Issue 24, Spring 2003

William A. McEachern, Editor

Some Lecture Tips

Active learning is timely and promising, but most instructors still lecture most of the time. Here are some tips that may help your students learn: (1) Provide an outline or a handout that offers students the structure of the day's class. Students seem to do better when they know where things are going. (2) Write important material on the blackboard, overheads, or whatever your medium. Say it, then repeat it as you write it, then say it again (repetition is the mother of mastery). (3) Show students how you construct each graph, including labeling the axes. If students are presented with a finished graph, they never learn how to build it and can't do so on exams. (4) Adopt a well-spaced presentation, one that allows students to absorb and process information. (5) If you supply handouts, provide enough room on them for students to take notes. (6) Give students two or three short breaks during the class period, providing them a minute or two to briefly summarize the main ideas from the previous 15 minutes. (7) Try to avoid information overload with transparencies, slides, and other media. Such buildup seems to occur toward the end of the term, as instructors try to get back on schedule. And (8), tell students what your tests are like and what level of expertise you expect from them. The course should not be like some giant scavenger hunt. These suggestions probably seem obvious, but success is a study of the obvious.

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