Effective Lectures for Part-Time Faculty

The term "lecturing" refers to both planning and delivering a classroom presentation. While the lecture has certain elements in common with a formal speech, a classroom lecture places greater emphasis on the importance of presenter-audience (instructor-student) interaction.

Below is a brief listing of suggestions for effective lecture preparation and delivery. The suggestions are arranged under one of three phases of a lecture – the introduction, the body, and the closing. Remember to keep your lectures interesting and engaging, let’s preventd "death by lecture."

Beginning the Lecture
A. Plan an introduction to catch the listener's interest.
Suggestion: Raise a question to be answered by the end of the lecture.
Example: "By the end of the hour, you should be able to answer the question 'Are essay test questions better than objective test questions?'"
Suggestion: State a historical or current problem related to the lecture content or to content of the lab class that follows, to homework assigned, etc.
Suggestion: Relate lecture content to previous class material.
Example: "Last class, we reviewed Chapter 4. You quickly review those concepts and then move on to Chapter 5.”
Alternative: Ask a student to summarize previous course content.
B. Provide a brief general overview of the lecture's content.
Example: "Today in class, we will review the following:  ___________."
C. Tell students how you expect them to use the lecture material.
Example: "Today we will review ____________ and you will be asked to apply the model as we have discussed.”
D. Define or explain unfamiliar terminology.
You can use any number of ideas to review terminology including using 3 x 5” cards where the students define these new terms and report back to the class.

The Body of the Lecture
A. Organization
Allow for some flexibility in the presentation in order to respond to student questions and comments.
Determine which key points can be effectively developed during the class session. It is necessary to strike a balance between depth and breadth of coverage. When every nuance, detail or instance of a topic is discussed students often lose sight of the main ideas. Or, when too many ideas are presented and not developed, students fail to gain understanding.
B. Organize material in some logical order.
Suggested organizational schemes include:
-Cause-Effect: Events are cited and explained by reference to their origins.
-Time Sequential: Lecture ideas are arranged chronologically.
-Topical: Parallel elements of different discussion topics are focused on successively. .
-Problem-Solution: The statement of a problem is followed by alternate solutions.
-Pro-Con: A two-sided discussion of a given topic is presented.
-Ascending-Descending: Lecture topics are arranged according to their importance, familiarity, or complexity.
C. Allow time within the lecture to summarize key ideas and prepare relevant examples to illustrate key ideas.
Provide transitions which show the relationships between key ideas. Throughout the lecture check on student understanding by:
1. Asking students to answer specific questions: e.g., "Who can describe in his/her own words _______________?"
2. Asking for student questions: e.g., "Did you have any questions about the application of _____________________?"
3. Presenting a problem or situation which requires use of lecture material in order to obtain a solution
4. Watching the class for nonverbal cues of confusion or misunderstanding: e.g., look for such behaviors as loss of eye contact, talking, or clock watching.
D. Ask for and answer student questions.

Closing the Lecture
A. Answer any questions raised at the beginning of the lecture and provide closure for the lecture.
Suggestion: Briefly summarize lecture material and preview what lies ahead.
Example: "Today I have identified five phases of the reflective thinking process. Tomorrow we will see how these phases can be useful for our understanding of human learning."
Suggestion: Relate lecture material to past or future presentations.
Example: "During the next lesson, we'll break into discussion groups and get some experience applying this evaluation model to the first three case studies in your file."
Suggestion: Ask a student to summarize the lecture's key ideas.
Example: "Who will summarize the key issues developed during today's lecture?" (Class Chronicle)
B. Restate what you expect the students to gain from the lecture material.
Summarize the key concepts from today’s lecture.
Delivering the Lecture
The following questions relating to lecture delivery should be considered throughout all three phases of lecturing:
A. Vocal Delivery
Do you:
-Cue important ideas by varying speech rate, volume, and pitch?
-Speak to students and not to the blackboard, walls, notes, or floor?
-Enunciate clearly?
-Let your sense of humor show?
-Avoid repetition of pet words or phrases (e.g., okay, you know, uh)?
B. Physical Delivery
Do you:
-Establish and maintain eye contact with your students?
-Use gestures and physical movements which complement your verbal statements (e.g., looking at students while asking for student questions)?
-Practice in advance with audiovisuals? Don’t read your audiovisuals!  Also make sure that your audiovisuals are readable with large enough font and that there is not too much text only key phrases, no typos.
-Avoid using distracting gestures or physical movements (e.g., pacing)?
-Remember that student attention span is only generally 20 minutes, therefore, you should consider breaking up your lecture with student engagement activities, videos and other activities. 

This article is brought to you by the Office of part-time Faculty Support and Services to assist you with your classroom instruction. Enjoy the week!

Questions?
Contact nmeyer[at] matcmadison [dot] edu (Nancy Meyer) at (608) 243-4048.