Dynamic lectures

A dynamic lecture begins with something that grabs the students’ attention. Students have busy lives with a lot of demands on their time. Even though a student may have made it to your class, this does not mean you may have their full attention. Beginning with a hook, such as a real-world, relevant example from the news, a problem to consider/solve, a funny cartoon or thought-provoking quotation, or a compelling anecdote or story, can engage your students and make them want to know more. Sharing a story or anecdote is particularly powerful because people remember stories. A good story can provide context for the ideas that you present and can also neatly tie theory to practice. It should also be noted that humans have story-telling in their blood – it is arguably the oldest form of lecture. Through most of our human history it’s how we have communicated and received ideas about the world. Regardless of which type of hook use prefer to use, the most effective hooks are ones that connect the course content in real and practical ways to the students’ own world and make them think and reflect – be it on past course concepts or on concepts still to be explored. With an effective hook, you can get students ready to see why a particular topic is interesting and important. Thankfully, the hook does not need to take much time from the lecture, and the types of hooks you can use are nearly endless. However you grab students’ attention, once you have ‘hooked’ them, your task as a lecturer becomes easier.

When preparing for a class, consider what you want your students to be able to know or do by the end of your lecture. It is not uncommon for students to leave a lecture wondering what the point of that lecture was. As experts in our fields, we easily see the connections between ideas and the respective relevance of topics. Students, however, sometimes grapple with being able to extract the key points from a lecture and their relevance to the larger course goals. By sharing your objectives with students, you make the purpose of your lecture more explicit and help students focus on the main take-aways from your lecture. Sharing the objectives can be as simple as displaying them on a presentation slide or the classroom whiteboard. It is good practice to refer to the specific objectives as they are addressed during the lecture and again at the end of the lecture in summary. Helping students understand what a lecture is going to be about will aid with student engagement, which is essential to effective lecturing.

Research strongly indicates that human attention span begins to evaporate somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes (Bligh, 2000; Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Middendorf & Kalish, 1996). 
So, during a ninety-minute lecture, most of your students are likely tuning in and out for much of the time, no matter how great an orator you may be. Many of your words may simply be floating over their heads as your students struggle to focus their attention. However, maintaining students’ attention does not mean that the lecture has to be abandoned. To make your lecture more effective, divide it into a series of mini-lectures – 20 minutes at the most – with short (2-5 minutes) exercises in between that support student learning. (Incidentally, this is the reasoning behind the 18-minute TED Talk format.)

Short and simple exercises in between mini-lectures can serve as opportunities:
•    For students to have a ‘brain break’, allowing students to reset.
•    For students to self- or peer-check their comprehension. 
•    For you to gauge students’ level of comprehension and identify any concepts that may need to be readdressed. 

Please visit our Active Learning webpage for some additional examples of short, active learning strategies. (The strategies listed increase in length of time required.) 

In order to assess informally and quickly the degree to which your students picked up on the objectives of your lecture, consider the following strategies. 

Two-minute paper

Ask your students to take two minutes to write everything they can remember about the main points of the lecture. If you have a large class, you may want to collect all the papers, but only review a small, random sample. 

Short quizzes

By offering an ungraded quiz at the end of the class (paper or via Mentimeter or iClicker, for example), you provide your students with a chance to demonstrate what they’ve learned during the lecture and an opportunity to see what concepts you think are most important to remember.

Muddiest point

At the end of the lecture, ask your students to write down the concept of idea from the lecture that is the least clear to them. Students can submit paper copies or through UM Learn. Review the muddiest points and be sure to address students concerns during the next class.

Exit slip

This can be a note that they submit to you on their way out that is either very open-ended – comments, questions, concerns – or a specific question about your teaching that you have them answer. Again, the point here is to gather information in order to improve teaching and learning.

Time for questions

Plan for time to respond to questions at the end of the lecture, particularly if you have not had much time to do so during the lecture. If your schedule allows it, stay afterwards to respond to any questions from students who may feel uncomfortable speaking up in class. Arriving early to class may also offer a chance for students to talk with you about their questions and concerns.

This information gleaned from these quick activities also helps you identify students’ understanding of the lecture content and shows students that you care about their learning. Be sure to review these exit slips and make time to address any points raised when you next see students.
 

The summary component of the lecture is often overlooked or rushed through as the clock winds down. However, there is much to be gained by leaving students with a concise wrap-up. By bringing the ideas of the lecture together and linking them to a purpose or application you can leave students with a sense of meaning and even empowerment.

When preparing your wrap-up, consider whether your comments will encourage students to connect the ideas to their own experiences and values, as well application. When appropriate, locate the ideas of the lecture within the scope of the course, the discipline and perhaps even beyond, considering how the ideas connect within other relevant disciplines and fields. 

University students need to know that what they are learning has a purpose. By ending a dynamic lecture with a review of the purpose of your lecture, you send your students out the door with a sense of meaning in what they are learning.
 

Center for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.). Lecturing. Vanderbilt University.

Centre for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.) Lecturing effectively. University of Waterloo.

Centre for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.) Nine alternatives to lecturing. University of Waterloo.

Finley, T. (2014, January 28). Are you not entertained? How to build a dynamic lecture. Edutopia.

Harrington, C., & Zakrajsek, T. D. (2017). Dynamic lecturing: Research-based strategies to enhance lecture effectiveness. Stylus Publishing. 
 

Bligh, D. A. (2000). What’s the use of lectures? Jossey-Bass.

Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom.
ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Washington DC: School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University.

Mann, S., & Robinson, A. (2009). Boredom in the lecture theatre: An investigation into the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university students. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 243-258.

Middendorf, J., & Kalish, A. (1996). The “change-up” in lectures. The National Teaching & Learning Forum, 5(2), 1-5.

Nilson, L. (2016). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (4th Ed.). Jossey-Bass.