Developing Effective Class Sessions and Lectures

Rationale

Research shows that the sequence and segments of class material are associated with what students learn. Material presented first is typically learned best, closely followed by material addressed at the end of class. The design of effective class sessions is structured around this Primacy-Recency Effect (Sousa, 2011).

Lecture can be an effective way for students to acquire information and, like any pedagogical technique, there are circumstances when it is most appropriate and other times when it is not (Bligh, 2000; Brookfield, 2015; Nilson, 2010). If we set up a dichotomy between lecture and discussion methods, we are misunderstanding effective instruction and limiting the tools available to facilitate student learning (Brookfield, 2015).