What does the research tell us

The research on active and engaged learning is really consistent. Now, people have hated on lectures for the longest time, but they tend to put all lectures into one category, giving the impression that the norm is the lesson-long expository lecture of the sage on the stage. In fact, that’s where we get that phrase, for the sage on the stage moving to the guide on the side or people who say you shouldn’t stand up lecturing all the time.

But there are many types of lectures. There’s storytelling lectures, problem-based learning lectures, discussion lectures, Socratic lectures, and expository lectures. That’s just to name a few. So, when somebody says lectures aren’t effective, I like to say, which kind? I also like to say when? Because lectures don’t have to take up an entire class period. As research has demonstrated time and again, lectures can take up different portions of the class period. The best way to do this is to not be lecturing all the time.

Now, interesting, although many of the scathing articles I’ve seen have been written against the lecture, I found nothing that argues against the effectiveness of mini lectures. So, if mini lectures are okay, longer lectures should be okay. What you should be looking for is what is the difference. Now, short lectures are lectures. They’re highly effective in teaching, and we see mini lectures used in flipped classrooms. We see Khan Academy. We see TED Talks. Everyone loves the TED Talks.

And cooperative learning, team-based learning frequently include mini lectures as well. So, we have all different types of learning out there that are using mini lectures. And people find them effective. So, we shouldn’t really be talking about whether lectures are effective. They are. What we do know from research is that lectures that span an entire class period are not as effective as those that are shorter and combined with active learning strategies. But one thing is clear. Everyone can learn from a lecture when they’re done correctly.

Lectures are particularly effective when done when direct instruction is needed. Now, sometimes direct instruction includes a solid foundation of information. If there’s just a little bit of information and you need it for a learning module or something else you’re doing in class, a short lecture of five to 10 minutes gives that information very precisely and effectively. When a learner has a need to find out how to do something, you can show them how to do it with a short lecture.

And actually, lectures are good because sometimes learning would otherwise be dangerous. We certainly don’t want to put students or children into small groups and send them into the street to show how dangerous it is to play in the street. We don’t want individuals touching electrical outlets to see how much danger there is there. We can lecture certain topics and it’s much safer.

Now, there’s two things you can do to make a positive change with respect to your lectures. Know strategies to make lectures effective, and there are several out there, and also, really important, know when to stop. Knowing when to stop means identifying a solid chunk of material that will take about 10 minutes and then insert an activity to drive the message home. Let the learners practice with what they’ve just learned and then you can move on. So, lecture, active learning, lecture. And as you learn to teach more and more with this strategy, you’ll be able to identify from your students when is the right time to stop. That’s the critical component.