Escaping the College Classroom Lecture Trap

When I first started teaching college students, like many industry professionals new to the world of teaching, my go-to move was to deliver the content using lectures. After all, I was trying to emulate professors that had taught me when I was studying in business school.

I quickly learned that the college learning environment is much different than the university environment of old that I had become so accustomed to. Terms I started to hear such as flipped classrooms, blended, experiential and collaborative learning were completely new to me.  

I discovered that students craved interaction and engagement in the classroom. They wanted the learn within flexible, adaptive and hands-on environments - something that standard lecturing simply wasn’t able to support. I had to find new methods to deliver on these expectations.

I had already developed much of my curriculum but I knew that I needed to make the transition from informational-based to experiential-based learning. I started by doing a bit of research on alternative ways to deliver the content where students could learn the material through experiences rather than lectures, and experimented with the planning and execution of the classes I taught. Some of the experiments worked, while others didn’t. Through the process however, I gained confidence in my abilities to take risks and try new things in the classroom.

Here are some things I've learned along the way that may be useful to fellow educators caught in "lecture trap".

Tip #1 - Change the Delivery of an Assignment

Take-home essays and research papers can be useful, but is it possible that the learning outcome can be achieved while adding to the experience?

Recently I decided to transition an existing research paper to an in-class assignment that was completed doing a work period in class.  

Students were required to do some preliminary research on their subjects, but instead of simply completing a paper and submitting it with a deadline outside class time, they were responsible for preparing in advance and bringing their knowledge to the class to create a deliverable that would be handed in during a supervised work period.  

By doing this, I could address any questions that they had in real-time which wouldn’t have been possible with a take-home assignment. They were more prepared for the challenge, and were able to apply the material in a more engaging and creative way.  

From the feedback I received, many students said that they felt more confident with completing the assignment because their learning was reinforced from the exercises related to the assignment that they completed in previous classes. They felt coming to class was meaningful and saw me as not just a teacher but a mentor as a result.

Transitioning from an assignment typically completed outside of classroom hours does take some advanced planning and thought, but it provides an opportunity to sacrifice lecture time for more work done in the classroom, which can provide greater opportunity for deeper learning.

Tip #2 - Reverse Engineer a Lesson Plan

If your classes are in the two-three hour range, I suggest doing one lesson plan in reverse order and take note of how the learning unfolds.

For example, at the very beginning of one class, I gave the students a practice quiz to test their general knowledge of the concepts that were to be covered in the class that week. This gave the students a preemptive as to what kind of concepts and themes we were going to cover during the class, framing their expectations and putting them in a “work mode” within the first 10 minutes of class time.

From there, I had them split into groups to work on an activity which related to only the concepts and learning outcomes that needed to be delivered that week. Students collaborated by sharing their perspectives, creating the content used to map out the concepts on a white board.  

By the time the “lecture” portion of the class took place, most of the concepts had already been defined by the students - all I had to do was reinforce them.

By restructuring one of your classes this way, you may find that lecturing isn’t necessary at all and is actually a sub-optimal way to deliver your weekly course learning outcomes. 

Tip #3 - Get Out of the Classroom

The good news is that getting out of the classroom doesn’t need to be complicated.  

In a risk management class I taught during the winter, I asked students to walk around campus, identify potential risks, take pictures on their phones and share them with the class. For each risk, they had to define the nature of the risk and how they would respond to it. We reviewed all the photos and responses together, fine-tuned their descriptions and implications, organized them by theme, and then reflected on the exercise.

Instead of linking course concepts with student experiences, allow the students to link their experiences with the course concepts.

Taking field trips to businesses or organizations is another great way for students to relate to the material, particularly when the concepts are more abstract and difficult for students to relate to without prior experience. 

How do you assess an out-of-the-class experience? Personal reflection is a great way to get the students to analyze their own experience and examine how they relate to the course material. Give students the opportunity to observe and reflect using a structured journal relating the concepts to their experience and share with their peers. You can easily achieve the learning outcomes without having to pop up a single lecture slide.

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Finding ways to transition your courses to more experiential-based learning can be challenging when you’re accustomed to learning through standard lecturing and testing as a student yourself, but it’s possible by taking it one step at a time. 

By taking risks, monitoring and measuring the results and learning from your own experiences, it’s a great way to allow students to learn in a more engaging and memorable way that may serve them well when they enter the workforce and reflect on the college experiences they had in your courses.