A road map for lecture writing

Clare Milsom

School of Natural Sciences and Psychology

Liverpool John Moores University

Structure of the session:

General issues to consider when giving lectures.Strategies for engaging the students.How to plan and structure a lecture: the road map.

Hand out contains all the information you need and a copy of the slides are on the HEAPN PGwT website

Learning outcomesBy the end of this session you will be able to:

Identify techniques to apply when giving lectures.Recognise how to plan and structure a lecture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ae9w4yQr0

Issues when teaching and learning in lectures

What challenges are faced by students when learning in lectures?

What do you think are the challenges for lecturers?

10 minutes groups of two

Student challenges Lecturer challenges

‘Good’ teaching encourages active learning and takes

account of different learning styles.

‘ I don’t believe in using visual aids – I just stand up and deliver my lecture and if the students don’t understand then it’s not my fault’

hmmmm?

Encourages interaction – involves students 34

Engages & inspires – captures attention 32

Applies learning – links to real examples 24

HEA ‘What makes a good lecturer?’ essay competitionFrequency of key attributes cited from 26 essays

Quotes from psychology student essays

Three magic ingredients: intelligence, interaction and inspiration.

Show respect for audience, use technology available to fullest extent, and make time for up and coming peers.

It is essential for a lecturer to speak to students rather than at them using powerpoint slides or text books.

Actively involving the learners When we are actively involved in the learning we become more effective learners.

Attention span

Hypothesised pattern of student level of performance. Bligh (1998)

“Low periods of attention are when the new neural connections that are formed during the learning period are being strengthened” (Dwyer 2001).

Ideas for active, student centred lecture

Jot down three ideas specific to your teaching

Ideas for active, student centred lecture

Keep in simple to begin with…..• Read notes: take two minutes to look through your notes.• Read a friend’s notes: swap notes and spot things to add to

your own notes.• Write down a question: get the question exactly right so that it

addresses what you are really interested in or confused about. • Ask your questions: ask all the people around you until you

have satisfactory answers.• Tackle a problem: numerical, case study.• Read some material.• Short test.• Complete a hand out: fill in gaps, label a diagram.• Predict the outcome of an experiment.• Make a diagnosis.• Estimate the cost of a design choice.• List and prioritise.

Ideas for active, student centred lecture

Then use an electronic voting system…

How many lectures did you give in the last year?

More

than

ten

Fiv

e to

ten

Les

s th

an fi

ve

None

0% 0%0%0%

1. More than ten

2. Five to ten

3. Less than five

4. None

0 of 30

Answer Now

How many did you write from scratch?

All

of them

Most

of t

hem

A fe

w

None

0% 0%0%0%

1. All of them

2. Most of them

3. A few

4. None

0 of 30

Answer Now

How do you feel about lecturing?

Confid

ent

Unea

sy

Ter

rifie

d

All

of the

above

None

of the

abo

ve

0% 0% 0%0%0%

1. Confident

2. Uneasy

3. Terrified

4. All of the above

5. None of the above

0 of 30

Answer Now

What do you feel about your teaching

A g

reat

opp

ortunity

A n

eces

sary

evi

l

A b

it of b

oth

0% 0%0%

1. A great opportunity

2. A necessary evil

3. A bit of both

0 of 30

Answer Now

Enough said, buckle up – here’s the map!

Establish your destination

Plan the journey

Select your route

Setting out

The journey itself

Arriving at your destination

What if you get lost?

Reviewing the trip

1. Establish your destination

Learning outcomes

The overall purpose of the session is the learning outcome. Make sure it links with module LO and programme aims.

2. Plan your journey

Sorting out the context: find out

1. Where your topic fits into the syllabus

2. How the module will be delivered

3. About the students

4. How your material will be assessed

Remember what is was like when you were

a student but also remember that you were

a high-flier. Make your pitch to the more

typical student.

3. Select your route

How much information to include?

• Think clearly about what you want to achieve.

One sentence stating the content and purpose.

• Three to four main points.

• 10-15 minutes per point (attention span).

• Select appropriate support materials.

Example?

4. Setting outBeginning • Start on time. http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?

q=psychology+experiment&www_google_domain=www.google.co.uk&hl=en&emb=0&aq=0&oq=psychology+EXPERIMEN#q=SOCIAL+psychology+experiment&hl=en&emb=0

• Stimulate interest

‘Today, I’ll look at various forms of psychotherapeutic provision within the community and consider what is good practice’.

‘Why do people confess to crimes they did not commit?’

‘If you want to persuade jurors, you must be clear, right? Maybe not. New research shows that a sales pitch is more persuasive when it confuses the customer.’

4. Setting out (cont.)

Beginning

• Provide a general overview:

‘Piaget’s view of child development has strongly influenced education theory. Today we will cover his keys ideas and link them to stages of cognitive development.’

• Set expectations:

• Project your personality:

5. The journey

Tell ‘em, tell ‘em, told ‘em

• Introduction• Body • Conclusion

Throughout check on understanding

‘Who can tell me a social problem arising from drug use’

‘Did you have any questions about the neuropsychological aspects of Schizophrenia?’

Watch class for non verbal cues of confusion.

6. Arriving at your destination

Closing the lecture

• Take home message: refer back to session aims/learning outcomes.

• Summarise material and preview what lies ahead.

‘Today I have identified five phases of the reflective thinking process. Next time we will see how these phases can be useful for our understanding of human learning.

• End on time.

What is a learning outcome?

It is

the

spec

ifica

tion.

..

It is

the

spec

ifica

tio...

I am

conf

used

1. a

nd...

0% 0%0%

1. It is the specification of what a student should know after a period of supported study

2. It is the specification of what a lecturer intends to cover during a period of supported study

3. I am confused 1. and 2. seem to be saying the same thing.

0 of 30

Answer Now

A learning outcome helps to:

Focu

s on

the

lear

ner..

Ser

ve a

s gu

idel

ines

f..

Conve

y to

the

lear

ner...

All

of the

above

.

0% 0%0%0%

1. Focus on the learner’s behaviour that is to be changed.

2. Serve as guidelines for content, instruction and evaluation.

3. Convey to the learners exactly what is to be accomplished.

4. All of the above.

0 of 30

Answer Now

What does SENDA relate to?

Hea

lth a

nd s

afet

y

Wor

k lif

e bal

ance

Dis

abili

ty

Em

ploya

bility

0% 0%0%0%

1. Health and safety

2. Work life balance

3. Disability

4. Employability

0 of 30

Answer Now

What does Special Educational Needs Disability Act require?

Not t

o trea

t a d

isab

le...

To m

ake

reas

onab

le ..

.

To a

nticip

ate

adju

stm

...

All

of the

above

0% 0%0%0%

1. Not to treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason relating to their disability.

2. To make reasonable adjustments if the disabled person was otherwise at a substantial disadvantage.

3. To anticipate adjustments needed rather than responding to specific issues.

4. All of the above

0 of 30

Answer Now

Which font size should you use for your slides?

At l

east

20

point

12

poin

t

8 p

oint

Does

n’t m

atte

r as

lon...

0% 0%0%0%

1. At least 20 point2. 12 point3. 8 point

4. Doesn’t matter as long as it all fits on the slide

0 of 30

Answer Now

How you can you make sure that your presentation is accessible to all students?

Mak

e co

pies

of slid

e...

Ensu

re g

ood c

ontras.

..

Do n

ot use

colo

ur alo

..

All

of the

above

0% 0%0%0%

1. Make copies of slides available

2. Ensure good contrast between text and background

3. Do not use colour alone to convey information

4. All of the above

0 of 30

Answer Now

7. What if you get lost?

Problems with AV equipment

Difficulties with your presentation

Challenges from students

8. Reviewing the trip

Student evaluation: one minute questionnaire

The best thing about this session was……

The worst thing about this session was…..

For me the easiest part of this session was…..

For me the hardest part of this session was…..

Self evaluation

How much time was taken to prepare?

Were my notes helpful? (to me)

Were the visual aids clear and easy to read?

How could the interactive tasks be improved?

Did the questions stimulate discussion?

Were the purposes of the session achieved? How to I know this?

Part 2

Please consider the diverse needs of students attending your lecture. What approaches might you consider to aid the learning of :

• A student with a severe hearing or sight loss

• A dyslexic student

• A non-native speaker of English

Problem scenario

Part 1

The lecture course that you are scheduled to start next session will be on Friday afternoon from 2pm to 3pm. It is to a large, first year group and the only room big enough is a steeply tiered lecture theatre. It is an introductory level course and you know that some of the students will already be familiar with some of the material you need to cover whilst for others in the group it will be completely new.

What approaches do you think would help you to help the students to learn? Please work with a small group of colleagues to design a the lecture plan for this situation. The topic of the lecture is not necessarily important here but if you want to focus on a particular topic please do.