree the more engaging you are the longer you can keep their attention and i find they retain more of the information as well
