Ben gave me a great article by Rob Weir, published in the April 29 issue of Inside Higher Ed. Weir offers an approach he calls "didaction," a mix of exposition and student participation. The article offers a lot of great ideas for keeping student involvement strong, even in a lecture situation. Some of the best of these include:
- Brainstorm: pepper your lecture with open-ended questions and invite students to offer ideas.
- Ask "affective" questions: students often hesitate to offer "right/wrong" answers, but many are willing to volunteer how something makes them feel or think. This gets them more personally invested in what you are presenting.
- Say it in pictures: No one likes to listen as the presenter reads a slide aloud. However, images are engaging...especially when students are asked to comment on them. Maximize moments where you can convey information by summarizing and affirming correct assumptions the students have extracted from images, graphs or maps.
- Story-telling: Students naturally remember stories. Take advantage of opportunities to package information as mini-stories.
- Be controversial/provocative/silly: if you notice that the class is drifting, ask an outrageous question or make an outlandish claim and demand to be corrected.
- Role-play: You can wade into the audience (which alone changes the mood and gets their attention) and ask questions. Ask more than one student--"What were the weaknesses with this point in the treaty?" or "Why does Descartes distrust the evidence of his senses?" This bit of drama can drive the point home.
- Encourage interruptions: Make your presentation an experience students feel free to join in with comments or questions.
- End with a question: it's always better not to end your presentation by simply running out of time. It can be effective to end with a puzzle or problem or question...something that previews material to come or that reflects back on what they've already learned.
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