Lecture v/s demos
Sometimes lectures take too long and they don't leave enough time for demos, when is a lecture too long?
What's more important, lecture or demos?
Making students to participate to the lecture by repeating and emphasize the importance of the information will keep them sharp.
i fill that both are needed but i think demos are more effective
Hi Rose,
Way to analyze the situation and look for ways of maximizing the time to the benefit of the students. You are using all of the teaching moments that become available to you.
Gary
I combine lectures with the demo - sometimes there are periods of down time in the demo and I find that I can use that time effectively by giving mini lectures to hold the students' attention.
It depends on the subject and material but I've read that even adults rarely pay attention for more than 45 minutes in optimal circumstances. If you are lecturing for more time than that without breaking it up you have likely lost your entire audience!
Hi Andrew,
Good approach to helping your students see what skills they need to develop through demonstrations. The notebook idea helps them to take the key points down in their own words for use later on. This helps to make it personal for them.
Gary
As one who teaches in an enviornment of skill based focus, I find that demos reinforce the lecture and help focus the student. I like to have each student take notes on a small notebook that fits in their pocket for referencing and learning the material further.
Hi Christian,
The attention span for adults is 10 to 15 minutes. So I use this as my guide. I plan my lecture points to be around this amount of time and then I have an activity or do a demo. As to the question of which is the most important it all depends on the course that is being taught. If the course is more skill or psychomotor base then the demons become very important to both the imparting of knowledge as well as the understanding of the procedures that are to be followed. It is like teaching someone to ride a bicycle. Explaining helps but there needs to be a bicycle somewhere in the process for application to occur.
Gary
I believe that demo's are more important. With proper planning an Instructor should be able to incorporate the majority of lecture material in discussion during the demo. This way not only will the student see how something is done they will also have the opportunity to learn and see why it is done that way and what the end results are. I believe that we can tell the students things all day long but when we show them the end result has a more positive outcome. In my opinion, this method also reinforces the importance of note taking.
