What are your thoughts on lectures outside of class?
 

Hey everyone! I know this is completely random and does not pertain to Greek life at all, but I wanted to think what other GC members think about a certain style of teaching and its fairness. The style utilizes in-class activities and discussion, which is enjoyable, but because of this, leaves no time for lecture. Therefore, the teacher requires that before every class the students watch an hour long lecture on their own time on what we would learn in class that day. Basically it is a recording of the teachers voice over a few power point slides. These lectures are also what our quizzes and tests are on. As a 3 credit course with a lab, it would be taking up 6+ hours (two hours in lecture, one in lab, one hour for homework for lecture, one hour homework for lab, two hours watching lectures)

Now, my question to any other GCers out there is, do you think this is fair? I'm not going to say which side I am on because it doesn't really matter, but I've heard a few arguments for both sides (Half my class is strongly against this, other half thinks its a great way to learn) and wanted to get an impartial viewpoint. I'm also thinking about maybe writing a paper on the situation for another class (communications) as I think it's a pretty interesting situation since many teachers at my school are now teaching this way!

OT: If this is in the wrong area, please let me know! I just want to get as much feedback as possible :)

In full disclosure I'm a college professor, so interpret within context I suppose.

I think this is more than fair. Students should expect to put in *at least* three hours outside of class for every hour spent in class. So for that 6 hours some students are whining about, they should still be tossing at least another three hours on top of that. And that's not including the lab hours...

The fact that the students can't speed up the lecture (i.e., that it HAS to be an hour every day) tells me this professor loves the sound of his own voice a little bit too much.

This would not be allowed on my campus. A three credit hour class meets for three hours, and it is expected there should be three hours of preparation for each hour class meets.

If the professor wanted you to read the material as preparation - that would be ok, because you could take breaks and go at your own pace.

Sure it's fair. College students are adults. No one is forcing you to take the class. You can drop it, complain about it in evaluations, change your major, whatever. If you think a class is too much work, don't take it? If it is a required course for your major, you chose that major.

Is it annoying? Sure.

LOL at the 3 hours of prep for every hour of class time. As if.

Yeah, with my 18 credit hours this semester that would equal 72 hours of class time/prep time per week. I don't mind studying, but that is a little extreme. Not everyone has time for that.

With a voice over powerpoint, you can usually stop and start it at your leisure. Having all online courses in my grad program, I really prefer these. When taking notes on the powerpoint, you can pause it, reverse it if you didn't catch it all, etc. It is so much easier than trying to take notes in a class.

cr2817- You didn't mention a textbook. If tests are based on lecture, it sounds like there is no textbook? Listen to a one hour lecture or read a few chapters in a textbook? I'd take the lecture any day.

fair?

As a college student, part of your leaning experience is managing your time and tailoring your preparation to ensure your best performance. What that means for you is likely different than what it means for anybody else, but that's the deal. It's on you to get the education, because they're not giving the tuition money back.

fair? yeah.

Why would it not be allowed if the expectation is three hours of preparation for each hour class meets? The OP's description is basically two hours of preperation for each hour the class meets (1 hour watching the "lecture," and 1 hour doing homework).

My opinion: Watching the lecture is nothing more than homework. Of course it's "fair," if "fair" matters. Fair =/= realistic or reasonable.

The more important question is whether it's effective. As a general rule, I always found that class time spent examining what we were supposed to have already studied prior to class was much more effective than class time spent introducing something followed by homework on that topic. Of course, this can vary with the subject area.

That said, I think having to watch a power point every day might violate the terms of the Geneva Convention. #hatespowerpointwithapassion

Sorry to not answer everyone's question, today is super busy for me :p however, we do have a textbook for the class in which we have required reading. We also can skip ahead in the lectures (or not watch th all together) but our grades may suffer. Ill be back in a little to answer all the other questions better!!

My colleague assigns reading and an online quiz about the reading material that must be completed before the relevant lecture. If the quiz is not completed before the lecture, the quiz "locks out" and the student is given a "0" for that day. Because of this system, students come to class prepared for the lecture/discussion. Initially, the students express resentment, anger and frustration but quickly learn that they can engage in meaningful conversation and relevant application of the material in a classroom environment.

In the United States, we take for granted the gift of learning and education.

I think you have raised an interesting point. I'm on the on-line education committee and the curriculum committee for my university, and we are having discussions about the definition of a credit hour, appropriate use of on-line teaching methods, outside-of-class work load, etc. The advent of on-line instruction has created new teaching methods, such as the one you describe. Frankly, the waters are pretty muddy right now as brick-and-mortar institutions figure all of this out. I've noticed that many students seem to fall on one side of the fence or the other...they either love on-line instruction or they hate it. There's not much middle ground. One thing that has come across loud and clear is that students don't like enrolling in a face-to-face class only to find out there's a large on-line component.

Do you have a chance to discuss the powerpoints in class? Do the in-class activities link to the student assessments? That is the aspect that would concern me, since it sounds like your grade is based on what you're doing on your own, not on the in-class activities. I'm not sure how I feel about that, pedagogically.

Ah, flipping the classroom. This is one of the newest trends in education. The theory is that if you preview and are exposed to the material before coming to class, you can use class time for flexible grouping, differentiation, discussion, practice, extension, etc.

I think it's no different from being expected to read the chapter in advance. I'd have to dig up the articles, but there is a lot of literature suggesting that pre-reading and then doing in-class activities is more effective than just lecture.