Interactive Lecturing

February 2, 2017 - (PDF) 

Popular pieces over the past several years, such as “Are College Lectures Unfair?” and “Lecture Me. Really.”, have prompted college instructors across the country to revisit what the research says, and what their own experiences tell them, about lecturing as a teaching strategy. In his classic book, What’s the Use of Lectures? (2000), Donald Bligh concluded:

• The lecture is as effective as other methods for transmitting information.
• Most lectures are not as effective as discussion for promoting thought.
• Changing attitudes should not normally be the major objective of a lecture.
  • Lectures are relatively ineffective for teaching values associated with subject matter.
  • Lectures are relatively ineffective for inspiring interest in a subject.
  • Lectures are relatively ineffective for personal and social adjustment.
• Lectures are relatively ineffectively for teaching behavioral skills.

In the oft-cited “Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research” (2004), however, Michael Prince found that “introducing activity into lectures can significantly improve recall of information while extensive evidence supports the benefits of student engagement” (226). More recent metaanalyses, such as Freeman et al. (2014)’s, confirm the benefits of integrating active learning into the traditional classroom.

Bligh’s own book contains many suggestions for interweaving lectures and other instructional strategies (see, for instance, chapter 18) and other scholars, such as Cooper, Robinson, and Ball (2006), have proposed specific activities such as “quick-thinks” to make lectures more interactive. Along these lines, our friends at the Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Louis University have prepared a helpful chart of several “Interactive Lecturing Strategies” (also attached):

• The feedback lecture
• The guided lecture
• The responsive lecture
• The one-minute paper
• The pause procedure
• The lecture quiz
• Note review/comparison
• Think/pair/share

Please see the attachment for a brief description of each of these activities, along with their sources. As always, members of the CFI team would be happy to brainstorm with you about implementing or fine-tuning any of these strategies.