Lecture Method

Lecture method is the oldest method of teaching. It is based on the philosophy of

idealism. This method refers to the explanation of the topic to the students. The emphasis
is on the presentation of the content. The teacher clarifies the content matter to the
students by using gestures, simple devices, by changing voice, change in position and
facial expressions. Teachers are more active and students are passive but the teacher
also asks questions to keep the students attentive.
According to Brown (1987), the term lecture was derived from the Medieval Latin
“Lecture” to read aloud. So, Lecture consisted of an oral reading of a text followed by a
commentary. Good and Merkel (1959) suggest lecture as a method of teaching by which
the instructor gives an oral presentation of facts or principles to learners and the class
usually being responsible for note taking, usually implies little or no class participation by
such means as questioning or discussion during the class period. (Howe, 1980) gave
same definition as lecture occurs whenever a teacher is talking and students are listening.
And finally Monroe (1991) considers that, formal disclosure of presentation of knowledge
to students may be included under the lecture method.

This method is economical and can be used among large number of students. It
saves time and also covers syllabus. It is the simplest method for teachers and does not
require any arrangements. It gives the students training in listening. It provides an
opportunity an opportunity for better clarification of the topics and lying stress on
significant ideas. It brings a personal contact and touch to impress or influence the pupils.
This method is useful in large classes, but it also has some limitations. This method
makes the students passive listeners. There is very little scope for pupil activity. It is
against the principle of learning by doing. It does not take into consideration individual
differences. It does not develop power of reasoning of the students. It becomes
monotonous to the students.
Though this method has much limitation but still it is the most used method. The
lecture method can be made effective by using following points matter should be arranged
properly. Teacher should have process in between the lesson. These should be abundant
repetition of the topic. The teacher should encourage the students to ask questions
teaching aids should also be used to make the lecture effective. The content of the lecture
should be logical and according to the standard of the students. Thus, we conclude that
the lecture method can be very effective, if it is made more interactive and interesting for
students.
From the above discussion four main features can be suggested for the process
of lecturing (Brown, 1987).

1. Intention: The lecturer's intentions may be considered to provide coverage of a topic,

to generate understanding and to stimulate interest. Consideration of these goals of
lecturing as also the knowledge of the earlier learning of the students are essential
constituents of lecture preparation.
2. Transmission: A lecture sends a message verbally, extra verbally and nonverbally to
the learners. The verbal messages may consist of definitions, descriptions, examples,
explanations or comments. The 'extra verbal' component is the lecturer's vocal qualities,
hesitations, errors and use of pauses and silence. The ‘non-verbal’ component consists
of the teacher's gestures, facial expressions. All of these types of messages may be
received by the students, and what they perceive as the important messages may be
noted.
3. Receipt of Information: The information, meaning, and attitudes conveyed by the
lecturer may or may not be perceived by the students. Attention fluctuates throughout the
process of lecture. The attention of students can be increased if the lecture includes some
short activities for students such as brief small-group discussions or simple problem
solving. Any change of activity may renew attention. Therefore, the receipt of information
is an important feature in the process of lecturing which has to be considered by the
instructor.
4. Output: Any instructional strategy should lead directly to the objectives and interrelated
goals for a course of study (Gropper, 1976). So the student’s response or “output” is very
essential in the process of lecturing and it may occur on immediate reactions to the lecture
and the lecturer. But more important than the immediately observable responses to a
lecture are the long term changes in student. A lecture may change a student's perception
of a problem or theory, it may increase a student's insight, and it may stimulate the student
to read, think, and discuss ideas with others. The probabilities of these events are
depending upon the student's knowledge, attitudes, and motivation to learn and on the
lecturer's preparation, lecture structure and presentation.

Advantages:
The proper perspective and orientation of a subject can be presented and the general
outline of scope of the subject can be brought out.
Many facts can be presented in a short time in an impressive way.
The lecture can stimulate very good interest in the subject.
Greater attention could be secured and maintained, as interest leads to attention.
Spoken word has greater weight than mute appeal by books.
The language may be made suitable to all the members of the audience.
Lecture can present a number of facts belonging to different subjects and also it can
facilitate inter-disciplinary approach to topics.

Disadvantages:
It is waste of time to repeat the matter already present in books.
The teacher to make the lecture impressive may care more for manner and style but
very little for matter or content.
If the lecture is very fast, the pupil cannot easily take notes and will not have any written
record of the salient points made out.
A lecture delivered in a style not easily understood by pupils will serve no purpose.
In the process of lecturing, the learners are more passive than be active in class.
The problem solving attitudes of pupils may disappear in the lecture method.
There is no cooperation and interaction between the teacher and pupils in the lecture
process.

Techniques in the Lecture Method

Outlining Technique
It involves a cognitive framework in which the subject matter is presented from
general to specific (from a broad topic to sub topic, from sub topics to sub-sub topics).
Advantages
Outlining records content as well as relationships.
Well-organized system if done right.
Easy to review by turning main points into questions.
Disadvantages
Requires more thought in class for accurate organization.
This technique may not show relationships by sequence when needed.
This technique cannot be used if the lecture is too fast.

Component Technique
Teaching is the systematic presentation of content assumed necessary for mastery
within a general area of knowledge. Instruction is a general term that means providing
knowledge in a systematic way. All teachers plan, manage, deliver, and evaluate their
instruction, whether they are working with students who are gifted, students with
disabilities, or students without special needs.

Advantages
It provides credibility for the teacher. Today’s students have never known a world
without advanced technology. They didn’t need to wait 45 minutes for a new website to
load over a slow dial-up modem. The joys of being in an AOL chat room will never be
known. Teachers who embrace technology bring a level of credibility to their knowledge
for this generation that allows for educational applications in numerous subjects. Even
just a single technological tool can make a major impact on the modern student.

It creates a collaborative learning approach. When students of any age are in a

learning environment that is based on a lecture format, the amount of information they
retain can be as low as 5%. For many students, the classroom experience was based on
an “expert” using their classroom soapbox to disseminate knowledge. Technology has
brought collaboration into the classroom. Students who learn in a collaborative
environment can retain up to 80% of the information they study. And, if interactive practice
is included in the classroom environment, information retention levels can reach 95% for
some students
.
It allows students to work at their own comfortable pace. Schools still have rigid
schedules, but technology takes some of the rigidity out of the framework. Technology
allows students to work at a pace that is comfortable for them. Curriculum demands or
programs can be adjusted easier to meet individualized needs to enhance the learning
process. It can even be used for remote learning opportunities if the stimulus of a
classroom is too much for the student.

It provides an opportunity to learn different ways. Students have more control over
the learning process when technology is used in the classroom. It is a chance for students
to embrace their natural curiosity to see what their interests, talents, and skills happen to
be. Technology also provides an opportunity for students to try different things that may
not have been possible in the past. That allows them to discover, on their own, which
strategies work best to help them effectively learn new materials.
Disadvantages
It can be distracting to students. Technology access can be just as addicting as
alcohol, drugs, and other vices. In the United States, the average person checks their
smartphone about 100 times per day. That action occurs even if there are zero
notifications for them to check on. Students may find themselves trying to access other
components of the online experience instead of the learning experience. Only clear
boundaries and expectations to follow can counter this issue so that technology can
provide a needed learning opportunity.

It can disconnect students from face-to-face relationships. Interacting with people

online is a very different experience than interacting with them face-to-face. When people
feel like they can be anonymous, they begin to lose the filter that they have over their
words and conduct. Some people even disconnect from regular social interactions for the
comfort of a screen, words, and emojis. That is why technology should be used as a tool
in the classroom. It cannot be the only component of the learning process for students
.
It can make it easier to cheat. Technology allows for easier communication between
people and that is a definite positive. That ease of communication also makes cheating
more likely. All it takes is a single group email broadcast to share the answers to a quiz
or test, especially if the teacher is not monitoring student interactions on the computer.
An easy way to counter this issue is to provide assignments which require an individual
perspective. Encouraging thought instead of memorization typically reduces the urge to
cheat.

It could put some students at a disadvantage. In the United States, there are 1 in 5
children who live in households that do not have regular food security. The idea of
incorporating modern technology into their lives is secondary. It’s better to have a pantry
stocked with essential groceries than to have a new iPhone in the pocket. Schools must
provide technology access that is equal to everyone for it to be an effective learning tool.
Free resources, such as computer access at a library, must have barriers to access
removed. Only through sharing can this issue be negated.

It could cause students to use unreliable resources for learning. There is a lot of
good stuff that can be found on the internet today. There is also a lot of misleading and
outright false data that can be found as well. Students must learn how to identify a quality
information source from something that might be labeled as “fake news.” Drawing
opinions on questionable content could put students at a disadvantage when it comes
time to carve out a spot for themselves with the rest of society.

Sequential Technique
Sequential teaching does provide some benefits for both students and teachers.
However, it also has significant costs, which are predominantly borne by the students.
The desire to expose students to expertise is often gratified at the expense of the student-
teacher relationship. Students may have as many as six lecturers in one unit. In such
circumstances, it is practically impossible, for even a skilful teacher, to build a rapport with
students, creating a barrier to effective teaching. Furthermore, sequential teaching often
jeopardises the quality of curriculum design, because it offers little opportunity for true
integration of concepts. Finally, sequential teaching also complicates the process of
assessment.

Advantages

• As mentioned above, students meet or at least see and briefly hear about the work that
is going on in their discipline from specialists. This may be an advantage for those
students contemplating fourth-year projects and post-graduate studies.
• The sequentially taught unit may serve as a sampler or ‘smorgasbord’ for a particular
field of learning. In doing so, it may provide a valuable service for the students by helping
them to ascertain whether or not they want to specialise in an area. This approach may
also help them to identify ‘compatible’ researchers with whom they may enjoy
collaborating in the future.
• A sequentially taught unit also exposes students to more than one interpretation of the
subject matter thus reducing bias in instruction (Beard and Hartley, 1984) and promotes
critical thinking skills.
• Sequential teaching exposes the student to different teaching styles and this may be
beneficial for the students because their “repertoire of learning styles will thus be enlarged
and they will be more likely to flourish in a greater range of settings.” (Brookfield, 1990).
Individual student differences (such as intelligence, achievement motivation, anxiety, and
prior knowledge) have been found to affect learning and education achievement (Snow,
1977 as cited in Beard and Hartley, 1984). These should be considered first when
developing instructional models (Beard and Hartley, 1984). Barring any a priori
consideration of these factors, the greater the number of teachers participating in a
course, the higher the probability that the student will encounter a teacher who matches
their learning style. Conversely, the greater the number of teachers, decreases impact of
each individual teacher and thus diminishes the cost of encountering a poor teacher.
(Indeed, a student commented to one of the authors that s/he welcomed the greater
number of teachers involved in sequential teaching because it minimised the time spent
with poorly skilled teachers).

Disadvantages

• Each of the benefits stated above assumes that expert researchers also make expert
teachers and can clearly communicate the concepts in their area of expertise. Obviously,
this is not necessarily so (McKeachie, 1994) and there are important considerations such
as the collaborative ability and verbal communication skills of the researcher that need to
be considered before that person is called on to share expertise (Braxton and Del Favero,
2000). The mind-set of a researcher is distinctly different than that of a teacher (Braxton
and Del Favero, 2000).
• In sequential teaching, the incentives for investment by teachers in good instructional
development are minimal. Therefore, there is a higher probability that the outcome will be
poor. Furthermore an individual instructor’s overall time commitment to the whole unit and
the class is fairly minor, so they are less likely to feel individually responsible for the unit’s
success or for its failure.
• Probably the most significant cost for the students is the lack of cohesion in instruction.
“Sound knowledge is based on interconnections.” (Biggs, 1999) As stated by Angelo
(1993), “To be remembered, new information must be meaningfully connected to prior
knowledge.” In a sequentially taught course there is little opportunity to facilitate those all-
important connections. The disjointed nature of a course of instruction characterised by
a sequence of lecturers filing in and out forces students to compartmentalize the
information learned. The lack of communication between lecturers does not create an
environment conducive to integration of concepts. Good teaching contains a structure
and fosters the creation of connections. “New information should not just be dumped on
the learner,” (Biggs, 1999) but in a sequentially taught unit often lecturers do little more.
The higher-level learning is hardly cultivated. This is particularly damaging for students in
introductory courses. These classes are foundations for subsequent coursework and a
good grounding in the basic principles and concepts not just the facts is a key to future
success. Overall students will gain little from a sequentially taught class unless they are
highly motivated.
• A second casualty of the sequential mode of teaching is the student-teacher
relationship. When a teacher spends three 45-minute sessions with the students there is
little time to get to know the students names, and assess their level of background
knowledge. When all parties know that lecturer will be involved for only a brief time, there
is no incentive on either side to make an effort to build a relationship. “People who are
anonymous are less likely to take any personal responsibility.” (McKeachie, 1994) The
quality of the student-teacher relationship in turn impacts on the quality of the learning
environment. “Most students have to believe teachers know and care about them before
they can benefit from interactions – or even interact.” (Angelo, 1993) A teacher who is
perceived as inaccessible, unapproachable is less able to function as a good teacher and
students will derive little benefit from their expert perspective.
• Another disadvantage of the sequential model is the complicated nature of assessment.
While some sequentially taught classes have standardized examinations written without
any input from the lecturers, many classes will have original examinations in which each
lecturer contributes questions from their “section” of the class. Unless there are very clear
objectives for each section, the students will be reduced to “guessing” what each lecturer
will ask. “Whether faculty ‘teach to the test’ or not, most students are going to try to ‘study
to the test’ (Angelo, 1993).” There is also problem of variability in lecturer marking criteria
and performance expectations. “Countless studies have shown how the same essay will
be given quite different marks by different examiners.” (Rowntree, 1987) In assessment
of sequentially taught units the variability in marking is complicated not only by the number
of markers, but the number of question writers and their expectations.

Relevant Technique
Relevance is a difficult concept to pin down. It is mentioned in the education
literature, but usually as an aside and seldom with an explanation as to its nature or
structure.

Advantages

 Lectures are straightforward. Lectures allow teachers to deliver information to

students as planned. This gives great control over what is taught and lets teachers
be the sole source of information to avoid confusion.
 Lectures are efficient. A well-rehearsed lecture can be presented quickly and
planned ahead of time to fit into a certain schedule.
 Lectures can be pre-recorded and recycled. Many teachers record their
lectures ahead of time and even show lectures given by others. Khan
academy videos and TED talks are examples of common educational lectures
available to the public.
Disadvantages

 Lectures are very taxing for students. In order for a student to get as much as
possible from a lecture, they must take detailed notes. This skill must be taught
and takes a lot of time to master. Most students don't know what they should take
away from lectures and do not successfully learn material.
 Lectures are not engaging. Lectures are often long and monotonous, making it
difficult for even the most dedicated students to engage. They cause students to
quickly grow bored and tune out and they also don't leave room for questions,
making confused students even more likely to shut down.
 Lectures are teacher-centered. They do not bring students into the conversation
to ask questions, debate ideas, or share valuable personal experiences. Lectures
are built on a teacher's agenda only with almost no student inquiry or contribution.
In addition, a teacher has no way of telling whether students are learning.
 Lectures do not accommodate individual needs. Lectures allow for little to no
differentiation. They follow a specific format of delivery that does not account for
learning disabilities or other needs. Lectures leave many students feeling
frustrated and confused.
 Lectures cause students to rely on their teachers. The one-sided format of
lectures often leads students to develop a dependency on their teachers. Students
accustomed to lectures lack self-directed learning skills and are unable to teach
themselves. This fails them because teaching students to learn is the very purpose
of education in the first place.

Transitional Technique

As class sizes increase and university budgets tighten, lecturing remains a

dominant teaching method (Goffe & Kauper, 2014; Smith & Valentine, 2012). Knowing
how to lecture well is therefore a crucial skill to master. Effective lecturing is characterized
by enthusiasm and expressiveness, clarity, and interaction (Murray in Perry & Smart,
1997).

Advantages

 Be transparent. Show your students “the big picture.” Don't assume that your
students know the pedagogical purpose of your lecture. Instead, explain how the
lecture relates to previously-learned material and the course themes and goals in
general. Begin the class with a short review of the key points from the
previous class and end with a preview of the topics for next class (along with a
reminder about any readings or assignments to be completed).
 Make explicit transitions between topics with mini-summaries. Link current
material to previously-learned content and future lectures. Be explicit about how
one topic connects to the next, or ask your students to explain the connections. By
linking new material to previously learned content, you help students understand
and organize new information in their minds.
 Cover only a few main points in each lecture. Plan to cover only three or four points
in a fifty-minute lecture and four or five points in a seventy-five-minute class. Select
key points that introduce, complement, and/or clarify the course readings,
 assignments, and goals. Focus on presenting central points or general themes that
tie together as many topics as possible.
 Avoid merely repeating the course readings. Elaborate on readings using new
examples and sample exercises or problems. For more information about selecting
and organizing content, see CTE's Course Content Selection and
Organization teaching tip.
 Be flexible when following your notes. Watch students’ level of interest and
confusion and be ready to adapt your lecture accordingly. Your notes are there if
needed, but the lecture should arise out of your interaction with the students, not
the notes themselves.

Disadvantages

 Be aware of shifting engagement levels. In a university lecture, students engage

in mind wandering approximately 33% of the time; however, this amount varies
according to several factors, including engagement (Wammes, Boucher, Seli,
Cheyne, & Smilek, 2016).
 Ask first, then tell. Prompt students to engage by asking questions rather than
simply telling them information. For example, rather than telling students the
findings from a study, ask them to predict what the study found based on what they
know so far.
 Allow breaks during long classes. Encourage students to move around, talk with
one another, or just to relax quietly. Creating breaks also allows students to catch
up on and digest what has been discussed.
 Use questions to prompt students to think about how the material relates to their
life experience. Relate the content to students’ interests, knowledge, experiences,
and their future occupation in the discipline. Making the material relevant
helps students retain the information.

References

Meenu, S. (2020,February 1). Lecture Method. Retrieved from

https//www.biyanicolleges.org/lecture-method-teaching-method/

Perry, R.P., & Smart, J.C. (Eds). (1997). Effective teaching in higher education. New
York: Agathon Press.

Smith, D. J. and Valentine, T. (2012). The use and perceived effectiveness of

instructional practices in two-year technical colleges. Journal on Excellence in College
Teaching, 23(1), 133-161.

Wammes, J. D., Boucher, P. O., Seli, P., Cheyne, J. A., & Smilek, D. (2016). Mind
wandering during lectures I: Changes in rates across an entire semester. Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2(1), 13-32.

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

Brown, S. & Race, P. (2002). Lecturing: A practical guide. London: Kogan Page.
Ormrod, J.E. (2006). Educational psychology: Developing learners (5th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc.

Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic
motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.