Have big university lectures gone out of fashion?

Louise Tickle

www.louisetickle.co.uk

writes, "No longer can students sit passively and imbibe information – today's 'blended learning' approach demands engagement and ideas."

The best lecture I ever went to saw an inspirational academic – Professor David Ian Rabey; credit where credit's due – cracking an egg over his own head. A roomful of undergraduates watched, fascinated and aghast, as the yolky glop slid down his face and dripped on the floor. He carried on talking (about King Lear as it happens), and we listened like we'd never listened before. I've never forgotten it.

The 'sage on the stage' model of learning is seen as outmoded by some academics.
Photo: The Guardia

But most lectures, let's face it, aren't so compelling. And the model of the "sage on the stage" is now seen as somewhat outmoded – or at least, as only one way, and not always the best, of teaching students.

Blended learning, explains Mike Boxall, higher education expert at PA Consulting Group, involves using a diverse range of teaching methods and resources to offer more effective learning experiences. Each activity will ideally be designed around the circumstances and learning styles of different student groups.

"In practice, the term gets applied to a wide range of approaches," Boxall says, "from the Open University model – consisting mainly of online courses supplemented by face-to-face seminars in local centres, access to personal tutors and self-organising support groups – to "flipped" classroom models where students are expected to master the content of courses in their own time and then attend small group discussions and seminars to consolidate understanding and application of the course materials."

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Source:The Guardia