Critics of the Lecture Methods assert that it is not suitable for effective teaching and learning of many school subjects, particularly the Social Sciences, which are essentially socio-civic and effective in nature, scope, and objectives. (Sources)
They argue that the methods lead to memorisation of undigested facts, induce intellectual passivity in students, and stunt their curiosity, and therefore cannot result in meaningful learning. In their place, they recommend discussion, inquiry, problem-solving, and stimulation, which they consider intellectually stimulating.
Scholars’ Views on the Lecture Method
Advocates of the lecture method, among them Ausubel (1968) and Haymah (1975), reject this criticism based on an incomplete understanding of the projects of the lecture method in enhancing the ability of learners to meaningfully acquire, master, and retain large amounts of academic materials.
They argue that rote learning could result from any poorly executed method, and advise that instead of condemning the lecture method and other presentation techniques, ways should be found to mitigate their weaknesses.
They therefore suggest some pedagogic measures and techniques to make them result in effective teaching and learning, prominent among them being the Advanced Organiser strategy by Ausubel (1960)
That many teachers today castigate the lecture method is not surprising, because as Hayman (1975) pointed out, “in an era of reform and reconsideration of teaching, the traditional methods bear the brunt of the share of negative criticisms”.
However, when it is realised that most teachers, including the arch critics of the lecture method, rely much on it for most of their instructions, academic honesty dictates that far from condemning it, efforts should be directed at ways of improving its use.
Such fresh reconsideration would result in the specification of the rationale for the continued use of the method by many teachers at the various levels of education in Nigeria, “despite its longstanding negative image” (Palardy 1975). It would also enhance teachers’ appreciation of the merits and weaknesses of this method, enabling them to cope with its limitations and utilise its strengths in achieving meaningful learning.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the lecture method as an instructional technique, analysing the extent to which it could be applied to achieve meaningful learning. It will also discuss measures that could be adopted to improve its use in the teaching of the Social Sciences.
The approach adopted in this presentation is to evaluate the strengths and the limitations of the lecture method, to analytically discuss some practical pedagogic hints to be adopted to overcome its weaknesses, and to demonstrate, using a specific Social Science topic, how this method could stimulate active mental operations in students to achieve meaningful learning by the application of the Advanced Organiser Strategy.
Features of the Lecture Method
According to Brown in Atkins (1991), Lecture as a method of instruction could be traced back to the Greeks of the 5th Century B.C. They explain that the term was derived from medieval Latin, “LECTARE”, meaning “to read aloud” and state that lectures, which were the most common forms of teaching in both Christian and Muslim universities, consisted of oral reading of a text, followed by a commentary. In the contemporary Nigerian educational scene lecture is the most popular instructional method as it retains much of its original features.
Its main characteristics are a formally prepared and logically organised amount of academic materials, verbal transmission of the same by the teacher (lecturer) to the supposedly receptive minds of the learners, and mental assimilation or copying of the facts by the students.
At the tertiary education level, where the method is very much used and abused, most lecturers turn it into dictation and note-taking sessions, a practice that has attracted condemnation from Curriculum experts. In one of such criticisms, Nwosu (1991) identifies “the abstract lectures and dictation of notes which predominate in the faculties” as exerting a “negative influence on Tertiary Teacher Education Curriculum”.
Other features of the lecture method that other educationists fault are its apparent passivity and the dominance of the teacher in the classroom scene. These characteristics have led such educationists to write off the lecture method as lacking in high-order intellectual performance that could result in meaningful learning. It therefore becomes necessary to examine the extent to which these assertions are correct.
The Fallacy of Inherent Passivity and Lack of Meaning
To put this method in its proper perspective, the contentions that it is inherently passive and the materials presented by it lack meaning for the learners, leading them to rote memorisation, are examined. It must be stated that there is nothing in expository teaching (lecture) that is inherently rote, passive, and non-meaningful. The problem is with the teacher and his instructional skills or ability.
Prominent educationists such as Ausubel (1968) share this view. He disagrees with the belief that meaningful materials cannot be presented, but must come through independent problem-solving and manipulative experience. “He asserts that “whether or not the material is meaningful depends on the learner and the material, not on the method of presentation”.
Similarly, Joyce and Well (1990) maintain that “any poorly executed teaching methods can lead to rote learning. Expository teaching is no exception. Well done, it promotes complex rather than rote learning”. The problem is not in the lecture method itself, but in the way teachers handle it.
Most teachers do not stimulate the learners to critically examine the materials being learned, nor do they lead them to see the relationship between the new learning material and the existing ideas in the learners’ cognitive structures. When materials are not so analysed and linkages established, rote learning is bound to occur, and the materials will not make muchsenseg even if the so-called intellectually stimulating activity-oriented methods are used.
One key ingredient in the sustenance of qualitative education is the teacher’s competence in applying suitable instructional strategies and skills in actual classroom situations. The quality of education would improve to the extent that improvement is made in the teacher’s ability to adopt and adapt intellectually stimulating instructional processes to motivate students to learn.
No matter how good or adequate the equipment or other social facilities may be, no meaningful learning would occur if the teacher is unable to organise and structure the ideas, information, and tasks in ways students can effectively comprehend and assimilate. Such instructional competencies could only be acquired by the teacher through effective training, the willingness to innovate, and the awareness of the range of intellectually stimulating methods and their application in the classroom. Hence, this presentation is being made to arouse in teachers the awareness of the techniques of utilising the lecture method to stimulate active learning.
Recommendations
Since “educational change depends on what teachers do and think”(Sarason 1971), efforts should be made to allow teacher-trainees to practice various instructional strategies that promote active learning.
Through micro-and peer teaching activities, student-teachers should be helped to practice innovative instructional strategies and skills to improve on the commonly used instructional methods, rather than the present practice of leaving them to glean whatever they can from their lecture rooms, which falls short of good models.
As part of the staff development program, institutions, particularly at the tertiary level, should conduct periodic in-house workshops on innovative instructional strategies to enhance the competencies of lecturers in commonly used methods.
Such an offer to non-professional teachers to learn also serves as a conscience-scoring tonic to professional teachers who may choose to ignore applying acceptable instructional techniques in their teaching. Read further on this page.
adminate
Editors
