How to deliver better Academic Lectures

The Academic lecture has and continues to be the backbone of Higher Education teaching practice, such that when we hear the word ‘University’ it is likely the first image we imagine is a lecture theatre full of students listening intently to an academic addressing their audience.

However, for all the history and tradition of a Lecture as a teaching approach, it has its limitations, in particular due to it being inherently a passive experience for the students, centred around a one directional didactic transmission mode of delivery. The result can be boredom and a lack of engagement, which might lead to poor attendance, and ultimately an ineffective and inefficient learning experience.

There is hope however, as below I outline six ideas and approaches that can be adopted, to enhance the effectiveness of lectures for both the lecturer and audience alike.

1. Be clear on the goal of the session (and let the students in on it as well - see signposting below!)

Clarity of the purpose of a session is key as it can shape how we present the material, what examples we provide and why. Is the purpose merely to present information or new knowledge? Is this knowledge building on past learning? Is there an applied aspect to the content, i.e. how will you expect the students to use this knowledge in the future? 

If we are clear of the end goal, then we can contextualise the material appropriately such that it is perceived as useful knowledge by the students - and so they will be more inclined to engage with it.

2. Signposting 

Once we know the purpose of the session we can then articulate this to the students as intended learning outcomes (ILOs). There is debate about how we should structure intended learning outcomes, however if we think of them as a description of the activity that we intend to be undertaken by the students by the end of the session, then everyone will be clear on the direction of travel.

Beyond the ILOs, signposting in a lecture might also include an overview of the session, even approximate timings for sections, and something that is fundamental especially at the start of a lecture is establishing the WHY of the session. Why is the student committing an hour or more of their time to this particular lecturer? What is in it for them? This might feel like a self evident statement, they are here because they want to learn, however a purpose and payoff needs to be articulated - a reason to stick with it. This could be key insights that help towards an assessment, a desirable real world application of knowledge that will be possible after engagement with the session, or simply an engaging revelation that will be revealed towards the end.

The final aspect of signposting is revisiting the ILOs and overview intentionally throughout the session. This articulates progress, have you ever sat in a lecture or meeting not knowing when it was ever going to end? Signposting milestones of progress within the lecture helps to maintain momentum and engagement of the students, and will assist the students in processing the content by creating ‘chapters’ of material (see 'Managing the load' below).

3. Manage the load 

Many lectures fail as effective learning experiences due to the volume of content presented and also the way it is presented. Some topics are complex, there is no way of getting around this inherent complexity, and so when this is the case (and also at all other times), we need to be mindful of the audience and consider ways of scaffolding the lecture such that students are able to process the information appropriately. 

There will of course be some academics who state that the students should be able to understand the lecture and if they cannot then they are perhaps not up to the required standard to be on the course (however I am sure these academics are not reading this post!). And while clearly a minimum level of cognitive capacity is required to study at any level, as proposed by cognitive load theory the unique architecture of the brain means that we process information in a particular way, such that we can enhance the possibility of students retaining the content by how we present and structure the material. Some approaches that can enhance this include:

• Glossary - A glossary of key terminology, whether provided by an academic or student curated, can significantly help to establish the ‘language’ of a topic, such that cognitive bandwidth can be used to understand the more conceptual and complex aspects, without wasting space remembering names for things.

• Pre session content - while pre reading has been used extensively for lectures, a digital approach could be to provide key content in advance of a session in a video format. This could be a key theory or concept, articulated in clear language, with the benefit that students can watch this in advance as many times as they need to be able to understand it, or at least have considered key questions they need answering to understand it. 

• Student discussion - Where a topic naturally can be broken down into smaller segments of content (or chapters - see above), this can help reduce the cognitive load, and also be a great opportunity to encourage students to have brief discussions between themselves about the content, to consider any questions they may have and to share their understanding. Linked to above this may allow them to discuss questions from any pre session content, help to ‘chunk’ content into more manageable and retainable segments, provide an indication of progress in the session, and also allow an opportunity to check for student understanding (see below).

• Know your students - It can be useful to ask yourself the questions, where are your students on a specific topic? Are they experts or novices or somewhere in between? An expert will approach a topic differently to a novice - ever reread a book and the second time around you noticed things that you didn’t the first time? If we understand where our student are on topic (or at least some indication) then we can approach the content and delivery appropriately to support their understanding, scaffolding for the novices and stretching the experts by using their prior learning as a basis for further understanding.

4. Story telling 

We probably know effective communicators or orators, be they in academia, politics, sport or entertainment, but what is it about the way they communicate that is so effective? One aspect is the ability to tell stories, a skill in itself, and so when thinking about lecture content and structure, can we think about the topic (however mundane) as part of a story or narrative?

Examples of how this might be achieved can be by, setting the scene, what is the context, who are the main actors in the story, are they (or could they be made) relatable to the students? What is the problem they/we face or have faced, and what were the solutions (theories, models, breakthroughs) that allowed them to move forward? Finally what has been or will be the payoff - what is it like in the promised land where the solution has been applied and the problem resolved, and where will they go next?

If at least some of these aspects can be applied to a lecture then the narrative aspect will instantly make it more engaging and intriguing, and therefore potentially more effective.

5. Checking for understanding

How do you know your lecture has been effective? Is your metric for success the fact you got through all of your slides within the time limit? If we have adopted some or all of the approaches above, then we will most probably have a better idea of how well are students are grasping the content, however checking for understand through questioning and other means of eliciting feedback can be useful to evaluate our teaching, and identify if we need to revisit certain sections. 

While this approach can be a challenge with large cohorts, the use of digital tools such as Mentimeter, chat platforms and interactive whiteboards, can allow a snapshot of understanding to be taken, which can inform subsequent lectures.

6. Build relationships

I would argue that priority number 1 for any academic is to build positive relationships with their students. The payback from this can be immense, with students who feel valued and supported more likely to engage and stick with hard aspects of a course (and even forgive our mistakes!), if they have a bond with the academic and trust them.

While the ability to build these interpersonal relationships at scale in a large cohort is a challenge, there are however certain things we can do to build rapport with students:

• Remember names - perhaps one of the most powerful, but also hardest things to do with a large cohort is remembering a students name, plus any novel information about them (which can help remember their name!). Successfully attempting to do this, at the very least with those you speak directly to can really enhance a students perception that they are not just a number in the crowd.

• Be organised and reliable - it may seem obvious that as a professional we should be organised (be on time, have the correct resources with you) and reliable (if we promise to do something ensuring we always complete it), but consistently ensuring we are both of these can be a key component in developing trust with students, and their perception that we have their back.

• Knowledgeable - another obvious suggestion perhaps, however simply hitting students over the head with our wealth of knowledge is likely to alienate them by putting ourselves on an unobtainable pedestal. Demonstrating our knowledge and credibility through pitching content at an appropriate level, providing insights and novel responses to student questions, along with reflecting on our own experiences and how it relates to the audience, can significantly contribute to developing rapport with students.

• Approachable - linked to above, it is important that students see us as approachable and personable. This can be achieved by welcoming interaction in our lectures, sharing our own experiences (even our limitations!) and striving to be as close to your authentic self as you can be. While there is always an element of performance to a lecture, authenticity has an intangible quality that encourages engagement, enhancing the learning experience.

The lecture can and should be a valuable asset as part of a variety of teaching approaches adopted to facilitate learning. In order to avoid or at least reduce the instances of boredom and lack of engagement that can occur with lectures, the ideas outlined above could be applied where appropriate, to create interesting, engaging and effective learning experiences.