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Learning Methods

Designer Tips -- Interactive Lectures

Lecture in a Fishbowl - Good for large groups

• Go to the middle of the room and identify several rows as your core audience.

• Have your core audience turn their chairs in a circle.

• Conduct experiential training with this group.

• When finished, invite the outer learners for their questions, comments and sarcastic remarks.

• They will more often than not comment favorably on their vicarious participation.

 

Concept Inference Lecture

Purpose - To encourage learners to critically evaluate examples and nonexamples, and to discover the essential features of a concept.

  • Give learners a handout of examples and nonexamples pertaining to topic (i.e. list of acceptable computer file names on the left column and unacceptable file names on the right).
  • Have learners study list for 2 minutes to form hypotheses about the list.
  • Make various true/false statements about the topic (i.e. “A file name mixes numbers and letters.”) and have the learners evaluate the statements against the examples and nonexamples in the handout.
  • Instruct learners to raise their hand with a clenched fist if the statement was false or with an open palm if the statement was true.
  • Randomly ask learners to justify their answers.
  • You can also write examples on a flip chart and let learners declare whether the example is acceptable or not.
 

Synergogic Lecture

Have learners count off.
 
Tell everyone with odd numbers to close their eyes and ears (by placing hands over ears) for a few minutes.
 
Give information about 2 learning points to the even-numbered learners.
 
Ask these learners to close their eyes and ears and to mentally review what they learned and rehearse how to apply the principles to their work.
 
Have the odd-numbered learners to open their eyes and ears and give them information about 2 other learning points.
 
Pair up each odd-numbered learner with an even-numbered learner to share the information they learned.
 
Variation - use when helping them learn how to “do” something
 
Have odd-numbered learners listen to the demonstration with eyes closed.
 
Have even-numbered learners watch the demonstration with ears covered.
 
Let the 2 groups compare notes to get the whole picture.
 

Planned Interruptive Lecture - Helps learners
feel comfortable with interrupting the facilitator

bullet Give each learner a number.
bullet Set a timer for random intervals between 3-5 minutes.
bullet When the timer goes off, randomly select a number.
bullet The learner with that number asks a question, makes relevant comments or summarizes what they heard over the last 45 seconds.
bullet Reset the timer and continue.
bullet The random nature of the required interruption keeps the learners awake.
 
Experiential Lecture Start with an experiential activity. Use the lecture for processing.
 
Participatory Lecture Begin with learner brainstorm. Use the rest of the lecture to collaboratively classify, evaluate, modify and prioritize the brainstormed ideas.
 
Role Play Lecture Have learners role play topic content. Recap major points and/or procedures in a lecture.
 
Chain Gang Lecture Present different steps of a technique or procedure to different subgroups of learners. Have them form teams to master the complete procedure.
 
Press Conference Lecture Divide the learners into teams and have each team prepare a list of questions to quiz you. While one team conducts the interview, ask the other team to prepare a summary of your responses.
 
Demonstration Lecture Using input from learners, give a demonstration of a technique or procedure.
 
Team Quiz Lecture Divide the learners into 3 teams. At the end of the first segment of your lecture, ask Team A to conduct a quiz program with Teams B and C competing against each other.
 
Confederate Lecture Before the lecture begins, secretly plant index cards (with questions pertaining to the key concepts of the topic and cues for asking the question) with different learners. Begin by saying you’ll respond to questions rather than present a lecture. At this cue the first learner raises their hand and asks the question. Give your response and then the cue for the next question. It’s okay for learners to ask spontaneous questions, too.
 
Expert Call In Lecture An expert on the subject actually calls in by phone during the training and lectures/answers questions from the learner’s. You’ll need phone speaker loud enough for all the hear. A picture of the expert is a useful visual.
 
Real Time Video Lecture Tell the learner’s they’ll be watching the lecture on the monitor closest to them. Bring one learner up to front and lecture to them with video camera running and showing real time on various monitors around the room. This is particularly good for a large room where the learners will be far away from the facilitator.
 
Programmed Instruction Lecture The learner’s have workbook pages with key points that will come in the lecture. Each key point is missing several words using a f ill in the blanks format. As the Facilitator lectures the learner’s fill in the blanks.
   

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