Recorded lectures have rapidly gained momentum in teaching and learning, whether online or "offline" in traditional face-to-face classrooms. We appreciate the remarkable accessibility and flexibility brought by recorded lectures, but we must ponder its adequacy and effectiveness. After all, a YouTube recording is different from a live…

Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

A survey of one college's faculty (n=101) concerning classroom use of technology reveals limited exploitation of its potential, and suggests a different approach to faculty development in technology that provides a more substantial infrastructure, rewards, and a variety of techniques to keep both faculty and students interested. (MSE)

A systematic approach to preparation of successful college lectures is outlined, including four stages: anticipation (of content and expectations); preparation (selection, acquisition, design, and construction); execution (attention to speech habits, demeanor, and body language); and support (evaluation, maintenance, and enhancement). (MSE)

An anthropology professor required students to compose essay questions that they felt summarized the principal issues and objectives of the course, based on lecture content. In the final examination, students were given several of their own questions to answer. Students felt they learned more from this format. (MSE)

In a classroom research project, one college teacher experimented with a variation on conventional lecture method to improve student understanding of content. At logical points in the lecture, approximately 15-20 minutes apart, the lecturer pauses and directs students to review the material and paraphrase it in writing. Analysis of student notes…

Seven reasons for reading pedagogical materials to improve instruction are outlined, advice on how the reading can be used most effectively is given, and appropriate readings are recommended. (MSE)

Describes and evaluates a technique used in two science lecture courses (biochemistry and introductory meteorology), in which lectures were interspersed with frequent, brief discussions within spontaneously formed small groups. Some differences were found in the ways the two professors managed the technique, but both felt in-class participation…

This article profiles the teaching careers of history professor Giovanni Costigan of the University of Washington and English professor Tommy Howells of Whitman College in Walla Walla (Washington). It maintains that both men were accomplished lecturers who set the standard for their respective campuses and corners of Washington State. (MDM)

The use of instructor-prepared notes covering 90 percent of the lecture information in one large-group human sexuality course was enthusiastically received by the students, and anecdotal evidence suggests an increase in correct test responses. (MSE)

Evidence suggests that the usual classroom practices don't work and must be replaced by something more active and involving. Group-inquiry, an untraditional approach to the classroom, is described. Small groups examine central problems of the subjects under study, then a consensus is reported to the class. (MLW)

Techniques for providing variety and effectiveness within the lecture format are described, including the oral essay, participatory lecture, problem-solving approach, alternating mini-lectures and discussions, modeling analytical skills, debate, simulation and role-playing, and the affective/emotional media lecture. (MSE)

This article discusses various definitions of teaching, arguing that teaching takes many forms and is conducted at numerous levels. It outlines a continuum of nine forms, with the teacher as disseminator/transmitter, lecturer/dramatist, inducer/persuader, inquirer/catalyst, dialogist, facilitator/guide, witness/abiding presence, learner, or…

In order to encourage instructors interested in collaborative classroom approaches, the College of Continuing Education at the University of Rhode Island sponsored a series of workshops and informal discussions. A telephone survey of faculty was undertaken to learn the ways they were using collaborative approaches in their courses. (MLW)

A four-step approach to teaching complex concepts at the college level involves a sequence of lecture, an individual assignment, small group discussion, and larger group discussion instruction. The last three steps focus on case study applications. The method is adaptable to different teaching situations and promotes expansion of student…