Lecturing: A Practical Guide [Paperback]

Little of value in this book. A lot padding to fill pages with text that required little thought or research is evident. I was hoping for well argued advice on lecture content, structure, how to plan series of lectures, the use of audiovisuals etc. What was covered on these topics went no further than the obvious. Conspicuously absent was any attempt to present the results of the now quite large body of research into the relevant educational psychology.

The sub-title of this book is 'A practical guide', and this is exactly what it offers. Encompassing a wide range of topics, it gives sensible advice that can very easily be incorporated into your teaching practice.

I was given this book when I first started lecturing, and it was immediately helpful in that, frequently, no one teaches HE lecturers how to teach. As well as basic advice on using technology, handouts, feedback and the like, it raises points to consider that you might not otherwise think of. For instance, why are you giving handouts? What do you want the students to do with them? Is it so that they don't have to make notes? Or to give them some bare bones to annotate? Or a prompt for discussion work? And so on. One area that I hadn't considered was addressed in the chapter on students with disabilities: because I had been informed of one student's disability, I assumed none of the others had any problems, and of course this isn't necessarily the case. Simple suggestions for inclusiveness are common sense, maybe, but something that not everyone thinks about.

The book is arranged in themed chapters, on what lecturing is (or should be?), lecture environments, the use and purpose of lectures, what the lecturer can do to facilitate learning, the tools to use, what students can do to facilitate learning, improving lectures outside the lecture (before and after, and in seminars or tutorials, for instance), inclusiveness, and feedback. Each is useful, although of course some are more or less useful. For me, the chapter on histories, philosophies and architecture was less practically useful, as one can't normally change one's lecture room. That said, the authors recognise this and discuss how to get the best out of a bad room.

Chapters that were especially useful were the ones that focus on students' experiences, such as 'what can students do in lectures', and the ones that discuss the point of lecturing and cause the reader to think about whether you are really achieving your aims and doing your best for the students. As well as considering the reasons for lecturing, for example, the authors offer practical advice about how to lecture in a way that attains those ideals. Suggestions to think about include not giving new material in the last third of the course if the students are supposed to be working on assingments: instead, give them other activities that allow them to relect, digest and build on the material they've learnt. Lecturers who feel they can't 'get through' the whole subject area (like me) are encouraged to give 'spotlight' lectures that focus on important topics properly instead of spreading the material so thinly it's unintelligible. Good advice is also offered on encouraging good note-making, and tasks that help students do this, materials to enhance the lecture content and so on.

There is a chapter on lecture tools, which ranges over blackboard and chalk, OHPs, and Powerpoint. It's strangely old-fashioned in places - sometimes simply because the technology has changed since the book's publication in 2002. They only refer to floppy disks and CD-ROMs as portable storage devices, for example, with no mention of USB sticks, but that's fair enough. We did still use floppies in 2002, hard as it is to believe now. But they mention 'type-written transparencies' at one point, and I can't imagine anyone was still using a type-writer in 2002. Nevertheless, the tips on using Powerpoint (which don't aim to be a tutorial, as these are easily available elsewhere) are handy ways to improve the structure of lectures rather than what to include on slides. The tips on what to include on overhead transparencies would apply equally here, though.

The book is peppered throughout with views from lecturers and students: the students' views are largely real opinions but anonymous, and the lecturers are characters introduced for expository purposes. Normally, I would find this kind of device a bit patronising, but in fact it's done really well. The characters are extremely accurate portrayals of certain types of lecturer, and must I think be drawn in great part from real people. Where they are most useful is where you recognise your own opinion in what they say, which is often. It's a really effective way of pulling you up short and making you question your views.

This book is truly a practical guide, and something I go back to time and again. When I recently had to teach larger seminar groups than before, I returned to it to see what it had to say on managing large groups, and it came up trumps with ways to make sure students aren't coasting and the kinds of activities to do to make sure everyone's occupied. A previous review mentions that it doesn't mention the 'large body' of education psychology literature; well, I'm pleased if it doesn't. I'm not an education professional, I'm a lecturer trying to do the best I can for my students, and it helps me to do that in a straightforward way with advice I can easily understand and use.