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There is considerable evidence that learners learn best when actively engaged in meaningful activity. Yet, in many instances students are subjected to fifty or sixty-minute lectures during which they sit passively accepting words showered upon them without the learners afforded an opportunity to question or explore what is being said.
Even though the research evidence indicates that we remember little of what we hear when submissively accepting what is proffered to us—lecturing continues unabated.
When we just hear and receive the words lent to and bestowed on us, we remember little of what is said. The bequest is provided—not absorbed. The given words are just that—given. They evaporate in the hours that follow. The learning loss grows as the hours pass between reception and application.
Consequently, the maxim applies “Use it or lose it.” Absent use, the fleeting phrases disappear. Learners are duped into thinking they have learned when in reality the data relayed are transient–stacked away in the recipient’s recesses.
So, why do we lecture when the available evidence suggests that overall the methodology is ineffective and inefficient?
First, after preparing lecture notes, authority figures can talk without interruption and frequently do. The droner drones. Most institutions penalize any interrupters making it easy to talk sans interruption. Thus, the words keep coming—related or not—relevant or not.
Second, the lecturer’s emitting is not bothered by the thorny questions students are prone to ask. Because the words keep flowing, time expires with little left for inquiry.
Third, as a result of time constraints (when it is time to leave, the learners will be walking out of the door to their next event. Woe to any who stand in their way.) many lectures terminate with the admonition, “Sorry, there is no time for questions because I had so much to cover.” The lectured then abandon the room with scant recollection of what it was that was covered.
If the lecturer, instead, would have distributed copies of what the lecturer lectured, then in a matter of minutes those lectured could read the information at their own pace and contemplate the communicator’s intent. This would be much preferred to sitting in uncomfortable chairs for the better part of an hour or so and just listening.
Additionally, if prior to the scheduled time the lecturer distributed the prepared remarks and provided the attendees with ten minutes to read, then a teacher could respond to questions and further advance the learning.
As indicated above, there is a plethora of evidence regarding how much more effective active learning is at generating retention. Not only is passivity tedious, it also doesn’t result in the desired learning a lecture intends.
Just lecturing to students is notoriously ineffective unless the learners apply the information soon after receiving it. Customarily, the examinations come a few weeks later when the information has escaped from the minds of those who were lectured. Frantic study ensues prior to the exam. Any gain in knowledge expires soon thereafter.
Passive lectured-to-students who learn little tune out and turn off the opportunity to learn. The alternative, therefore, is to challenge students to think about what they are learning and put it into practice. Doing so takes time, and the educator must consider a number of factors. Taking the time to think deeply and carefully requires patience and planning. With most lectures, however, little thinking is required or solicited; the teacher’s speech occupies the allotted time. Eventually, the bell rings signaling it is time for the students to proceed to the next lecture.
The following are some recommendations for more meaningful educating to engender and excite lasting learning.
1) Reading, discussing, and writing are active, whereas just watching, consuming, and listening are passive. Ergo, concentrate on discussing, reading, and writing and less on consuming, listening, and watching.
2) Cooperative intellectual activity is a key concept. Class discussions enable learners to learn from each other.
3) When discussing we look at each other. When listening we look at the rhetor. If possible, arrange the chairs in a circle with the learners face to face.
4) Cognitive dissonance engages whereas intellectual drivel does not. Dissonance, however, takes time to explore and reconcile—a meaningful learning activity.
5) Educators need to adapt to learners. Rigid teachers generate rigid thinkers. The world needs innovators not replicators.
6) As the conditions in a learning environment evolve, educational flexibility is necessary. Stuff happens in a discussion-oriented environment.
7) The maxim applies: “Show, don’t tell.”
8) Choice is dynamic. Being told what to do breeds lethargy. So, ask the learners what they think. Also, ask the learners how they learn best: Doing? Listening? Experimenting? Discussing? Additional learning styles?
9) In an ever-changing cosmos, the teacher needs to adapt, adapt some more, and continue adapting.
10) Soliciting feedback from students is essential. If asked, the learners will tell educators whether what the educator is doing is facilitating learning. So—ask those who know—the learners.
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