As you have read, text author Linda Nilson (2010) begins her chapter on lecture with this quote by philosopher Mortimer Adler: "Lecturing is the transfer of information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the student without passing through the minds of either" (p. 113).
With the quote in mind, consider the following scenario:
You are a new faculty member at a community college. Among the courses you will be teaching is one that has been the domain of a long-time instructor who is retiring. You meet briefly and she offers you a file folder of her materials for the course. Later you browse through the file and find a collection of long-winded lectures that, it appears, the instructor delivered without bells, whistles, or discussion, class after class. You check recent evaluations and notice many complaints from students that they learned less than expected. You also notice that historically the course has a sizable number of students who drop it a few weeks into each semester.
You have an opportunity to turn this course around and make it more dynamic and valuable for learners. Think about the Adler quote and ways it captures what has been happening in this course. Consider what you can do to change that and "prove Adler wrong." To start, think about how you could break up your lectures by involving your adult learners in discussing the course content.
Post your plan for "proving Adler wrong" by responding to each point below. Include references or examples from this week's readings and videos to support your ideas.
How would you facilitate the discussions to ensure that your adult learners are active and engaged?
If you have experienced engaging discussions as an adult learner and/or facilitated engaging discussions, share ways in which those discussions were particularly meaningful or exceptional.