Interactive Lectures
This material was originally created for
Starting Point:Introductory Geology and is replicated here as part of the SERC Pedagogic Service.
It can be difficult to engage students with the material in a large lecture class. This module on Interactive Lectures has strategies and specific examples of activities to involve students in large and small lecture-based classes.
What is interactive lecture?
An easy way for faculty to involve students as active participants in a lecture-based class of any size.Making lectures interactive draws students into the lecture by engaging them in working with the material. In an interactive lecture, the lecture is interspersed with short individual, pair, or small-group activities. These activities also provide feedback to the instructor on student understanding. For example, rather than asking a question and calling on the first student who raises a hand, asking all students to reflect on the question and then discuss with a neighbor before calling for student responses gives everyone a chance to participate (think-pair-share). Other strategies for engaging students include ConcepTests, the Question of the Day, and in-class small-group activities. Interactive lectures can be used in classes of any size, including large classes.
Learn more about interactive lectures here.Why use interactive lectures?
Interactive lectures combine information-rich lectures with activities that engage students, make students think about and apply lecture material in class, and give the instructor feedback in class on student understanding of the material.
Interactive lectures are an important way to enhance student learning, particularly in large classes. They help to keep students' attention focused on the class, give students repeated opportunities to practice, and increase student retention of lecture material. They also provide an easy way to experiment with different teaching techniques. Learn more about why to use interactive lectures here.
How to give interactive lectures?
Giving interactive lectures involves delivering effective lectures, organizing the class period and selecting student activities, managing the class, and collecting feedback on what the students have learned.
Learn more about how to give interactive lectures here.References
- Demonstrations that involve students in making predictions and/or discussing the results can make lectures interactive.
- A list of articles and books explaining why and how to make your lectures interactive.
Classroom Examples
Examples that are ready to use or adapt are listed by topic on the following pages:
- All Interactive Lecture Examples
- ConcepTests are multiple-choice questions that address conceptual understanding of instructional topics.
- Longer Activities provide an opportunity to have the students work on more complex problems and with data sets.
- Question of the Day examples are short activities for the beginning of class that engage students with the lecture material.
- Think-Pair-Share examples are open ended questions that are designed to generate more discussion.
