When Steve Volk asked me to speak to the Brown Bag Pedagogy group about classroom lecturing, I realized that it has been a long time since I've actually thought abstractly about what I do and why I do it. In the end, I've realized that I don't have a "theory" about lecturing, nor do I have a list of Do's and Don'ts that are guaranteed to bring you success. However, I have tried to make a list of things that I do before and during the class lecture. I offer them here in the hopes that they may prove useful.
What a lecture is (and isn't)
1. For me, a classroom lecture is an opportunity to lead students in an encounter with material that is unfamiliar to them, but familiar to me. It is not an opportunity for me to "convey information."
2. I want my students to see what it is like to think on one's feet; to bring critical thinking - not "criticism" - to bear on received ideas; to use one's enthusiasm as energy for prying loose crusty or worn-out notions; to allow one's creative imagination to formulate new ways of thinking about old problems; to examine one's own thoughts and assumptions while in the act of formulating an argument.
3. I am much less concerned about "covering" my material than I am about "uncovering" it.
4. A lecture is an opportunity for me to encounter exciting and even monumental ideas over and over again, and to rediscover their vitality. It's I who can get stale, not the material I teach.
5. I assume that, depending on the field of inquiry, classroom lectures have different agendas. For instance, as a historian I want to inculcate in my students a strong respect for the methodological tensions in being scrupulous about chronology while remaining sensitive and open to contingency. If I taught literature, the purpose of a lecture might be altogether different. That is why I am a little reluctant to talk about rules, even rules of thumb.
Preparing the Lecture
1. For me, every course must have a clearly articulated and carefully argued syllabus. I design my courses very tightly, so that I need only to look at an upcoming date to know what the lecture topic will be. I never use the same syllabus twice; reinventing the course each time helps me to keep it fresh, to incorporate new scholarship, and - most of all - to adjust for my own thinking since the last time I taught the subject.
2. I give each classroom lecture a title, as though it were an independent, stand-alone piece. The lecture titles appear on the syllabus, and they encapsulate the theme or thesis of the lectures.
3. I write lectures, ex novo, for every class, every time. In preparing, I tend to follow these guidelines:
a. I begin with the end. That is, I first decide what I want the students to learn during the class period. I try to make that very specific, limiting the scope so that it will fit into the amount of time I'm giving it. When a subject is too large for a single class lecture, I give it two or three, as necessary.
b. I then assemble relevant material and lay it out in front of me, but in no particular order. For what may be a long while, I sort of contemplate my material, searching for the way it could lead me into a story particular to my subject for the day. Once I have the narrative in my mind, I begin to arrange the material, allowing my story to determine the order. When that is done, I write the outline.
c. I try to avoid ancillary or secondary themes or material. In my experience lectures are most effective when their points are clear and I repeat those points with creative redundancy throughout the class period.
4. It is helpful not to prepare too far in advance. Although I don't necessarily recommend this tactic to beginners, for me the design of a lecture goes cold if I finish it even the day before. I like to have my material at hand on the day before, and then pull it together in the way I described above as close as possible to actual class time.
In the classroom
1. Before class begins, on the blackboard I write all the names, dates, or other important matter that I want students to include in their notes.
2. I like to start by stating my subject and its title. I put it as succinctly as I can, and then I explain what I mean in general terms. I think it's important to set out the reasons for moving on to whatever it is I'm talking about. To that end, I often sketch in the general complexities of the whole subject in order to highlight the relative place of the specific issue I'll be talking about in the coming hour.
3. Next, I outline how today's lecture topic follows naturally from the one before; sometimes, I also mention what will come afterwards. Students need to know how the present lecture relates in my mind to the course as a whole.
4. My outline dominates my delivery. Depending on how I am doing for time, I can expand or contract some of the points. But I've found that the more "minimalist" the quantity of material I convey in a particular class, the more I maximize opportunities to make useful digressions as they occur to me.
5. New ideas and insights frequently occur to me during the lecture. When that happens, I alert the students to the fact that I am having a new idea and I try to show them where it came from.
6. If my thesis is unorthodox or even eccentric in the context of scholarly consensus, I make it a point: (a) to alert the students to the fact that what I am providing is not the common view; (b) briefly to outline what the objections to my point could be; and (c) to cite one or two authors on the bibliography whose work would contradict what I've just said.
7. Space for student participation is just as important as leaving room for me to think on my feet. I have developed a few ways to do this:
a. I try to connect what I'm talking about with something that is interesting or familiar to them, frequently using current events or even urgent topics on campus.
b. Throughout the class, I ask whether or not everyone understands and follows; if I feel that they don't really understand, I ask a student to recapitulate; I encourage them to ask questions.
c. Whatever may be the form of a student's intervention, I try to make a point of honoring that student, to point out to the whole class how the question or comment relates to the topic under discussion, and to thank the student for the intervention. I think it is very important for students to feel that their contribution to the class lecture is welcome and valued - and publicly acknowledged.
8. Body Language will work with you or against you, because the amount of physical energy you put out will strongly influence the amount of energy that students will have to pay attention to what you're saying. I don't know why that it is so, but I do know that it is so. I have learned that lecturers are most effective when: (1) they remain standing throughout the class period, but not slouching casually against the podium; (2) they do not pace back and forth; (3) they maintain eye contact with students; (4) they use gestures and facial expressions to make their points; (5) they speak clearly and at a volume that does not make it difficult to be heard.
9. I try to end on time, even a couple of minutes early. It is better to surprise students pleasantly than to deepen their fatigue.