Reading some of the professor reviews on BruinWalk is like
reading death threats. They read something like, “AVOID THIS
PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS!!!!! The lectures are boring, terrible and
only good for doing crossword puzzles.”
However, the real culprit for ineffective learning is not the
professor but rather the restrictions of the traditional lecture
setting.
The problem with the traditional lecture approach, especially in
large classes, is that information is communicated in a highly
impersonal and passive way.
The solution? Supplemental teaching methods can greatly enhance
students’ learning by increasing professor-student
communication.
Traditional lectures prevent students from actively learning,
translating into ineffective learning.
For professors, gauging students’ level of understanding
is also an obstacle when zero reciprocal communication is
involved.
But the status quo just doesn’t cut it for some
professors, so they experiment with innovative approaches to
teaching.
And as the professors explained a few of these various methods
to me, I couldn’t help but think how much more effectively
students would learn if these methods were implemented widely.
Life sciences Assistant Professor Beth Lazazzera felt
“frustrations with the limitations of lecture format”
because students fell behind and crowded office hours right before
exams, so she began to assign online reading questions in her
Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics 101 course
(co-instructed with lecturer Erin Sanders-Lorenz) corresponding to
the next lecture’s text.
The professors review the students’ responses to the
questions prior to lectures, allowing them to adjust according to
students’ understanding of material.
Basically, this creates an incentive for reading the text before
the lecture ““ what most professors suggest, but many students
don’t do.
After answering the reading questions, “the lectures
flowed and everything made sense the first time instead of the
third time,” said Katie Wolf, a third-year MIMG student who
took the course last quarter.
Not only does this ensure that students come prepared for class,
but it also keeps them on track by increasing their interaction
with course material.
But are we undermining our maturity by being assigned homework,
instead of being left responsible for staying on top of classes on
our own?
Eventually we cultivate our own methods for learning in college,
but this can happen more successfully if the tools are provided
first, especially in lower division courses.
Life sciences instructor Deb Pires, like Sanders-Lorenz and
Lazazzera, assigns homework questions following the lecture as a
source of reinforcement.
The result is greater retention and absorption of learned
material, a fact revealed during office hours for Pires,
Sanders-Lorenz, and Lazazzera.
“I wasn’t getting the same basic questions. I was
getting questions that I wanted (students) to ask that reflected
higher levels of learning,” Sanders-Lorenz said.
Additionally, Pires uses clickers in her lectures. With these,
students can anonymously respond to questions sprinkled throughout
her lectures.
Not only do students get feedback on their own comprehension,
but the professor can also assess the class’s mastery of the
material, which can vary lecture by lecture.
To students’ dismay, however, increasing connection
between the professor and the class may seem like more busywork,
whether by being more attentive during class or completing
assignments outside of lecture.
However, time should already be devoted to studying during the
quarter anyway, and this can also prevent the last minute,
stressed-out cram-sesh before exams.
Other approaches to increase professor-student interaction are
possible, such as awarding extra credit for visiting office hours,
but as long as the method encourages communication among the
professor, the course and the students, lectures won’t be
“boring, terrible and only good for doing crossword
puzzles.”
And I assure you that the learning victories will be sweeter
than ““ you better believe it ““ in-class crossword
puzzle victories.
If you’re stuck on that last wordbox, e-mail Yoo at
jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.