Timeline for What is the point of a lecture when you have a textbook?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
60 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2015 at 8:16 | review | Close votes | |||
| Sep 15, 2015 at 11:31 | |||||
| Sep 8, 2015 at 3:13 | comment | added | Clarinetist | Just my personal experience: I have never found lectures which follow textbooks exactly to be useful. Maybe some Q&A, but that is usually stuff that I can't answer simply in class without slowing the class down, so I defer those questions either to office hours or in an e-mail. I'm having quite a different experience currently with professors who don't follow the textbook at all at a new university, and I feel that my understanding of the textbook seems to be paying off more than merely reading the textbook to find out what I'm going to hear about during a lecture. | |
| Sep 7, 2015 at 9:50 | comment | added | Luke | In my experience, I remember a lot better the things that I hear than I do the things that I read. It will take me a lot longer to take in information when reading it, as I may need to reread several times to really appreciate it, whilst listening in a lecture I can take it in immediately. I read no books and barely read any course notes at university and still got a First Class Degree. Lectures were invaluable to me. | |
| Sep 7, 2015 at 7:33 | answer | added | matanox | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 5, 2015 at 21:21 | comment | added | math_lover | Going through problems seems to be the most illuminating way to gather new insights. Wouldn't you agree that doing problem sets, especially in collaboration with others, is better for learning than attending a lecture. | |
| Sep 5, 2015 at 20:33 | comment | added | Stevetech | As the question is now protected I will need to answer here. The job of a good lecturer is to expand and illuminate the material presented in the course texts as well as allow the presentation of extra insights into the subject. Linked with tutorials this allows a good student to validate their understanding and seek clarification of any ambiguities . A lecturer who slavishly repeats the text book is not earning their salary and is not giving the students the education they are entitled to | |
| Sep 5, 2015 at 18:00 | comment | added | the_lotus | @TRiG isn't your video saying the exact same thing as the one I posted? | |
| Sep 5, 2015 at 3:30 | comment | added | TRiG | @the_lotus. Oh, so something's going to revolutionise education again, is it? | |
| Sep 5, 2015 at 1:07 | comment | added | emory | @CreationEdge Lectures serve an important purpose. They allow students to nap mid-day. Sleep is medically necessary. | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 19:56 | answer | added | John_dydx | timeline score: 2 | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 17:21 | comment | added | ping | Answers to this similar (but not identical) question might also be interesting to you: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29805/… | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 6:48 | comment | added | dotancohen | @Calvin'sHobbies: Thank you for sparing me the need to invoke an analogy concerning a woman and a dirty magazine. | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 2:42 | answer | added | J.R. | timeline score: 4 | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 1:31 | comment | added | math_lover | @above: I don't appreciate that. I already had some ideas on this topic but I have come here to ask my question because I am open to other ideas. I don't want an answer with no explanation. | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 1:18 | comment | added | pjs36 | Here is clearly the answer you want: None, there is no point. | |
| Sep 4, 2015 at 0:07 | answer | added | Sridhar Sarnobat | timeline score: -1 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 21:35 | answer | added | Jay | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 20:42 | comment | added | user8001 | @Calvin'sHobbies I wouldn't say most lectures, especially at the graduate level, are really works of art. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 18:10 | answer | added | Chan-Ho Suh | timeline score: 5 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 12:33 | comment | added | eykanal | Please take extended discussion to Academia Chat. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 11:54 | answer | added | Kimball | timeline score: 5 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 11:13 | comment | added | the_lotus | There's a great talk about this. Which I think makes a lot of sence. Have student watch lecture at home (video of the best teachers, or read the book) and do "homework" in the classroom. I remember, the time I had to most question was when doing the actual work. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 10:34 | answer | added | moooeeeep | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 9:41 | comment | added | psmears | @BenCrowell: That paper doesn't show learning styles are a myth - that's a much stronger claim than it's making. They are basically saying nobody has created a successful programme using learning-styles assessments to enhance learning outcomes and proved it, i.e. there's a lack of good evidence, not even that there's evidence of lack of success. | |
| S Sep 3, 2015 at 9:29 | history | suggested | Raphael | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
adding and explaining STEM context as per comments by the OP
|
| Sep 3, 2015 at 8:58 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Sep 3, 2015 at 9:29 | |||||
| Sep 3, 2015 at 8:21 | comment | added | DetlevCM | @BenCrowell I would take that "study" with a huge grain of salt - might be worth reading an article about psychology studies in general: theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/28/… Also, from personal experience (Maths) I have a huge preference for a handwritten lecture over pre-prepared slides - and yes, one subject switched, so I experience both on the same subject. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 6:33 | comment | added | Greg | Ideally the lecture is not just a rehearsal of the book. Most university level subjects are not just "oh, i read it twice and will understand everything" kind of material, therefore an active quittance, pointing out common pitfalls, external feedback by tests etc are rather necessary. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 6:00 | comment | added | Calvin's Hobbies | What is the point of seeing a play when you have the script? | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 4:37 | answer | added | AMR | timeline score: 41 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 4:11 | answer | added | thomij | timeline score: -1 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 3:08 | comment | added | user30980 | In my experience, a great many lectures have served only as means to gather participation points. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 2:53 | answer | added | Count Iblis | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 2:42 | history | protected | ff524 | ||
| Sep 3, 2015 at 2:28 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackAcademia/status/639263596212584452 | ||
| Sep 3, 2015 at 2:10 | comment | added | math_lover | @ReneG: yes, this is not uncommon. Also I had in mind STEM. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 2:01 | comment | added | Paul Proteus | Also, the answer to this question is very different for STEM vs. non-STEM. In STEM, esp. in math, often the lecturer basically repeats the proofs from the book verbatim. In history, for example, it is really important to have a human teaching you, because each book has its own, possibly narrow, perspective, and in any case one can't read every history book on every subject; the lecturer needs to create a course consisting of the important subset. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 1:59 | comment | added | Paul Proteus | Have any of you heard of people teaching themselves from books and then testing out of math classes at the undergrad level? | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 1:57 | comment | added | math_lover | My point is you don't need a lecturer to repeat information in the textbook for you to ask a question. If the instructor thinks the question is a common one he will bring it to the attention of everyone at office hours, for example. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 1:54 | comment | added | Sumyrda - remember Monica | @JoshuaBenabou Asking questions at office hours is pretty ineffective if 200 other students have the same question. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 1:19 | answer | added | Edwin Torres | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 0:18 | answer | added | user1482 | timeline score: 26 | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 0:08 | comment | added | user1482 | @ff524: Learning styles are a myth. See Pashler et al., "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence," psi.sagepub.com/content/9/3/105.abstract . Their review of the literature finds no support for matching instruction to learning styles. See also the two links given in EnergyNumbers' comment. | |
| Sep 3, 2015 at 0:04 | answer | added | Peter Bloem | timeline score: 69 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 23:52 | answer | added | paul garrett | timeline score: 14 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 23:30 | answer | added | Jouni Sirén | timeline score: 5 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 23:00 | answer | added | Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩 | timeline score: 10 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 22:58 | answer | added | Memj | timeline score: 5 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 22:49 | comment | added | math_lover | You can also do this at office hours. | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 22:33 | answer | added | vonbrand | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 22:31 | comment | added | Felipe Voloch | You can ask questions in a lecture. | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 22:28 | comment | added | math_lover | "Why go to school? You might as well self-learn, take an exam when you're ready and collect your degree." That is a very good question which I am not sure how to answer either... | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 22:04 | comment | added | Prof. Santa Claus | A lecture gives you a formal setting. Otherwise, why go to school? You might as well self-learn, take an exam when you're ready and collect your degree. Also, a great lecturer/teacher will not 'read' from textbook and tell you the fundamentals that govern everything. Also he/she may teach you how to 'think' about a subject/topic. Lastly, there has been research that says you absorb more when someone tells you the info versus you reading the same info by yourself. | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:30 | answer | added | Anonymous Physicist | timeline score: 6 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:29 | answer | added | Laurent Duval | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:21 | answer | added | Genevie | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:18 | comment | added | Raydot | The textbook and the lectures should compliment each other. One should not be a replacement or substitute for the other. | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:15 | comment | added | ff524 | For some people in some classes, the lecture is pointless. But there are people who do better in class, or people who are not disciplined enough to read the book themselves; and there are classes where a great deal of value is added over the book. | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:13 | history | edited | ff524 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 2 characters in body; edited tags
|
| Sep 2, 2015 at 21:10 | history | asked | math_lover | CC BY-SA 3.0 |