This brief forum article reviews texts on lectures and reveals that not much has changed on this topic. What has happened over the years is that lectures have often been maligned and alternatives that promote student engagement, active learning, and experiential learning have been promoted as the (only) way to reach today's students. The use of…

Lecturing can be done well or it can be done badly. It is wrong to assume that certain methods of teaching are inherently poor pedagogy, or, for that matter, to go through the motions of carrying out best practices without considering the ways in which practices (even those supposedly the best) can be executed poorly. One problem from which…

Trainers need to know how to identify and control silence as an important cue in nonverbal communication. A categorization of the types of silence in trainer behavior most frequently observed includes set and closure, wait-time, pause-time, discipline or control, confusion or disorganizational, transitional, humorous, and interactive silence, and…

An analysis of the personality, scholarship, and teaching style of Frederick J. Teggart, a respected scholar and lecturer in the social sciences at the University of California Berkeley from 1919 to 1940. (SJL)

Presents an interview with Leon F. Litwack, a professor of U.S. history at the University of California, Berkeley. Covers topics such as what led him to teaching history, his lectures at Berkeley, themes covered in his U.S. history surveys, and his perception of good teaching. (CMK)

Argues in favor of the lecture method of presenting information to students. (FL)

College teachers can act as intermediaries between a class and a body of knowledge by making three important contributions: structure, evaluation, and support. The teacher's task is to keep the student's initial drive and enthusiasm intact while thwarting the desire to be content with easy answers. Teachers need to encourage a critical outlook and…

The beliefs and experiences of three college teachers at a college of business are described to examine assumptions about teaching and its improvement. One of the teachers was a full professor who had spent 12 years with a consulting firm and continued to work as a consultant. Classroom observation revealed that he was an outstanding narrator who…

A study of seven interactive telecourses taught over a compressed-video-network--an environment where two or more classrooms equipped with cameras and microphones are connected by means of telephone lines--led to the formulation of some communication ideas. In this particular setup, the teacher and students could both see and hear each other in…

Five articles on higher education in Australia and New Zealand are presented, along with two review articles. "Australian Higher Education Research and Society. Part I: Post-War Reconstruction and Expansion, 1940-1965" (D. S. Anderson and E. Eton) is a review of research on higher education in Australia and New Zealand since World War…

Individualized instruction optimizes time spent by student and teacher for the greatest benefit of both. Most instructional time is currently spent lecturing. By replacing live lectures with recorded lectures, the teacher is free to provide personal, individualized instruction to each student. An effective one-to-one student-teacher ratio is…

The achievement of educational goals requires the psychology teacher to display a special kind of courage. Challenges to that courage are discussed. These challenges are involved in lecturing, questioning, and discussion; in teaching historical perspectives and controversial issues; and in working with student and teacher values and attitudes. (RM)