Should We Kill the Lecture?

Zach Cresswell

Mt. Pleasant High School

Twitter: @z_cress

zcresswell@mp.edzone.net

Exploring the role of direct instruction in the modern math classroom.

Presentation

bit.ly/shouldwekillthelecture

Backchannel

bit.ly/lectureMIA

Did you do your homework?

Read this: bit.ly/paulhateslectures

About Zach

My Motivation

The case for the lecture

• We know things that students don't know
• We can cut the fat away from concepts
• We have constraints
• We can stick to what students are comfortable with
• We can stick to what we are comfortable with
• We can lay a solid foundation for future teaching
• We avoid the risks of an activity running off the rails
• Placed on video, it becomes a lower level cognitive task that can be done for homework

The case against the lecture

• Students must do more of the cognitive work
• Students arrive at a deeper understanding
• Students explore ideas and mathematics
• Students own the learning
• Students are more motivated when their curiosity is sparked
• Students are more likely to explore multiple methods for concepts

What did I miss?

Discussion

Lectures

1. What is the sweet spot for length?
2. How is flow best managed?
3. What is the best timing for a lecture?

https://xkcd.com/1661/

Explorations

1. How can explorations be designed to maximize their effectiveness?
2. How can playing with math be utilized most effectively?
3. How can we help students adjust to asking them to do more cognitive lifting?

www.xkcd.com/1050/

Balance

1. How do we balance the good that we get from a lecture and the good we get from letting students explore math?
2. Are good guidelines we could give to young teachers to help them navigate this?
3. Are there groups of students for which lecturing is more or less effective?

https://xkcd.com/1561/

My Questions

1. I understand the end-game of the "pro-lecture camp". What is the end-game of the "math through play" camp?
2. What do college math professors want from their students?
3. If time wasn't a factor, if we just wanted students to learn a topic well, what would we still lecture on?

https://xkcd.com/1164/

Closing Thoughts

Thoughts from the backchannel

Tuning the slider

Questions, comments or feedback?

Thank for attending!

Zach Cresswell

Mt. Pleasant High School

Twitter: @z_cress

zcresswell@mp.edzone.net

Presentation

bit.ly/shouldwekillthelecture

Backchannel

bit.ly/lectureMIA