Abstract

In the last few years, the use of interactive lectures has become a feature of higher education teaching practice. However, the evidence base supporting their use remains limited. This presentation will deliver a report about a project evaluating interactive lectures by interviewing seven academic staff using interactive lectures, and eight students attending interactive lectures. Staff using interactive lectures believed they improved student engagement and participation, especially classes with large student numbers. Issues of trust were associated the use of interactive lectures with smaller groups. Students’ reactions were very positive believing they positively improved their learning through increased attendance, attention and performance. Students liked the novelty value and increased interaction in lectures. The only negatives concerned technology delays and time to conduct questions. Students would appreciate more use of interactive lectures in appropriate contexts though not over-used. Pedagogical issues involved frequency of interactive lecture use; diagnostic capabilities of interactive lectures to inform lecturer assessment of students’ understanding; appropriateness of using interactive lectures for sensitive subject.
The findings indicate interactive lectures promote a constructivist approach to lectures through student collaboration in learning activities undertaken with large student groups as well as facilitating student reflection upon lecture material. Main suggestions for further research are exploring possible reasons for staff reluctance to use interactive lectures and an experimental examination of the impact of interactive lectures upon student learning.