I'M Lecturing: Is Anyone Listening?

How many times have you been sitting in a professor's class listening to lectures only to find yourself doodling or daydreaming? By the time class is over you only have a half page of notes. What do you do? One alternative is to copy the notes from your classmate so you'll have them for tests. What do you actually learn, however, from copying without actually listening? Recent studies have shown that a great mass of material in lecture classes go unlearned. Not only are class discussions more engaging but they also force students to communicate what they've learned in class.

In a recent study at the University of Massachusetts (U of Mass), a survey was taken for first-year students who had a mix of class discussions and lectures. Questions were addressed to students regarding their behavior in those target classes on three specific factors: class disruption, attendance, and interactions with professors. In a lecture class there are understandably more disruptions than discussions. Discussions can be look at as "good disruptions" meaning that they are helpful to a group or insist on major interaction. In a lecture class there are plenty of bored people and an endless number of disruptions. Professors may find someone snoring, popping gum, or just getting up to leave. Thus in the U of Mass survey 42.5% of respondents said they disrupted lectures very often. When students are in a class discussion class is more interesting and if the instructor requires feedback then there is a less likely chance that a student will disrupt class. Class discussions don't force students to participate. In my opinion it offers them a better way to learn. If a student asks a question that another student was thinking about, not only does question get answered but both students will input some of their own opinion as well. Most lecture classes just throw the information at students and expect them to get it all. In a sense, college students are adults and should be able to handle the workload. When a question is asked the professor is all over the student because they didn't understand. This would more than likely not happen in a class discussion. If a student feels pressured by their professor, they would probably leave class.

Class attendance plays a major role in deciding these two types of teaching. In the U of Mass survey, 73.2% of students said they attended their lecture class "almost every time." Whereas in a class discussion they reported that they attended "every time." I find that if I don't know the material, "what's the point of being there." Why should students sit in class when they could be shopping with friends and just copy the notes later? I guarantee this is one of the thoughts running through the heads of students in those lecture classes. In a discussion, class students are happy to be there. They are not hammered for their input yet encouraged to continue. In a lecture class, students are not obligated to talk unless asking a question. This won't happen much because of the huge class setting. In discussions professors may know their students better just by talking. It's easier to say "John is very opinionated and offers great ideas" than "John is the only one who asks questions in my class."

This leads me to another factor. The interaction between an instructor and a student is greater in a discussion than a lecture. In a lecture class you are stuck with anywhere from 50 to 100 people. In U of Mass study, 47.3% of students said they had no personal contact with the instructor. In the same target class, 32.8% said hardly any. Regarding this interaction, a transformation came across the University of Maryland (U of M) in 2003. U of M started a trend where they combined Economics and American Government discussions into a large group. The lecture class was directed by two or three teaching assistants once a week and the number of students ranged anywhere from 300 to 500. Richard Longoria, one of the teaching assistants for American Government, said, "With a group this size, the only way I'll learn a student's name is if they talk to me after class