Re: lectures of all sorts
Robin Harwood (HARWOOD who-is-at UConnVM.UConn.Edu)
Wed, 03 Apr 96 07:01:02 EST
Judy, I agree that we need to think more about lecture courses as a
heterogeneous genre. I'm also curious about alternatives BESIDES
the taped lecture and interactive media. Both of these models presume
that one person (the "expert") is transmitting knowledge to a group
of novices. I know "transmitting" is a red-flag word, but the lecture
format seems to presume that stance. We can say that the students
dialogue silently with the lecturer (or not so silently in some
contexts), and thus "transmitting" is not truly an accurate depiction
of the learning process--but I think the monological nature of the
lecture (whether canned or live) is rooted in an idea of learning as
transmission of information from one person. My students appear
to have constructed this definition of learning based on their
exposure to lectures; they have a very passive stance to the learning