Original Photograph: D’Arcy Norman. Used under Creative Commons. Image can be found here
Is it too early to call the death of the traditional lecture? Despite universities hanging on for grim death as their business models become less and less relevant can we confidently say: “Let’s get rid of lectures”? Should we say this?
As with all discussions, there are multiple perspectives that one can take and, as the famous saying goes, where you stand on this issue depends on where you sit. So let’s take a look at it…
Students: “Why should I come into a lecture theatre if al that is going to happen is that the lecturer is going to read off her slides and just stand there and talk *at* me and three hundred other students? Why can’t they just post their lecture on the web as a video podcast, or if that proves too difficult, as a slideshare document? What value do I get out of dragging myself into class at a time that often doesn’t suit me, but is dictated by the University and the whims of corporate timetabling? Haven’t these people heard of web 2.0? Ipods? Facebook? I don’t need to see the slide projected onto a 20′ screen. If I am that interested in what’s on the slide, I’ll print it out – they shouldn’t be cramming all that stuff into a slide anyway. Haven’t they heard of less-is-more?”
Lecturers: “So, I’ve got to ‘reach’ four hundred students in my Intro-to-Whatever-101 course. Each. Semester. I have to teach them to read, think, engage, critically analyse, synthesise, apply and write about what they are learning. I have to set assignments, quizzes, exams. At the end of each semester I have to ‘certify’ that Student X actually learnt something and is capable of moving onto the next part of the programme. Sure, I wish we could all sit around and have deep-and-meaningful discussions about the subject matter, but the fact is there are just too many students in each class for me to do that with. What would happen if I opened up the lecture for discussion? What of the students went off on a tangent? While it might be interesting, it wouldn’t fit with my carefully-thought-out-plan. If they don’t stick to the plan, how can they possibly expect to pass at the end of semester when the exam rolls around? No, better to keep control of the knowledge and information here at the front of the theatre – where it belongs. Besides, if we begin letting students think for themselves, what does that say about the value of the investment I have made in my own education – in becoming The Expert?”
There are more perspectives (of course) but these two are broadly representative of some views I have heard over the past couple of months.
