Blog Entry #3

This week's readings were chapter 4 (Reading as Active Learning), 5 (Facilitating Discussion: Posing Problems, Listening, Questioning), and 6 (How to Make Lectures More Effective) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips. I found several aspects of this week's readings interesting.

In chapter 4, McKeachie argues that students learn more from reading than they do from lectures. This is an interesting point. As an undergraduate, I often felt that attending lectures did not add much to the knowledge I acquired from reading the textbook. Although I still feel this way at times, I think that lecturing can sometimes be valuable. For example, lecturors may be able to supplement reading materials by generating enthusiam about the topic, providing a check on author biases, and adding additional material. In my own teaching, I intend to cover reading material in classes, but also add to this material with new information and examples.

In chapter 5, McKeachie emphasizes the importance of discussion for learning. Information learned by listening to a lecture or reading a textbook may not be retained as well as information that is actively discussed. My advisor and I are currently working on an article concerning collaborative group memory. As part of this article, we review evidence suggesting that members of collaborative groups tend to remember information better than individuals at later points in time. When recalling information, collaborative groups are able to discuss their recall. This discussion seems to facilitate recall in group members at later points in time. In my own teaching, I intend to encourage student participation by creating a comfortable atmosphere for discussion.

In chapter 6, McKeachie provides suggestions for how to make lectures more effective. I thought he provided many interesting ideas for accomplishing this. For example, motivating attention with phrases like "This will be on the test" may be worth considering. In my own teaching, I may consider changing this phrase slightly to "This may be on the test." This is because anything may be on the test. As long as this phrase is not used to frequently, it should help encourage student attention when needed.

Below are a couple links to additional resources. The first link compares collaborative learning and lecture/discussion. The second link provides techniques for improving lecture effectiveness.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3886/is_200101/ai_n8935939/

http://www.reproline.jhu.edu/english/6read/6training/lecture/delivering_lecture.htm