Flinders Crest Print Version
Teaching Strategies

Lecturing Guidelines

Planning the Lecture

  • Practice using the technology
    • be familiar with the lecture theatre that you will use
    • try the equipment beforehand (microphones, lights, tape recorders)
    • cue any video tapes you want to use
    • work out how you will use your lecture notes
  • Clarify what you want your lecture to achieve
    • Knowledge: acquiring new factual information
    • Comprehension: organising information and making links
    • Application: exposure to how information might be used
  • Consider students' learning styles and entering abilities
    • multiple modes of delivery (visual, audio, reading, writing, discussions, conceptualising)
    • independent, collaborative
    • language sophistication

Planning for Attention

  • After 15 minutes it is difficult to maintain attention in a passive task.
    This results in:
    • lower physiological level of alertness
    • students record fewer notes
    • the notes becoming less accurate
    • notes containing fewer key ideas
  • A student's capacity to attend
    This is affected by:
    • time of day
    • length time after a meal
    • room temperature
    • acoustics
  • Restoring Attention
    • allowing a short rest by stopping the lecture for two minutes
    • changing the nature of demands (move to a visual aid)
    • introducing a new demand on attention (solve a problem)
    • making the task very important (an exam tomorrow)
    • making the task very interesting and relevant to the students' lives
    • making the demands very high (challenging)

Delivering the Lecture

  • Don't tell them all you know
  • Guide the learning
    • revise previous learning
    • present an overview outlining aims, objectives, and key ideas
    • give handouts
    • flag the stages of the lecture
    • repeat the important points
    • map relationships between ideas
    • summarise
  • Pace yourself
    • give yourself enough time for each segment
    • give pauses so students can think
    • perform: this is your life!!!! (have fun!)
    • engage the students in the process
      • cognitive maps or diagrams to fill in
      • list of terms to complete their meanings and/or questions to generate for the next lecture

Keeping Track of the Learning

The exam is too late for valuable learning to take place. Feedback must be quick and relevant and should correct any misconceptions experienced at that time. The page dealing with Feedback has more information on the following techniques:

  • the muddiest point
  • the main idea of the lecture
  • three important points
  • instant questionnaires