Planning the Lecture: Suggested Format for a Lecture Plan

The following format can be used to guide a simple lecture plan. The Purpose:

The Starting Point:

Learning Experience 1. 2. 3. etc.

Resources

Conclusion

Observations

You can see that there are six main segments.

The Purpose: You need to be clear in your own mind where you want the lecture to go and what it is you are trying to achieve. It is also a good idea to make the purpose clear to students at the outset. The Starting Point: To arrive at a satisfactory starting point you need to establish what students already know or can do so that this lecture can build on their existing experience. A brief revision of points made in previous lectures is necessary to bridge the gap between where you left off last time and where you will start in this lecture. Learning Experiences In this section of the plan you decide how you will teach aspects of the content. It is a matter of planning your teaching strategy in point form in terms of a sequence of steps. For instance perhaps you will plan to divide a one hour lecture into three twenty minute segments, covering three sub-topics. You can then ask what approach it would be best to take to each topic; how can you best explain or illustrate it; and how can you encourage participation by students. Resources Each learning segment then needs to be considered in terms of what resources will be most useful to achieve your teaching goals: handouts, overhead transparencies, video etc. If you are using a number of different resources it may take some effort to co-ordinate them so that you have them all together at the time of the lecture. Conclusion This is a very significant part of the lecture since it helps students to draw together what they have experienced in the lecture. The conclusion needs to provide: A review of what has been said or demonstrated in the lecture. An indication of how it will be extended into the next lecture.

Observations In this section of the plan you can make notes about your observations and reflections of the lecture and the way in which students responded to your teaching strategies. Looking back over these notes you can reflect on the positive and negative aspects of a series of lectures and plan effectively for future lectures.

In summary: Keep the plan simple and easy to use. Pay attention to sequencing of content. Include introduction/review of previous work and summary of content at the end. Make brief notes on both content and method/resources. Pay attention to pacing the lecture. Leave space to write notes on your evaluation of the lecture afterwards. Whatever lecture plan you devise it should be one that is directly useful to your needs and methods of working.

Reprinted with permission from the Centre for the Enchancement of Learning and Teaching, City University of Hong Kong. TEHE Ref.: R18a Stafford, K. & Kelly, M. (1993) An Introduction to Lecturing (Workshop Series No. 10, pp.5-6). City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Professional Development Unit (now City University of Hong Kong, Centre for the Enchancement of Learning and Teaching).