Lectures are popular at the university level because they are efficient when using planning time,they are flexible and can be applied to any content area and they are simple to implement. But they tend to put students in a passive mode which is inconsistent with nearly everything known about information processing and human learning. Effective learning requires active learners for information processing and encoding information into the long term memory.
Research in educational and instructional psychology suggests that one of the best ways to overcome the weaknesses of the lecture is to use the lecture-recitation approach. Lectures are conducted in three sequential steps. The professor begins by presenting information. After a brief presentation, she pauses and asks the students a series of clarifying questions to monitor comprehension such as, “What does this information suggest to us?” The professor then presents additional information followed by another period of comprehension monitoring which extends the students understanding taking into account both previous presentations. These questions go beyond comprehension monitoring and promote integration by having the students descibe cause and effect relationships which the professor has not offered.
Lecture-recitations require careful planning and encourage student involvement and, when properly conceived, can promote meaningful learning. I know they can be effective because, as a retired professor of educational psychology, I have used this method as well as many other teaching strategies which are more effective than the lecture.
