Faculty Development

As we have seen earlier in the module, lectures are very good for transmitting information, and techniques such as ‘signposting’ and breaking up the lecture can help participants’ concentration and retention of knowledge. However, unless the lecturer pays attention to the processes by which memory functions, they may overwhelm listeners by providing too much information in an unsituated form without context and connections. For information to be meaningful, it must be put into memory, stored and able to be retrieved (recall).

Information can be acquired through experiences (where it is stored in episodic memory) or through propositional knowledge (where it is stored in semantic memory). This requires the learner to pay active attention to what is going into memory as well as being able to make connections with previous knowledge so that stored information can be restructured in the light of the new information. The key messages for the educator are to ensure that activities are set in place so that learners can engage actively as well as make connections and restructure previous learning. 

Bligh (2000) points out that introducing new information without time for consolidation or reflection (for example, in successive lectures on different topics) can result in interference with the processes of memory input and storage, so that learners fail to commit the information to memory. Educators need to ensure structured repetition of topics, which serves to reinforce learning by helping learners to store and retrieve information through different routes. 

Long and Lock (2008) remind us also that there are physiological limitations on the rate at which information can be processed as well as a finite capacity to the system – too much information and memory will overload. Full engagement of memory lasts for approximately 20 minutes, after which little new information can be recalled (p. 4). Again, this provides a message for lecturing, in that pacing the lecture provides learners with opportunities for inputting and storing knowledge.

The points below provide some ideas for structuring lectures to aid active learning.

Some tips and techniques

• Start by asking participants to brainstorm problems that remain unresolved from the previous lecture or raise questions from the previous lecture or reading assignment.
• Change the demands made on the audience every 10 to 15 minutes.
• Pause for a few minutes two or three times during an hour-long lecture to allow participants to consolidate notes and develop questions.
• Generate discussion.
• Pause and ask participants to work in pairs to organise their notes and discuss the key points of the lecture. Each group could be asked to develop questions based on what is still unclear, which can then be addressed at the end of the lecture or at the beginning of the next one.
• Give a demonstration, use cases and examples, give illustrations, show a film or videotape segment or use an audio recording.
• Use other types of group work similar to those used for small groups.
• Ask the audience to stop taking notes before the end of the lecture and then ask participants to reconstruct on a blank piece of paper, as much of the lecture as possible – either in outline form or diagrammatically. This forces participants to review and consolidate key points and discover points for review.
• Encourage participation through:
  – questions and quizzes
  – gapped handouts and diagrams
  – data analysis and interpretation
  – brainstorms and buzz groups
  – problems and cases.

See the Small group teaching module in this series for more ideas on how to run small group sessions which can be used to encourage participation in large group teaching sessions.