What is Interactive Lecturing?
Interactive lecturing blends traditional lecture methods with active learning strategies to enhance student engagement and participation. Rather than simply delivering information, this approach prompts students to think critically, engage in discussions, and apply concepts throughout the lecture.
Features and Benefits of Interactive Lecturing
- Active involvement
- Increased attention and motivation
- Immediate feedback
- Increased student and instructor satisfaction
In interactive lectures, instructors usually present material for a part of the class before giving students a chance to apply what they’ve learned. This cycle of lecture and application activity continues throughout the session. One approach to building interactive lectures is to consider flipping the classroom. In a flipped classroom, the typical education process is inverted, so that students gain knowledge before class and instructors guide students interactively to apply that knowledge during class.
Why Use Interactive Lecturing?
Interactive lecturing exemplifies evidence-based practices of active learning:
- A meta-analysis by Freeman et al. (2014) indicated improvement of student performance in active learning classes.
- Researchers at the University of Washington reported that switching from traditional lecture methods to active learning narrowed the achievement gaps of underrepresented students in STEM classes.
- Chunking learning content helps to facilitate transfer from working memory to long-term memory.
If you would like to know if you have an active learning classroom and/or if you would like to know what technologies are available in your classroom, visit: https://www.queensu.ca/classrooms/
Strategies to Build Interactive Lectures
Resources
Angelo, T., & Cross, P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques. A Handbook for College Teachers. Jossey-Bass.
Davis, B. G. (2009). Tools for teaching. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.
“Interactive lecturing: strategies for increasing participation in large group presentations,” an article from Yvonne Steinert & Linda Snell, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.
“Tips for Teachers: Twenty Ways to Make Lectures More Participatory,” a resource from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University
“Delivering Effective Lectures,” an article by Rick Sullivan and Noel McIntosh with strategies for asking questions of students and advice specific to lectures in medical education settings
“The Death of the Lecture,” a blog post about why lectures are still so popular by Inside Higher Ed blogger, Anamaria Dutceac Segesten
This resource was remixed from the Centre for Teaching at Vanderbilt, Oregon State University Center for Teaching and Learning, and BYU Center for Teaching & Learning and adapted to Queen’s University context.under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.