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Certainly the "lecture" format is perfectly valid and has tremedous value in certain applications. That being said, the OP question stands - why the continued use across the board? Simple - lectures are cheap. One person, one space, one set of equipment, lots of students.
But hey, your school hired an entire staff of Sustainability experts, and now has a nifty website, office & everything! Cool, huh?
Getting an educational label is a ritual, don't take it too seriously, don't try to look for common sense. Education is a soul & brain killing "grinder" that mankind passes through it's wide-eyed, curious and enthusiastic youngsters to turn them into obedient, compliant, marginally trainable work mules. Tolerance of boredom is a MUST (here is where long lectures comes handy), if you cannot tolerate boredom, your wage labor value is close to zero in the modern world. Of course, there are older students but, common, don't act surprised, you've been broken in before and you know very well what education is about. Again, "education" is not for you to learn things (whom are you kidding, you forget 98% of the garbage 2 weeks after finals), it's there to shape you into a compliant wage unit. Long dull lectures are indispensable. When somebody roll his eyes and spouts "education" in that NPRish voice, I instinctively want to yawn. Education = boredom, get used to it, boredom tolerance is #1 goal of the modern education. Better yet, if you'll get to like all the indignities involved to become a perfect slave. If you are getting raped, just relax and try to enjoy it. 99% of BS Ritalin happy "educators" spew around here can be boiled down to that single sentence.
Last edited by RememberMee; 07-23-2012 at 07:53 AM..
When you do nothing in your life that requires sustained focus, you LOSE THE SKILL. Focus takes practice.
Did you ever watch kids playing? I guess not. Humans can easily, no efforts at all, maintain focus on the tasks they find interesting and rewarding. Wage labor market and all encompassing specialization of tasks are nothing like that, that's where "education" comes handy, that's why breaking of the human spirit and natural behavior patterns for 12 years + 4 years of college + 5 years of grad school are necessary. It's not because of that wealth of "knowledge" you forgot 100 times over since your graduation(s).
I am taking a course at the local community college this summer and after being out of school for many years it has been an eye opening experience.
One thing that has not changed is the lecture. It still appears to be the vehicle of choice by instructors and professors at most colleges. Though the students don't seem to be toohappy about it. During breaks in the class, I like to walk around the classroom building and look inside the the other classrooms near by. The teacher is always in front of the room lecturing and the students look like they are going to die. Many look like they are half asleep, others are playing with their smart phones or typing emails on their laptops. I suspect the students think the lecture is a waste of time but are in a class that requires attendance.
If you were the professor, what teaching approach would you use to get the students engaged? How you you see it from a students perspective? Is the lecture still the best way to get students to learn?
At the college level, it is not up to the professor to keep the students engaged. They should be engaged because they are adults attending school and paying the bill. School is work. It's not entertainment. If you want entertainment, go to the movies.
You ask why lectures are used, they are used because that is the most effective way to get information from one person to another. If I know something and you need to know it, the fastest way for you to get to know it is me to explain it to you.
You might be surprised what you learn if you, simply, pay attention. It's not on the professor if students don't pay attention. It's on them. This is the start of separating those who will succeed from those who will be mundane because they can't even pay attention when someone hands them information. Those who learn how to learn and take what those who know more than them have to offer will succeed. The rest will whine that college was BORING... That's ok. We need lower end workers too.
In college, it's up to the student. If they wait to be entertained, they're really not people I want to hire for upper positions anyway.
Did you ever watch kids playing? I guess not. Humans can easily, no efforts at all, maintain focus on the tasks they find interesting and rewarding. Wage labor market and all encompassing specialization of tasks are nothing like that, that's where "education" comes handy, that's why breaking of the human spirit and natural behavior patterns for 12 years + 4 years of college + 5 years of grad school are necessary. It's not because of that wealth of "knowledge" you forgot 100 times over since your graduation(s).
They can also sustain focus on the tasks they pay for. The simple fact I was paying the bill in college coupled with the fact that how I did in college would determine where I started the race was plenty of motivation for me to pay attention and learn. It is not up to colleges to adapt to what students want, it's up to students to show that they can learn even when the task at hand is not particularly entertaining. Seriously, most jobs are NOT entertaining. If you can't follow along in a 15 week course that isnt' entertaining what are you going to do when given a 3 year project that is not entertaining? Work often is not entertianing. Deal with it.
You ask why lectures are used, they are used because that is the most effective way to get information from one person to another.
It's absolute BS, depending on a lecturer it might turn into utter BS. Some lecturers are 200% waste of time, gas and money as far as getting information goes. Next time you see University parking lots full, remember >50% of that gas and wear and tear are simply wasted. By attending lectures that YOU KNOW WELL do nothing for you, you just play by the rules, jump through the hoops, get rewarded with a proper label for compliance. And that's exact point of education. Compliance, boredom tolerance and following the procedures and schedules of not your making.
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