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Large
Scale Lectures as a Learning Resource at KS3,
4 and 5 |
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School: Gordano School,
Bristol |
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Fellow: David Richardson |
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Email: djrichardson@onetel.net.uk |
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Introduction: |
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Teaching in school is often
confined to the classroom or laboratory. Teachers
invest a great deal of time and inspiration
into varying the learning experience within
this context. The classroom is however unlike
any other learning experience they will meet
in life. |
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The idea to try an alternative
learning experience came from seeing the Royal
Institute Christmas Lectures on the television
when I was younger. They were inspiring, fun
and communicated the message in a memorable
way. |
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This was then backed up at
university by two motivated and enthusiastic
lecturers during my Physics degree at the
University of Bristol. Their ability to use
experiments to enhance their communication
of the subject matter made their respective
courses both enjoyable and successful. |
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Winning the Nexus Physics Student
lecturing competition in 1992 confirmed my
own personal enjoyment of presenting large
scale lectures to an interested audience.
Whilst on teaching practice I was given the
opportunity to present the same talk to sixth
form students. Their reaction convinced me
of the value of using a lecture style presentation
as part of the learning experience. |
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This was my motivation to apply
for the Gatsby Fellowship Award – my
belief that lecturing is a valid but under
used and under resourced teaching method at
secondary level. |
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Aims of my Gatsby
Fellowship: |
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To think through and develop
how lecture presentations can be used
in school |
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To gauge and document pupil response
to the learning style |
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To write up a usable resource for
use within a school science department
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Results and Findings
– What makes a good lecture? |
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I have identified the important
factors of a good lecture style presentation
as: |
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The subject matter
must be interesting and relevant. |
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At the start of a presentation,
pupil observations must reinforce their
present thoughts and understanding.
This will allow them to extend their
knowledge base as the lecture progresses.
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Learning is further enhanced when
it is presented in a different or unusual
way. |
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Lectures provide an alternative
presentation tool that gives students a different
way to access the memory of what they know.
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The material must
be backed up with interesting experiments.
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Experiments split up
the information presented and make the
lecture more memorable. |
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Including one or two especially “whiz-bang”
experiments enhances the reception of
the lecture, and provides a memory handle
to trigger the rest of what has been
learnt. |
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PowerPoint must
be used effectively. |
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PowerPoint can be well
used to communicate subject material
in a memorable way. |
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The amount of information on a slide
is crucial. 16 words is the limit on
one slide |
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Using animations can reinforce the
ideas discussed |
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Results and Findings
– What did the pupils say? |
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After one lecture I distributed
a questionnaire for feedback on how useful
the pupils found the lecture style presentation
in aiding their learning. 56% of the 60 students
said they found it an “excellent”
method, with the other 43% saying “good”.
This was backed up by their comments: |
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“Easy to take in
large amounts of information” |
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“Didn’t get bored”
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“Very effective method”
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“Helped to remember what I’ve
been taught, but wouldn’t be very
effective if the material was unknown” |
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“A large screen helped as you
paid more attention” |
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“Presentations help ideas stick”
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“Lectures make you more motivated
to learn rather than being told what
to learn” |
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“Everyone together in a lecture
is much better than classroom tuition”
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Combining this with conversations
with the pupils I am convinced that lecture
presentations are under-used in school and
with careful thinking have an important role
to play. |
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The Outcome |
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From my experience of doing
lectures throughout the Fellowship year and
from the information gained from the pupils,
I have produced a resource that can be used
by teachers to do a presentation within their
own school environment. |
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This includes: |
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Lecture Notes on what
to say |
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A PowerPoint Presentation |
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Experimental Notes |
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A video of the Lecture |
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My hope is that it will be
used to encourage teachers to try doing lectures
themselves. The technology exists in schools
– all that has to be done is to inspire
and resource teachers to try it for themselves!
The continuing challenge is to find teachers
who are willing to try! |
