Mid-September is often a challenging time for lecturers as they have to adapt to their other way of working for half the year: i.e. being present at their universities a lot more, preparing for teaching and most of all preparing for the deluge of undergraduates in a week or two’s time. One of the key tasks for many new members of staff is to start writing lectures.
Those colleagues who have been running the same courses for years on end don’t have to spend this part of the year desperately writing lectures but for those of us who are putting on completely new units or for people who have just started at a new place of work, no doubt we will be trying to get as many lectures written as possible in the few weeks before term starts, just to get ahead.
Lecture writing can be incredibly time consuming, especially if you are speaking on a subject that’s not the main area of your research interest. I am running a new third year module on 20th century America this year, whereas my area of expertise is 17th and 18th century America! So I have had to do a great deal of reading myself to prepare to teach this course. And now I am about ready to start lecture-writing.
There are two key bits of advice I will share that have helped me to get good feedback from students about my lecture style. First, do something visual. In other words do not simply stand at the podium and talk at the students for an hour. Give them a powerpoint presentation to look at, or a handout to fill in for example. It’ll help them to understand what you are talking about in much more depth.
Second, don’t try to fit in too much. Most lecturers find the lecture format frustrating and feel they want to cram more and more information into the hour long session but resist this temptation at all costs. It is better to concentrate on fewer themes or concepts and explore those in depth than trying to rush through more material that will just confuse students more. Remember your experiences as an undergraduate with good and bad lecturers and lecturing styles and use this to guide you as you write your lectures.
