Web0411 the Art of Teaching Model for the Lecture in the 21st Century

8/11/2019 Web0411 the Art of Teaching Model for the Lecture in the 21st Century

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The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference July 2006 Session papers

The Art of Teaching: A model for the lecture in the21st century

Ruth Pickford, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and Heather Clothier, Sheffield

Hallam University, UK.

Abstract

he primary role of the lecture today is not to disseminate content. !n order toadd value to the student e"perience it must# address areas of $eakness,

e"ploit live performance to elucidate, or inspire students %or ideally all ofthese&'

he () model of lecture desi*n and delivery is adopta+le across disciplines, levelsof study and class sies and may provide a solution to many of the challen*esposed +y lar*e cohorts, $idenin* participation and lack of student en*a*ement.he principal characteristic of the () model is the inte*ration of the four elementsof feed+ack, fi"ation, formative assessment and fun %(e(i(o(un' $ithin the lecture.!deally the lecture +ecomes an event, a piece of theatre, that en*a*es students on+oth conscious and su+conscious levels.

his paper, $hich follo$s up a session from the -) national conference,discusses a modern approach to the art of teachin* in the -/stcentury.

Introduction and context

here have +een many initiatives over the last decade to address perceived$eaknesses $ith traditional lecture delivery. he use of apper systems to supportstudent0tutor interaction and multi media to increase student interest in lectures,

are increasin*. his paper descri+es a model and holistic approach to desi*nin*lectures $hich is technolo*y independent +ut $hich complements modern advances

in the lecture theatre and +eyond.

his paper is not advocatin* the lar*e lecture as a solution to all the challen*es

posed +y $idenin* participation and lar*e under*raduate cohorts. Ho$ever, $herethe lecture theatre is to +e retained as a resource the ()model addresses many of

the shortcomin*s of the traditional lecture. 1t the heart of the model is thee"ploitation of the lecture, not primarily as a medium of dissemination, +ut of

inspiration and motivation. !ts aim is to support a diverse student population instudent2centred learnin* throu*h dialo*ue and en*a*ement of +oth co*nitive andaffective domains.

Rational for the F4 model

Characteristics of quality teachingMurray 3/4 points to research evidence that identifies 5 6ualities of *ood teachin*#enthusiasm and e"pressiveness, clarity of e"planation, and rapport and interaction.7hilst these characteristics may, of course, +e attri+uta+le to the personality of

individual lecturers it is sensi+le to focus on these as *oals in the desi*n of alecture. 8nthusiastic elucidation and interaction is more important than

dissemination of lar*e 6uantities of information.

Acti!e learning


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1lan Rod*ers 3-4 su**ests that 9the more active the student2learners are, themore effective is the learnin* process: and that research indicates that the most

effective learnin* methods are student2centred activities 9especially those in $hichthe student participant en*a*es $ith the teacher and0or the material directly:. !fthe lecture is desi*ned to +e an active en*a*ement +et$een student, key materialand teacher, $here pace and direction are influenced +y the student then $e,potentially, have a useful learnin* environment.

"i!ersity

;iven the ran*e of learnin* styles and cultures represented in many lecturetheatres the traditional lecture format may fail to meet the needs of many

students. Research from the interface? that e"ploits the $hole ran*e of channels availa+le.

The F4#FeFiFoFun$ %odel

he ()model for lecture desi*n and delivery is +ased on a +elief that# !n order to teach students effectively it is important to discover $hat they kno$

and $hat they don?t kno$ %Feedbac&' 2 (e.

1 priority is to identify and elucidate key points %Fixation' 2 (i.

Summative assessment can +e a valua+le resource for en*a*in* students

%Formati!e'summati!e assessment' 2 (o.

Students are more likely to attend a lecture if they $ant to +e there %Fun'.

Formati!e'(ummati!e Assessment and Feedbac&he Colourcard feed+ack system 3@4 inte*rates fre6uent, formative assessment,$ithout the +urden of markin*, into the lecture. !t re6uires each lecture to +e

structured around a series of milestone multiple2choice 6uestions. Milestones areidentified at the lecture desi*n sta*e as those critical points at $hich student

understandin* needs to +e ascertained. he 6uestion is displayed at the front ofthe lecture theatre $ith colour coded options and each student holds up a card$hich corresponds to the colour of the selected option. Ay usin* carefully desi*ned6uestions, the lecturer is a+le to identify pro+lems in student learnin* and toaddress these pro+lems immediately +efore proceedin* to the ne"t milestone.Participation in student to lecturer interaction is encoura*ed +y the directrelationship +et$een the content, format and process of the lecture interaction andthat of an end of module summative assessment. his summative assessment

element is, therefore, desi*ned to +e formative in shapin* student +ehaviour $ithinthe lecture %formative2summative assessment'.


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Fun1ccordin* to adult learnin* theory 9learnin* can +e most effective if one?s emotions

are en*a*ed in the learnin* process: 3B and 4. !t follo$s then that a lecture may+e a more holistic learnin* e"perience if students invest on an emotional level.;iven that students associatin* positive emotional e"perience $ith a lecturepro*ramme are perhaps more likely to attend than those e"periencin* ne*ativeemotions it is sensi+le to strive to incorporate mainly enDoya+le elements into thelecture.

!f $e are aimin* to mana*e the emotions of learners then music is an e"cellenttool. !t is possi+le to measure emotional response to music $ith a heart2rate

monitor, 9$e actually physically feel these feelin*s and that *oes +eyond $ords=3E4 and there is some evidence of a link +et$een music and co*nition =Music can

lift our mood, and certain kinds of music can temporarily +oost specific kinds ofintelli*ence= 3F4.1nother po$erful tool is the story. Gan Ste$art 3/4 su**ests that $hen a person islistenin* to a story +oth sides of the +rain are $orkin*. =1 *ood story uses =visual,auditory, kinesthetic and olfactory $ords to *ive the story depth and stimulate theri*ht +rain to enrich the meanin* of the story and store it in the memory for easyrecall=. Garvis, yson and Aurchell 3//4 refer to the =6uality of the silence= durin*

storytellin* and descri+e ho$ students report a feelin* of rela"ation =you *et asense of achievement, you a+sor+ it, you understand it and you could retell it=.Ither resources $hich have +een used to evoke feelin*s, support permanence and

to tri**er post lecture recall of critical material include drama, dance, poetry,careful use of humour, *ames and 6uies. !deally the lecturer should select atoolkit of resources for each lecture that they are comforta+le usin* and from$hich they choose those that are +est suited to student need at the milestonepoints.

Fixation and the FeFiFoFun %odel

Mentok$ski 34 states that 9Learnin* that endures is transformative:. here is littlepoint of a lecture that is for*otten. Iur *oal in a lecture is to e"plore a concept

throu*h student2tutor dialo*ue and feed+ack and to associate this concept $ith+oth co*nitive and affective tri**ers that can aid recall for su+se6uent use.

(i"ation refers to the internalisation of a concept in +oth the co*nitive and affectivedomains.

lecturer to student Feedback

student to lecturerFeedback

student participation

(Intrinsic motivation)

student participation

(Extrinsic motivation)

Feedback.

Fun.

Formative-Summative

assessment

Basis of learning

Closing te !ap

FIXATIONFIXATION ..

F" Integration

Figure 1: The F4model


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he principal characteristic of the ()lecture is the inte*ration of the four elements

of feed+ack, fi"ation, formative2summative assessment and fun $ithin the lecture.Student understandin* of critical material %fixation' is checked at milestone points$ithin the lecture. Student participation in this lecture dialo*ue is supported +ydesire %fun' and perceived necessity %formati!e'summati!e assessment'.Lecturer feedbac&is immediate and the su+se6uent lecture pace and direction isdetermined +y the student response. his immediate feed+ack in turn supports

fixation, as does the use of a ran*e of fun elements.he success of the model derives firstly from the constructive ali*nment of a

summative assessment element $ith the re6uired lecture participation. Ho$ever,the principle of constructive ali*nment is less valid $hen intrinsic student

motivation dominates that of passin* assi*nments 3/-4 and the real value of themodel lies in the parallel Du"taposition of constructive ali*nment $ith the use ofcomplementary affective elements to support deep understandin* or fi"ation.

"esigning an F4)ecture

he process of desi*nin* an ()Lecture is a B step process. he desi*n 6uestionsare#

/. 7hat is the key point of this lectureJ-. 7hat are the milestones in students understandin* this key pointJ5. 7hat type of feed+ack mechanism is to +e used at the milestones to check

student understandin*J). 7hich aspect of the summative assessment mirrors this feed+ack

mechanismJ

@. 7hat are the milestone 6uestionsJB. 7hich resources $ill +e used to emphasise and e"plore the key pointJ

he () model has +een used successfully over a num+er of years in teachin* lar*ecohorts of first and second year students on information systems related courses atLeeds Metropolitan University and Sheffield Hallam University. 1lthou*h a minorityof students indicated throu*h feed+ack that they had not perceived the +enefits ofthe model the vast maDority of feed+ack $as positive and attendance at the ()lectures $as hi*h.

Recommendations

!t is imperative not to lose si*ht of $hat you are tryin* to achieve in the lecture.Student en*a*ement $ith the lecture is the critical success factor. he plannin*and desi*n of the lecture and the selection of resources is important. If more

importance, ho$ever, is the lecturers fle"i+ility at milestone points to reactimmediately to student need and not to stick to a pre determined script. he ()

approach $orks +est if the rationale is e"plained to students. he techni6ues needto +e used $ith care. (or e"ample it $as o+served that if students considered a

milestone 6uestion to +e trivial their participation in Colourcard +ecome inhi+ited.7hilst it is of course possi+le to easily incorporate only a su+set of the elements ofthe ()approach into the lecture %many of our collea*ues, for e"ample, routinelyuse music or coloured cards' $ith +enefit, fi"ation of key concepts is +est achievedthrou*h adoption of the full model as descri+ed in this paper.

his paper is a development of a draft ori*inally $ritten for he Leeds MetropolitanUniversity 1ssessment, Learnin* and eachin* !ncu+ator Gournal, -B.


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References

3/4 Murray, H.;. %/FF' 8ffective teachin* +ehaviours in the colle*e classroom in

Kni*ht P.. %--', Aein* a eacher in Hi*her 8ducation, Ipen University Press

3-4 Rod*ers, 1. %-@' eachin* 1dults, Ipen University Press.

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Web0411 the Art of Teaching Model for the Lecture in the 21st Century