Overview
The lecture focused on strategies to make long lectures more engaging and effective, including practical approaches to improve student participation and retention of information.
Common Obstacles to Long Lectures
- Students and instructors experience fatigue during long lectures, leading to disengagement.
- Distractions, such as devices and multitasking, are common in both online and in-person settings.
- Long lectures can cause feelings of isolation for both students and instructors.
- Students may not consistently engage with recorded lectures or posted slides.
Shifting Lecture Philosophy
- Move from instructor-led to facilitator-led lectures to promote self-directed student learning.
- Align lecture segments with specific, action-oriented learning objectives for observability.
- Replace passive "students will understand" goals with measurable, interactive activities.
Strategies to Revamp Long Lectures
- Student-Led Lectures: Give students responsibility for presenting material, either in small segments (undergrad) or full units (grad).
- Flipped Classroom: Start with student activities or problem-solving before introducing lecture content; follow up with reflection.
- Student Research Sharing: Assign students to find and discuss current media related to course topics and share with peers.
- Reordering LMS Material: Use Blackboard tools like adaptive release or conditional availability to sequence activities, lectures, and reflections.
- Guest Speakers & Role Playing: Bring in outside or internal voices for variety, or use in-class role play to illustrate concepts.
- Micro Lectures: Break lectures into short segments (15 minutes or less) with scheduled breaks for questions or activities.
- Interactive Video Quizzes: Use platforms like Kaltura to embed quiz questions into recorded lectures to maintain engagement.
- Concept Maps & Flowcharts: Have students visually map ideas, systems, or sequences after lectures to enhance understanding.
- Muddiest Point Exercise: Ask students to submit anonymous questions about confusing concepts for follow-up discussion.
Additional Considerations
- Factor in class size, grading workload, lecture delivery format, and the essential nature of each lecture segment.
- Regularly review and revise lecture materials to focus on essential, relevant content.
- Consider recording lectures for flexible student access and freeing up in-class time for activities.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Flipped Classroom — Instructional strategy where students complete activities before receiving direct lecture content.
- Micro Lecture — Short lecture segment (typically ≤15 minutes) spaced with breaks or interactive tasks.
- Adaptive Release/Conditional Availability — LMS settings that control the order in which students access course materials.
- Concept Map/Flowchart — Visual diagrams that organize and represent knowledge or processes.
- Muddiest Point — Activity where students anonymously submit areas of confusion for clarification.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Experiment with breaking up lectures and incorporating interactive segments or tools.
- Try out student-led, flipped, or guest-involved lecture formats.
- Use adaptive release in Blackboard to structure content flow.
- Assign concept map or muddiest point exercises after key lectures.
- Review and revise existing lecture slides for focus and relevance.
- Look for follow-up resources on interactive video quizzes and flowchart tutorials.