Running head: ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

Examination of Current Institutional and Classroom Practices: The Role of Lecturing in College Science Teaching Lily Fernandez Mullins Professor Wenzel ED 611 Theories of Teaching and Learning November 21, 2012

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

Examination of Current Institutional and Classroom Practices: The Role of Lecturing in College Science Teaching

The amount of scientific facts and data keeps increasing substantially, far too quickly for any teacher, let alone any student to learn them all. Science instructors must select their content carefully, which is usually done by choosing a textbook and following its topic outline to design a course schedule. Nowadays, the study of ideas and principles is far more useful to students than the study of simple facts. For example, thirty or forty years ago, students who received Associates and Bachelors degrees in biological sciences were simply required to remember factual knowledge. Many of my college professors mentioned during class that they had to memorize complex biochemical pathways and recreate them with diagrams on their college exams. As the years went by and research bloomed, the scientific body of knowledge became larger and larger, and the information became more readily available at the click of a button or the turn of a page. The memorization of facts lost importance and the application of conceptual knowledge to problem-solving became the main skill for future scientists to cultivate (Knight & Wood, 2005). In any science, but particularly in Biology, fundamentals must be understood before facts can even be introduced. How can a college science teacher best present the most important and useful information, given the challenges of large class sizes in introductory courses, complex and extensive content, and limited class time? The go-to method has been, for years, the lecture. A lecture is, traditionally, a long period of uninterrupted talk by a teacher. Before the printing press was developed, word of mouth was the only way to transmit information. Even as printed materials and electronic resources made their appearance, lecturing has remained

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

the predominant method of teaching in postsecondary education (Lujan & DiCarlo, 2006). In science classrooms, most lectures expose students to content via speech, presentation tools such as computer slides, and multimedia (Wenzel, 1999). Many studies have shown that lecturing does not promote higher order learning (Bobich, 2008). By higher order learning, I am referring to the cognitive domains of Blooms Taxonomy; particularly the complex skills of analysis, evaluation and creation (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill & Krathwohl, 1956). A 2007 study surveyed students on the behaviors of professors that they found irritating. Among the top complaints (20% or more of students surveyed) were: not presenting an organized lecture, delivering their lecture in a monotone manner, and lecturing too fast and failing to slow down when asked (Malikow). Because of this, many students pass lecture courses believing that science is simply a collection of independent, unrelated facts; and they may forget or misconstrue them once the course is over (Lujan & DiCarlo, 2006). Further,, studies show that large lecture courses do not foster communication skills, analytical thinking, creativity or curiosity; all critical skills for future scientists that are in line with Blooms higher order learning skills (Chaudhury, 2011). There are other drawbacks to lecturing still: it requires students to have adequate auditory learning skills, note-taking abilities, a good memory, and sufficient prior knowledge. Student attentiveness is critical in science lectures, since they involve the development of concepts as they are built up from various pieces of evidence until they are tied together to form a logical conclusion. However, students come from various backgrounds and have different levels of interest in the subject matter (Wenzel, 1999).

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

Despite their many drawbacks, lectures are necessary for summarizing scientific findings, relating class exercises to specific topics, and explaining current innovations that arent in textbooks yet (Wenzel, 1999). Lectures can in fact still be effective tools for instructional practice, and are undergoing several changes to improve the quality of learning that occurs. In terms of information acquisition by students, lectures are as effective as other methods of instructions such as discussions, inquiry projects, or independent reading (Chaudhury, 2011). A lecture is, at its core, based on cognitivism. The purpose of the lecture is to expose students to content, and let the cognitive process occur in each students head. Cognitive researchers believed that college students, being adults, would have no problem learning abstract concepts and ideas because they had completed their stages of intellectual development. However, we are finding out that exposing students to content is not sufficient for learning to occur. In 1980, Karplus and Thier came up with a learning cycle based on Piagetian principles that fit the way college students learn (Lord, 2007). The learning cycle consists of an exploration, a concept introduction, and an application phase. Basically, as students learn and discover new things, they construct their own understanding of the scientific concepts, build relationships between them, and verify their knowledge by applying their conclusions to real-world situations. (Lord, 2007; Lujan and DiCarlo, 2006). The way that science students build new insights by utilizing their prior knowledge is a hallmark of schema theory. Another aspect of lecturing that is related to schema theory is its conventional, familiar structure. Material that is organized in a familiar design facilitates student learning (Widmayer, N.D.).

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

Small variations of the traditional lecture all rooted on cognitive approaches- make big changes in student engagement and knowledge acquisition. For example, introducing questions during lecture can help students correct their misunderstandings of the material as they learn along (Chaudhury, 2011). This technique of questioning is now largely implemented via clicker technology, particularly in large lecture classes. Clickers, also known as electronic response systems, allow teachers to poll students and gather their responses during a lecture in real time. The feedback received often leads to follow-up discussions. Another strategy that might enhance the quality of student achievement is the use of planned pauses. During these pauses, instructors may ask students to review their notes and discuss them with a classmate, possibly leading to a question and answer period to further clarify the topic. Therefore, students have the time to undergo the three stages of knowledge acquisition under schema theory. First, they take in the new information given in the lecture (accretation). Then, they assimilate this new knowledge with their existing schema, eliminating inconsistencies (tuning). Lastly, they construct new schemas that mesh their prior and new knowledge (restructuring) (Widmayer, N.D.). The use of lecture breaks in which students actively thinking about the material has been demonstrated to improve both knowledge retention and test grades (Wenzel, 1999). Pre-lecture resources can also help students ameliorate the cognitive load of new terminology and concepts. This addresses the problem of diverse levels of prior knowledge, which is a strong predictor factor for performance at the college level (Seery & Donnelly, 2012). Science lectures naturally build on schemas according to cognitive theory; the new information must be linked to their existing knowledge in order to foster knowledge

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

retention. Simple facts become part of larger processes and notions; definitions go from memorized words to comprehended phrases (Lord, 2007). Lastly, interactive lecture experiments and demonstrations can also play a role in keeping students interested and motivated. Demonstrations change the pace of the lecture, allowing students mental breaks (Milner-Bolotin, Kotlicki & Rieger, 2007). Just seeing a demonstration isnt enough; students may leave the classroom with incorrect interpretations or remember the experiment they witnessed incorrectly. The best way to introduce scientific demonstrations during lecture is to first, ask students to make a prediction; then discuss their hypothesis with their peers, and finally observe the demonstration. The goal of this exercise is to make students clearly articulate their misconceptions and create a cognitive conflict to help them get rid of these misconceptions, replacing them with the correct interpretations (Milner-Bolotin et al., 2007). The lecture is and will continue to be the main instruction method for delivering large amounts of information in introductory science college courses, although its nature is constantly evolving. Even as it changes, it still follows the principles of cognitivism and schema theory. Static lectures in which students sit for hours passively listening are being phased out in favor of more dynamic, interactive affairs that demand student engagement. Following these theories of learning, all teachers should be able to develop effective lectures that support student achievement.

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

References Bloom, B. S. (Ed.), Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay. Bobich, J. A. (2008). Active Learning of Biochemistry Made Easy (for the Teacher). Journal of Chemical Education, 85(2), 234-236. Chaudhury, S. (2011). The lecture. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, (128), 13-20. doi:10.1002/tl.464 Cronin Jones, L. (2003). Are Lectures a Thing of the Past?. Journal of College Science Teaching, 32(7), 453. Knight, J. K., & Wood, W. B. (2005). Teaching More by Lecturing Less. Cell Biology Education, 4(4), 298-310. Lord, T. (2007). Teach for Understanding Before the Details Get in the Way. (SCST: Society for College Science Teachers). Journal of College Science Teaching. National Science Teachers Association 70-72. Lujan, H. L. & DiCarlo, S. E. (2006). Too Much Teaching, Not Enough Learning: What is the Solution? Advances in Physiology Education, 30, 17-22 Malikow, M. (2007). Professors' Irritating Behavior Study. College Student Journal, 41(1), 25-33. Milner-Bolotin, M., Kotlicki, A., & Rieger, G. (2007). Can Students Learn From Lecture Demonstrations?: The Role and Place of Interactive Lecture Experiments in Large Introductory Science Courses. Journal of College Science Teaching, 36(4), 45-49.

ROLE OF LECTURING IN COLLEGE SCIENCE TEACHING

Seery, M. K., & Donnelly, R. (2012). The Implementation of Pre-Lecture Resources to Reduce In-Class Cognitive Load: A Case Study for Higher Education Chemistry. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(4), 667-677. Wenzel, Thomas J. (1999). The lecture as a learning device. Analytical Chemistry, 71(23), 817A-819A. Widmayer, S. (N.D.) Schema theory: An introduction. Retrieved from: http://metablog.borntothink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/1932-BartlettSchema-Theory.pdf