What are the most common mistakes new lecturers make and how can you avoid them?

Not focussing on concepts, visualisation and lack of practical examples.This lead to the confusion in many students and average students suffers the most. In this YouTube era there are a plethora of videos which demonstrate complex concepts in an easy way. Lecturers can add those videos while explaining the concepts.Visualising a concept or process is an art and I think teachers should have this quality. Which nowadays is missing in many. #Apologies for any spelling and grammatical errors.

Its imperative for the teacher to know the audience. Complementing theory with practicals/visuals is must in the current era. Its important to ensure that teachers understand how to incorporate new technology, tools, and instructional approaches into their class plans. Its important that teachers have sufficient resources. Teachers should have PCK ie finding multiple ways to represent ideas, creating appropriate lessons, and adapting material to the needs of specific students.

In my view, most new lecturers do not have a "plan" to "engage" their students. They may have content but there has to be a plan to present this content in an engaging manner. Lack of engagement will cut-off the students and they will be disinterested in the class. Another mistake most new lecturers make is with respect to managing time. Time management is absolutely crucial. Many lecturers are unable to complete their planned content within the given time and often may land up stretching the session to beyond the stipulated time. Similarly, they may completely forget to cover key points of their content. Trying to get popular by doing various antics is another common mistake.

New lecturers suffer from "I know it all" syndrome and they forget to first understand the level of knowledge of their students. Knowing the depth of the students helps a lecturer deliver better. It helps in adjusting your content to be delivered and prepare proper examples for better understanding of the wider audiance.

New lecturers often face challenges like overloading students with information, poor time management, and lack of engagement. To avoid these, they should focus on key concepts, use interactive teaching methods, and plan lectures with clear structures. It's important to cater to different learning styles, provide regular feedback, and set clear expectations. Building a rapport with students, being adaptable, and thoroughly preparing for classes can also enhance teaching effectiveness and create a supportive learning environment.

Clear objectives not only provide direction for the lecturer but also guide students in their learning journey. Without a roadmap, it's easy for both parties to feel lost. I often compare it to planning a trip – you wouldn't set off without a destination in mind, right? Similarly, having well-defined objectives ensures a focused and purposeful learning experience.

It is important for the teachers to have complete command and thorough knowledge of the subject which helps them to develop concrete objectives and interlinkages in the topics to be taught. The focus of learning should not merely be teaching but a process of enculturation (people, consciously or unconsciously, adopt the behavior and belief systems of new social groups. Given the chance to observe and practice in situ the behavior of members of a culture, people pick up relevant jargon, imitate behavior, and gradually start to act in accordance with its norms). The teacher can design authentic activity (socially constructed through negotiations among members). These coherent and purposeful activities will help them to become apprentice.

To prevent these issues, you should follow these steps to define and communicate your objectives: - Start with the end in mind. What is the purpose and desired outcome of your project? What are the benefits and value for your learners? - Break down your lesson into specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) objectives. - Align your objectives with your strategy, vision, and mission and module learning outcomes. Make sure your objectives are consistent with your awarding body's grading schemes. - Communicate your objectives clearly and frequently to your team or senior lecturers. Use visual tools, such as charts, diagrams, or dashboards, to illustrate your objectives and status.

I believe in designing each class with a clear objective. I divide the Content into smaller chunks and each class covers 1 or 2 chunks. This helps to have a structure for the classes and students also appreciate it very much

Clear objectives are the roadmap to a quality session that allows the audience to come away with actionable items. This clear focus is essential to learning for those who attend the session. The absence of clear objectives can create confusion and misalignment between what the audience expected and what they received.

In my experience, establishing a positive relationship with students from the very start is crucial to student engagement and success. Forget the syllabus on day one. Take the time to learn your students’ names and to establish some norms for interaction, participation, communication, and engagement. You’ll all enjoy the class a lot more when there is an atmosphere of genuine interest and care initiated by the instructor and then taken up and modelled by students.

In my experience, reading from slides and notes sounds inauthentic and robotic. It’s one sure way to bore an entire class. Whatever you do, be yourself, no matter what that might look like. People want an authentic presentation. It’s more human. More connecting.

Engagement is the key, else young minds get easily distracted. Using various pedagogical skills such as flipped classroom, role playing, case study etc they can be involved in better learning

Simply standing at a podium and reciting facts is no longer enough to capture and hold an audience's attention. Engagement and interactivity have become vital ingredients for a successful presentation, transforming it from a one-way lecture into a dynamic, collaborative experience. This engagement helps with enhanced focus and attention. Let's face it, passive listening can be tiring. By incorporating interactive elements like polls, Q&A sessions, or group activities, you break up the monotony and keep the audience actively involved. This mental stimulation combats boredom helping them focus on key takeaways. When people are actively participating, they're invested in the process and this supports their experience and retention.

Class room engagement is the key to the success of an instructor. I think as an instructor if we can fabricate our course outlines such a way that students are forced to engage with peers as well as the content then it will be an icing on the cake, on top of instructor engagement. In order to achieve this goal, there must be some readings and quizzes based on those readings, peer discussions. Even in case of online courses, some graded online forum critical discussions can be encouraged for peer engagements. I think the strategies for effectively achieving the goal of engagement depends on the kind of students and their level.

Lecturers need to plan instructions to occur throughout lessons, this way it will allow them confirm that students have understood direct directives correctly. This helps teachers and lecturers verify that the material they are lecturing is well understood.

The approaches suggested are good to ensure learning is happening. However, you have to make sure that accountability is clear in that student also has the accountability to ensure they are learning. It is a two way process indeed. They also have to take an interest in their learning and success. If they are not getting what they need then they should ASK (the 3 important letters dor students) vs do nothing and complain. This type of expectation will set them up for life as well in whatever they choose to pursue.

Promoting learning through discussion has enabled me to listen to ideas, observe body language and ask questions for the purpose of checking for understanding. An impactful strategy I have used with hundreds of student-teachers over the years.

In my experience, if you do not know what your audience knows then how can you teach? I do not use formative assessments to gauge the understanding. Instead I ask questions and monitor body language.

Formative assessment techniques as well as observing body language and facial expressions, or asking for feedback can be based on real evidence of learning, self and peer assessment against the learning objectives

Planning and pacing are key elements to avoid running out of time or finishing too early. Setting time estimates for each segment, utilizing timers, and incorporating buffer time for unexpected events are practical strategies. Having a flexible backup plan ensures adaptability to any unforeseen circumstances.

Running out of time is simply a lack of preparedness. Do a dry run. Work it out beforehand. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

I rehearse and train my lectures and workshops. Experience tells me I need to have empty space at the end. And, in case I need, always have a plus section, a deep dive, a rabbit hole that I like to share. Or a discussion exercise. Always prepared!

For a full filled learning time management is must. It helps manage deliver evaluate and achieve the desired task. There might be areas where students may have less or more knowledge . Such a process helps deliver in time with learning outcomes

Duration of lectures may differ at different institutions and even in the same institution for different programs. Managing time leading to a meaningful session is a big challenge for new lecturers. Many times out of enthusiasm they drift away from the main topic and by the time they realize it is late and the session is over. And in the next session again they have to set the context for discussion which leads to a waste of time. Hence managing time is crucial. For a session spread over 90-120 minutes it is important to divide the session into 3-5 sub-sessions to keep the interest of participants, alive.

Not accepting the students feedback if it is negative is a common mistake. Looking from one’s own perspective and ignoring the feedback can cause huge communication gaps between students and the lecturer. Being open to constructive feedback is important.

I completely agree with this. Getting feedback from students is essential, in any new school for any teacher. I do something called start, continue and stop feedback. This gives us the idea about what students needs are. Exit slip helps us to know what students have learnt. This also tells us how effective the lessons were. Having a teaching reflection journal for a new teacher is a great start. It's essential to reflect and adapt the teaching method to enhance the learning experience for students. It's important to know how students learn at the beginning of the year.

A simple three-step process is essential afterwards: (“CAI”) -Collecting feedback -Analyzing feedback -Improving goals, without judgment, for future lectures and presentations

Reflecting on your performance after a presentation is crucial for continuous improvement and ensuring future success. It's like looking in the mirror after a workout, taking note of what worked well and what needs refinement. Through this reflection you can Identify strengths and weaknesses and review what resonated with the audience and kept them engaged so you can build on those strengths in future presentations. It's equally important to identify areas that need improvement for future presentations. Did you lose your train of thought? Was the pace too fast or slow? Were there technical glitches? Acknowledging weaknesses is not about self-criticism, but about recognizing opportunities for growth and future improvements.

Getting feedback from your students early, often, and consistency sharpens the instructor if they use the feedback for reflection. Many do not use this method because they believe they have been teaching long enough & do not take kindly in being offered feedback on teaching observations.

As a new academician, there is over enthusiasm to dump knowledge to the students! A new academician needs to first understand the level of target audience to initiate the right level of pedagogy. The second aspect is to keep focus on the delivery rate. Invariably you try to give more focus on initial topics and then you miss out on completing the syllabus. The third aspect is to keep track of internal evaluation of the students. Since focus is completely on delivery, you tend to forget to evaluate the performance and feedback.

Lack of Preparation Mistake: Insufficient preparation can lead to disorganized lectures, lack of clarity, and difficulty in engaging students. Avoidance: Plan your lectures well in advance. Outline key points, create visual aids or presentations, and practice your delivery to ensure clarity and coherence.

It is important to ensure that you do not lecture in the clouds while your students are on land. This is very common when there is little confidence in the course material and/or the common mistakes spoken above are not taken into account. Lecturers must find clever, innovative ways to get knowledge across to all students, all learning styles, all modes of learning.

Overloading Students with Information Mistake: Sharing too much content in a single session can overwhelm students, making it harder for them to grasp the material. Avoidance: Focus on the most essential information. Break down complex topics into smaller, digestible parts. Encourage active learning through discussions, activities, or short quizzes to reinforce learning.

I always say style and presence. The most effective lecturers or teachers from my experience have a very strong presence and set the rules for their audience. Having a specific style also helps you to build on it over time. For example, my favourite teacher used to engage the class and we knew he could ask us something at any point. The teacher also used humour effectively time to time and we knew what we could expect from him throughout the lesson. This ensured we were at ease with him and most importantly engaged and ready to learn.