Lecturing 1
Orientation
Learning outcome: Completing the activities on this screen will introduce you to the content and purpose of this course.
Lecturing scared
I recently read that what people are afraid of, more than all other horrors and threats, is public speaking. Lecturing is one of the first things new teachers are asked to do, and it can be one of the most anxiety-provoking. Some new lecturers cope perfectly well with this anxiety. But some, inexperienced lecturers adopt tactics that are intended primarily to reduce their own anxiety so they can get through the hour with as little likelihood of humiliation as possible. They might over prepare so they do not run out of material; they might fill the entire hour talking as fast as possible, hardly daring to pause for breath for fear of a student using the gap as an opportunity to ask a question. Such lectures can be deadly dull and no one can remember a thing the lecturer said – but at least they survived! Some new lecturers focus largely on the content – making sure they appear to know everything – rather than concentrating on what students need to know. Some concentrate on their own performance – rather than on what students should be doing during the lecture.
Screen duration
At the top of each screen you will see an indication of the approximate time it will take to complete the core content. These estimates include time to watch videos and complete activities in the central section, but not to complete the 'Optional activities'.
Optional activity
Throughout the course you will see optional activities on the right-hand side of the screen, asking you to apply what you have read or reflect further. Some of the documents you produce will make good additions to your teaching portfolio. In these cases, you will find the following portfolio icon.
This course will address issues such as anxiety – but its main focus reaches beyond pure survival and into the crucial question of how to ensure that students to actually learn something from lectures – and the answer does not involve talking all the time! The aim is to provide useful guidance for the 'new lecturer' and a refresher for more experienced lecturers who would like to build their confidence, solve problems and improve their students' learning and satisfaction.
Below is a brief overview and introduction to the chapters in the course files.
Chapters 1 and 2 explore lecturers' personal preferences and the research evidence about lecturing.
There are many myths about how to lecture and often strong local conventions about how it should be done. Colleagues are likely to have their own preferences and advice. But we know from research a great deal about what lectures are actually good for – and what they are unlikely to achieve – about problems students face in attending to lectures, and about what aspects of lecturing make most difference to student learning.
Chapter 3 will consider how to organise content in lectures.
Many new lecturers worry about their own expertise in the subject – whether they know enough and how they will manage to get across all they know. So next we shall look at how to organise your material and structure your lecture: introducing, signposting and closing lectures and creating a coherent overview of the topics you are dealing with so that students do not get lost.
Chapter 4 contains useful insights into using technology and the role of questions and answers in lectures.
Exploiting technology
Throughout, attention will be given to the impact of information technology on lecturing – not just clever uses of technology in the lecture itself, but about how easy student access to information has changed the role of lectures and what it is sensible to use them for.
Questions
Finally, we examine how to ask students questions during lectures so that they are likely to answer them, and how to elicit questions from students and answer them in such a way that they will ask questions again in the future.
Lecturing 2
A second course, 'Lecturing 2', will help to build greater confidence in lecturing. It deals with further issues about lecturing, including how to introduce active learning and discussion, how to deal with problems and incidents that arise during lectures, how to support students with varied needs and how to improve your lecturing.
Pods
On the right-hand side of many of the course screens, you will find 'pods' containing extra information and advice, quotations, optional activities, and helpful download documents. There are a couple of examples at the top of this screen. Do take the time to explore them.