> Lectures are the best way to convey information.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Lectures can be effective for conveying information – but not more so than a whole range of other methods, including independent study of textbooks.
> Lectures are the best way to develop students' understanding and thinking.
> Feedback: Contradicted by evidence. Developing understanding requires active effort by students and most lectures make students passive and so are much less effective than a range of alternatives that involve more active learning.
> Lectures are the best way to develop students' attitudes and beliefs.
> Feedback: Contradicted by evidence. Attitudes are changed by engaging in open debate, and one-way communications are relatively poor at changing what people believe.
> Lectures are the best way to inspire interest in the subject.
> Feedback: Contradicted by evidence. While a few lecturers manage to inspire their students, most do not. Lectures rarely lead to more subsequent study effort than do other methods.
> Lectures are the best way to 'model the discourse' of your subject, demonstrating how arguments are formed.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Perhaps this is because students cannot always spot the forms of argument that teachers are trying to model or realise that is what they should be paying attention to.
> Lectures are cheaper than alternatives in the use of teachers' time.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Large-class lectures are clearly cheaper than smaller discussion classes. However, they may take up a lot of teachers' time in their preparation and there may be ways of giving students access to the course content that use no teacher time at all.
> Lectures pace students through a course, making it clear what they should be studying each week.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Arguably this is quite important – and you might notice problems if you took the lecture away – but there is little evidence about this role.
The science on effectiveness of lectures is pretty strongly against them and has been for decades.
https://epigeum.com/downloads/uct_accessible/uk/01_lecturing...
> Lectures are the best way to convey information.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Lectures can be effective for conveying information – but not more so than a whole range of other methods, including independent study of textbooks.
> Lectures are the best way to develop students' understanding and thinking.
> Feedback: Contradicted by evidence. Developing understanding requires active effort by students and most lectures make students passive and so are much less effective than a range of alternatives that involve more active learning.
> Lectures are the best way to develop students' attitudes and beliefs.
> Feedback: Contradicted by evidence. Attitudes are changed by engaging in open debate, and one-way communications are relatively poor at changing what people believe.
> Lectures are the best way to inspire interest in the subject.
> Feedback: Contradicted by evidence. While a few lecturers manage to inspire their students, most do not. Lectures rarely lead to more subsequent study effort than do other methods.
> Lectures are the best way to 'model the discourse' of your subject, demonstrating how arguments are formed.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Perhaps this is because students cannot always spot the forms of argument that teachers are trying to model or realise that is what they should be paying attention to.
> Lectures are cheaper than alternatives in the use of teachers' time.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Large-class lectures are clearly cheaper than smaller discussion classes. However, they may take up a lot of teachers' time in their preparation and there may be ways of giving students access to the course content that use no teacher time at all.
> Lectures pace students through a course, making it clear what they should be studying each week.
> Feedback: Inconclusive evidence. Arguably this is quite important – and you might notice problems if you took the lecture away – but there is little evidence about this role.