J's Reading Notes # 2

This week's readings lit up many facets of the art of lecturing and its accompaniments like technology (audio, video, presentations etc). Large enrollment classes were at the heart of the readings and that presented a divide between COMM 110 (my class of 22 each) and the focal matter. However, I was still able to figure out some common areas and relate them to my present teaching assignment.

I agree with Davis that one cannot dole out 'on-the-spur' assignments in a large class as opposed to a seminar. One will have to be more organized and give the students proper guidelines before the assignment.  Also, in chapter 17, Davis mentions that in a large class, the idea is to ‘make the space seem small’. How does this work out in the real context?

While Davis mentions the limitations of lecturing as being 'less effective in encouraging independent thought, developing critical thinking skills and meeting individual pedagogical needs', Lang projects his thoughts in a different vein. He thinks that lectures provide a most updated view of the subject matter. He believes that lectures help summarize and compare various books and articles. They are more adaptive in their dissemination (they consider the student audience to decide what works). They have the power to encourage and inspire students as opposed to reading plain text. Lectures also hone the lecturers' skills and make them more learned. Lang suggests that the lectures be made ‘part of a larger quest’ which makes a lot of sense in advanced courses. Davis mentions the above in the context of large classes, while Lang in a more general one. 

Both Lang and Davis concur that it is advisable to intersperse lectures with multimedia content, as lecturing for a full period is quite the way to lull students into passivity. The concept of ‘trigger’ video clips and those that tie into ‘learning objectives’ makes sense (Lang). Davis suggests discussions or problem solving exercises which help the students 'own' that material. I personally have a doubt about this, if an introductory course like COMM 110 actually has the power to induce such feelings in students.

Lang suggests that virtual learning environments like Blackboard foster community development. Keeping posting to blogs optional for students, might result in low activity. So, blog posting as a course requirement (COMM 702) is a smarter way for ensuring student participation.

I like Davis' style of organizing lectures into styles like 'Expository-broad concepts, Participatory-inter teaching, problem solving and Structured-short presentation, then pose problem, task or question and solve via group work’. I have mixed feelings about incorporating at least an example or demonstration that excites me because I started with this in my first class. I did not get a very enthused response from my classes, or maybe it was too early for them to react. So, I wonder if I should make my classes no-frills or still attempt at inspiring a response from the class. It is a great idea to apply key ideas in the reading to many contexts as Davis points out. In terms of rules for student behavior, the line ‘You’re mine until 2 PM’ to remind the students about class time, seemed amusing and sense-making. I would like to use this in a class sometime.

In trying to gain attention, Davis suggests ‘pausing’. I’d like to discuss how one may pull this off without giving the hint that they might have forgotten their delivery. Also, how does one play the ‘Devil’s Advocate’ to students in an attempt to elicit answers?

I would like the class to discuss the implications of being digital natives or immigrants (Lang) as we are a diverse lot in COMM 702. It would be exciting to see whether collectively we find the use of technology daunting or fascinating.