Everything about Lecture totally explained
A
lecture is an oral
presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a
university or
college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theories and equations. A politician's speech, a minister's sermon, or even a businessman's sales presentation may be similar in form to a lecture. Usually the lecturer will stand at the front of the room and recite information relevant to the lecture's content.
Though lectures are much criticized as a
pedagogical method, universities have not yet found practical alternative teaching methods for the large majority of their courses. Critics point out that lecturing is mainly a one-way method of
communication that doesn't involve significant audience participation. Therefore, lecturing is often contrasted to
active learning. But lectures delivered by talented speakers can be highly stimulating; at the very least, lectures have survived in
academia as a quick, cheap and efficient way of introducing large numbers of students to a particular field of study.
Lectures have a significant role outside the classroom, as well. Academic and scientific awards routinely include a lecture as part of the honor, and academic conferences often center around "
keynote addresses", for example, lectures. The
public lecture has a long history in the sciences and in
social movements.
Union halls, for instance, historically have hosted numerous free and public lectures on a wide variety of matters. Similarly,
churches,
community centers,
libraries,
museums, and other organizations have hosted lectures in furtherance of their missions or their constituents' interests.
Etymology
The noun "lecture" dates from 14th century, meaning "action of reading, that which is read," from the
Latin lectus, pp. of
legere "to read." Its subsequent meaning as "a discourse on a given subject before an audience for purposes of
instruction" is from the 16th century. The verb "to lecture" is attested from 1590.
The noun "lectern" refers to the reading desk used by lecturers. In British English and several other languages the noun "lecture" must grammatically be the object of the verb "to read."
History
The practice in the
medieval university was for the instructor to read from an original source to a class of students who took notes on the lecture. The reading from original sources evolved into the reading of glosses on an original and then more generally to lecture notes. Throughout much of history, the diffusion of knowledge via handwritten lecture notes was an essential element of academic life.
Even in the twentieth century the lecture notes taken by students, or prepared by a scholar for a lecture, have sometimes achieved wide circulation (see, for example, the genesis of
Ferdinand de Saussure's
Cours de linguistique générale). Many lecturers were, and still are, accustomed to simply reading their own notes from the lectern for exactly that purpose. Nevertheless, modern lectures generally incorporate additional activities, for example writing on a chalk-board, exercises, class questions and discussions, or student presentations.
The use of
multimedia presentation software such as
Microsoft PowerPoint has changed the form of lectures, for example video, graphics, websites, or prepared exercises may be included. Most commonly, however, only outlines composed of "bullet points" are presented. Critics contend that this style of lecture bombards the audience (as critics such as
Edward Tufte (External Link
) put it) with unnecessary and possibly distracting or confusing graphics. Others simply think this form of lecture is non-spontaneous and boring.
Research
Bligh, in
What's the Use of Lectures? argues that lectures "represent a conception of education in which teachers who know give knowledge to students who don't and are therefore supposed to have nothing worth contributing." Based on his review of numerous studies, he concludes that lecturing is as effective, but not more effective, as any other teaching method in transmitting information. Nevertheless, lecturing isn't the most effective method for promoting student thought, changing attitudes, or teaching behavioral skills.
Other forms
Many
university courses relying on lectures supplement them with smaller discussion sections,
tutorials, or laboratory experiment sessions as a means of further actively involving students. Often these supplemental sections are led by
graduate students,
tutors,
Teaching Assistants or Teaching
Fellows rather than senior
faculty. Those other forms of academic teaching include
discussion (
recitation if conducted by a Teaching Assistant ),
seminars,
workshops,
observation, practical application,
case examples/
case study,
experiental learning/
active learning,
computer-based instruction and
tutorials.
In
schools the prevalent mode of student-teacher interaction is
lessons.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lecture'.
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