Interactive Lecture:

Small Changes for Improved Engagement and Learning

Traditionally, undergraduate education has been predominately lecture-based instruction and passive lecturing continues to be the most widely used instructional strategy. However, educational research over the past decades has shown that students retain more course content when active learning techniques are correctly implemented. Furthermore, evidence shows that active learning lessens learning and achievement gaps for historically marginalized students

One method for starting the shift to active learning is the use of interactive lectures, those that incorporate short activities that give students opportunities to engage with the materials just covered in class. The main advantages of interactive lectures for instructors are the ease of implementation and the variety of activities that can be explored and incorporated into a course. Students benefit through increased engagement, learning, and long-term retention of course ideas, topics, and materials (Ernst and Colthorpe 2007, Revell and Wainwright 2009, Miller et al. 2013, Hadie et al. 2018).

So, how do you create an interactive lecture?

The preparation for an interactive lecture begins with revisiting the student learning objectives. Student learning objectives are key to determining which topics are essential to the course and aids in attending to these ideas, materials, and topics for lectures.

Once you are clear on the learning objective(s), review the topic content to determine which aspects of the lecture are key points or required topics and which can be eliminated or covered using methods such as textbook readings, introductory videos, homework assignments etc.

Finally, determine the smallest units of content that can be given and remain coherent. For each small section of information, reframe the content to answer a question. Use awareness-raising questions for structuring lectures; this will allow many strategies to be employed to increase student engagement through analysis and discussion. You could use one same question and have students brainstorm possible answers in pairs or small groups. The method helps students determine their prior knowledge and has them think critically about the topic.

(Michele Larson. https://teaching.unl.edu, 24.05.2022. Adaptado)