Lecturing: A Practical Guide

208 Pages·2002·11.95 MB·English

by  Sally Brown, Phil Race

lecturing
a practical guide
sally brown & phil race
First published in 2002
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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Stylus Publishing Inc.
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© Sally Brown and Phil Race, 2002
The right of Sally Brown and Phil Race to be identified as the authors of this work has
been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-203-41699-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-44236-9 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0 7494 3671 9 (Print Edition)
Contents
Foreword vi
Acknowledgements viii
1. Introductions 1
2. What is ‘lecturing’? 13
Lecturing is… 14
What does this tell us? 20
3. Histories, philosophies and architecture 21
Architectures… 25
The lecture theatre: a place for learning? 26
So what can we do? 30
Conclusion 41
4. Why have lectures? 42
What really is the use of lectures? 44
Rationales for lectures 49
Why lecture…? 50
Reasons enough for lectures? 63
5. What can you do in your lectures? 64
Lecturers’ views 64
Actions speak louder than words? 66
Making our words work 74
Towards a teaching taxonomy? 78
6. Lecturing tools 81
iv
So what tools have we to master now? 85
Fit-for-purpose usage of lecture-room tools 87
From blackboards to whiteboards? 87
Using on-screen words and images 89
Using overhead projectors 92
Data projectors, computers and laptops 96
Using presentation packages 98
‘Now you see it, now it’s gone’ 103
Don’t panic 103
Conclusion 105
7. What can students do in lectures? 107
What do lecturers expect? 107
What do students do (or expect to do) in lectures? 108
Analysing what students do in lectures 110
Keeping attention engaged 113
What about learning payoff during lectures? 114
What else can lecturers do in lectures to help keep students 123
focused and attentive?
Conclusion 124
8. Before and after lectures 125
What do lecturers do before their lectures? 125
So what could we do before our lectures? 127
What about after a lecture? 128
What do lecturers want students to do before and after 134
lectures?
9. Linking lectures to other teaching/learning activities 139
So where do lectures fit into the bigger picture of teaching 142
and learning?
Linking lectures to tutorials 145
v
Linkinglectures to seminars 149
Minding all those other gaps! 154
1 Inclusive lecturing: encompassing diverse students 157
0.
Hearing impairments 159
Sight impairments 161
Dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties 161
Mobility impairments 162
Mental health issues 163
Hidden impairments 163
What about the workers? 164
1 How do I know how I’m doing? 165
1.
Feedback or evaluation? 166
Methods for obtaining studentfeedback on lecturing 167
Methods for gaining feedbackfrom peers 175
Evaluating your own lecturing 178
Appendix: More definitions of ‘lecturing’ 182
Postcript 191
References and further reading 192
Index 195
Foreword
If you give lectures you may find yourself pictured within. What’s
worse, others may recognize you when you don’t!
Every university has a few Professor Oakwoods. This professor is
well intentioned and conscientiously worked hard at lectures when
first putting them together, but has become complacent and unwilling
to learn any of the new tricks now available. Underneath there’s some
yearning after yesteryear and a primary interest in research and
students who will go on to be research collaborators.
Dr Arbuthnott on the other hand enjoys giving a performance with
all the latest technology. The only trouble is that admiration of the
performance has become more important for this lecturer than
students’ learning from it.
In contrast Bill hates lecturing and is so nervous that he went from
bad to worse and stayed there in spite of all his attempts to prepare
his subject matter thoroughly. He really needs some help from
colleagues or the staff development unit, but is too embarrassed to ask
and fears even more embarrassment if he did. He responds well to
students in small groups or the lab and would do better using that
strength in lecture classes rather than trying to give a performance.
Louise is always in a rush, not fully prepared, dashes in, and gives
the appearance of being disorganized.
Anya Wilenska brings with her the values and expectations of her
native country where lecturers deliver lectures of a high academic
standard, without interruptions, to large classes and leave students
with the responsibility of studying to understand them. To adjust to
their needs is, for her, to compromise those standards.
Though not as portraits, there is an equally characteristic set of
students’ comments. But I must say no more, or I will spoil your
enjoyment of the book.
One of the great virtues of this book is the accessibility of the
practical advice it contains. It is an orchard among others in its field.
vii
Each chapter is a tree that can be viewed as a structure on its own. On
nearly every tree there are bullet points of fruit. You may harvest
them all at once and store them in your memory for use when you
need them; or when hungry for a particular piece of advice you may
survey them all on the tree and pluck one or more that most satisfies
your immediate need.
The way I would use this book is to view the plan of the orchard as a
whole and then go to a particular tree, survey the fruit and note what
is available without committing them all to the store. Then when I
have need, I will know where to go for what I want.
But not everyone works in the same way. Some will begin at the
beginning and work through systematically. Others may do that for
specific chapters and neglect the rest. You could, like students
deriving pleasure from observing a demonstration without making the
effort to learn anything from it, simply enjoy the portraits I mentioned
without doing any of the hard work. That’s a temptation like looking
at the pictures without getting to grips with their significance. We’ve
all done that sometimes.
Yet the hard work is worth it. Sally Brown and Phil Race offer the
fruits of considerable experience in helping lecturers young and old.
They have written widely on lecturing, The Lecturers’ Toolkit and
2000 Tips for Lecturers (both published by Kogan Page) being
particularly well known. They have a combined half-century of
working in higher education and have run workshops on lecturing
with over a thousand academic staff. In preparing this book they
consulted more than 200 people who have contributed their ideas and
experience.
Furthermore you will find advice, indeed whole chapters, on topics
hardly covered elsewhere in the literature. The chapter on disabilities
is a case in point. The section on architecture is another. The chapter
on linking up with other areas of the curriculum covers another area
that needs more exploration than it has received hitherto. Finally, the
authors write in the context of new methods of electronic
communication that even they could not have anticipated 10 years
ago.
I commend this book to every lecturer.
Donald Bligh
[email protected]
Acknowledgements
Our special thanks go to Deb Chapman for her research and
administration: the book owes a lot to her meticulousness, patience
and hard work.
We are also very grateful to Lawrie Phipps and Alan Hurst who gave
us expert comments on drafts of our chapter on inclusive lecturing,
and added many valuable points.
Thank you too to Donald Bligh for his Foreword and comments on
the manuscript. Donald is author of the classic on lecturing What’s
the Use of Lectures?, the latest edition of which was published in 2002
by Intellect Books, Bristol.
Thanks to the following participants and others at the Belfast ILT
Members’ Forum (December 2001) who contributed ideas and helped
us to pilot the draft case study personae: Vicky Davies, M Murphy, D
Brennan, N Yeates, Lorraine Stefani, Alan Robinson, Dorothy Black,
John Millikan, James Umomoibhi and Chris Strugnell. Thanks also to
participants at the South East Region ILT Members’ Forum at
Canterbury (also in December 2001) who similarly piloted draft case
studies.
Thanks too to the contributors who supplied definitions of
‘lecturing’ for Chapter 2 and who gave their names, including, in
alphabetical order: Alison Holmes; Andrea Rayner; Angela Wilde;
Angus Race; Ben Knights; Ben Marsh; Bernard Lisewski; Bob
Johnson; Bob Mathew; Caroline Walker-Gleaves; Charles Juwah;
Chris Kershaw, Chris Osborne; Clara Davies; Dave Jessop; Dave
Wadsworth; David Anderson; David Douglas; David Grantham;
Debbie Carter; Dennis James; Diane Bradley; Eileen Barrett; Fran
Carfield; Gaelle Villejoulent; George Magoulas; Georgina Sear; Gerry
Turvey; Gill Presland; Harsha Buddhden; Hazel Chalmers; Hazel
Jamieson; Helen Douglas; Ian Rogerson; Ilze Grickhus; Jane Mace;
Janet Wellard; Jesus Angel Miguel Garcia; Jim Blythe; Jim Rawe; Jo
Lay; Joe Holden; John Cowan; John Jones; John Shackleton; John
ix
Simms; Jyoti Choudri; Ken Hudson; Lawrence Hamburg; Lesley
Gibson; Lesley MacDonald; Lewis Elton; Linda Wilson; Lindsay
Brigham; Lionel Adey; Lynn Gabrielson; Maggy McNorton; Mark
Nichols; Mark Rogerson; Mary Richards; Maurice Gledhill; Michael
McCabe; Mick Healey; Mike Holmes; Mike Routledge; Mike Ryan;
Muriel Adey, Oliver Phillips; Patrick Smith; Paul Sherman; Pete
Brown; Peter Schwartz; Philip Stanier; Richard Blackburn; Richard
Smith; Robert Ariens; Robert Edwards; Rod Webster; Roni Bamber;
Ruth Soetendorp; Sandra Rennie; Stuart McAnulla; Tina Overton;
Victoria Yorke; Viv Lever; Wendy Stainton-Rogers; Zazie.
We also thank Peter Davies, whose useful leaflet provided some
background information.
Thanks also to the anonymous contributors.
Sally Brown and Phil Race