Lecture Method

Lecture Method

Introduction:

          Lecture method is one of the oldest and most common teaching methods. A lecture is an exposition of knowledge, facts, principles and information a teacher wishes to provide to the students. According to the Carter Good’s Dictionary
: “an instructional procedure by which the lecturer seeks to create interest, to influences, stimulate, or mould opinion, to promote activity, to impart information, or to develop critical thinking, largely by the use of the verbal message, with a minimum of class participation, illustration, maps, charts or other visual aids may be employed to supplement the oral technique is defined as lecture method”.

          Hence Lecture method is most commonly used and most widely criticized method.

The audience: The students are the audience for a teacher.

The Purpose: The teacher has to identify the purpose of the lecture. It should be based on the objectives of the lesson. It should

•  Provide an over view of the subject

•  Introduce a new topic

•  Bring changes in the student attitude

•  Provide detailed information

•  Teach a particular skill

Time Period: The teacher should plan her lecture for a given time. Appropriate examples, interesting questions, discussions could be included to make the lecture interesting.

Subject Matter: The teacher should possess an extensive knowledge of the subject matter. She should have a command over the topic.

Components of the Lecture

The Lecture contains three main components. They are:

1.     The introduction

2. The body and

 3. The conclusion

The Introduction:

          Attention will not be sustained if interest is not developed during the introduction of the lesson.

The introduction should do the following:

Ø Establish a friendly rapport with the students.

Ø Provide a positive learning environment to the students.

Ø Foster motivation and understand the student’s goals and interests.

Ø Relate new information to the previous knowledge.

Ø Explain the purpose of the lecture and its organization.

The body of the Lecture:

          The body of the lecture should include audiovisual aids like charts, models, specimens, transparencies, or even the chalkboard to strengthen the presentation of ideas and to enhance the students learning.

The Conclusion:

          Conclusion should cover all the objectives of the lecture.

Ø Repeat and emphasize main points

Ø Encourage questions from students

Ø Relate content to previous and subsequent topics.

Presenting a lecture:

Posture: The way a teacher maintains her/him self is very important.

Appearance: The teacher should be appropriately dressed. She/he should appear decent and dignified. She/he should be confident and appear friendly to the students.

Mannerism: The teacher should possess good manner. She/he should be courteous and maintain poise.

Gestures: The teacher should maintain proper body movements. The teacher should avoid unwanted and unnatural body movements.

Voice: The teacher’s voice should clear and audible to all the students. It should reflect the confidence of the teacher. The teacher should modulate her voice, the tone, the pitch and the volume should be modified to overcome monotony.

Language: The teacher should use simple language and avoid heavy loaded sentences. The vocabulary should be simple and easily understandable to the students.

Usage of appropriate aids: The teacher should use the black board and other audio visual aids regularly in a lecture.

Time Management: The teacher should organize her/his lecture effectively in the given time.

Advantages:

Some advantages of lecture method are:

•       It is an efficient method of delivering a large amount of content to a large group of students.
•       A single teacher can handle the entire class with out using any other aids.
•       An easy method of teaching where teacher can use her own style.
•      It helps in maintaining a logical sequence of contents.
•        A lot of information can be provide without any overlapping.
•         Abstract concepts can be taught with ease.
•         Introducing and summarizing a lesion becomes very easy.
•         Syllabus can be completed in time.
•       A well – presented lecture creates interest in a subject.
•    Good lectures motivate and inspire the learners and develop their critical thinking.
•        A lecture can complement the text material.

Disadvantages:

          Lecture method is a primitive method of teaching and is not psychological sound. Hence it has many disadvantages. Some of them are:

·        Students are passive recipients of information and their participation is negligible.

·        It does not cater to the needs and individual differences of the students.

·        Only theoretical knowledge is given importance.

·        This method is not based on the principles of learning by doing.

·        It doesn’t promote learning strategies like questioning and problem-solving techniques.

·        It does not consider the previous knowledge of the students.

·        It does not inculcate the scientific attitudes and methods.

·        There is no provision for the feed back and remedial measures.

·        This method does not provide the opportunity for students to interact with the teachers.

·        It does not promote independent learning in the students.

·        Communication is one way and the students may be overloaded with the content.

·        The attention and the interest of the students are not considered.

·        Poorly delivered lectures may cause disinterest and demotivation among the students.

·        It is an authoritarian method where entire teaching process depends on the teacher. This checks the overall development of the learner.

Role of the Teacher:

          The teacher plays a central role in this method. She/he is an active participant in the teaching process. Nearly 30-50% of teaching time is spent on lecturing. In this method the teacher teaches the subject according to her own style. It may be writing on the black board or providing the notes to the students.