Lecturing Interactively

Although lectures may remain a cornerstone of higher education, oration alone can seldom sustain students’ engagement, provide them necessary learning supports, and authentically deepen their understanding of material. In fact, even the most compelling lecturers often employ a range of strategies to cultivate active and supportive learning spaces.

Lecturing Interactively videos are organized into three submodules: Engaging Students, Scaffolding New Material, and Deepening Understanding. Supplemented by classroom footage and student testimonials, featured faculty share a wealth of strategies for delivering more stimulating instruction that reimagines and challenges the traditional, teacher-centric lecture.

  • There’s an old joke where the lecturer says, “Let's get the rules straight: I'm here to speak; you're here to listen. You're going to finish your job almost inevitably well before I finish mine.” Unfortunately, that's the likely effect if you don't alter the energy in some ways.

    - Bob Kegan

  • I walk into class with a detailed plan. I know I need to hit four or five landmarks -- concepts that, by the time the class is over, students need to have learned. But how I get to these landmarks is determined by my interactions with students.

    - Paola Arlotta

  • We’re in this conundrum: We all know that 50 minutes of straight lecture turns everybody off, but lecture still has value. How do you reconcile those truths?

    - Brett Flehinger

  • Silence is one of the most underused weapons an instructor has at his or her disposal.

    - Dan Levy

  • Often I’m making instructional moves and then I'll tell students why I made the move. Sometimes I'll tell them why I didn't do something else because that's often just as informative.

    - Tina Grotzer

Featured Faculty

P. Arlotta

Paola Arlotta

Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology

STUDENT GROUP

Undergraduate

SCHOOL

Harvard College

COURSE

Got (New) Brain? The Evolution of Brain Regeneration

COURSE DETAILS

Fall 2016, 22 students

Brett Flehinger

Brett Flehinger

Lecturer on History

STUDENT GROUP

Undergraduate

SCHOOL

Harvard College

COURSE

American Populisms: From Thomas Jefferson to the Tea Party + Trump

COURSE DETAILS

Fall 2016, 38 students

Grotzer portrait.

Tina Grotzer

Principal Research Scientist in Education

STUDENT GROUP

Graduate

SCHOOL

Harvard Graduate School of Education

COURSE

Applying Cognitive Science Research: Principles to Learning and Teaching

COURSE DETAILS

Spring 2018, 40 students

Bob Kegan

Robert Kegan

William and Miriam Meehan Research Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development

STUDENT GROUP

Graduate

SCHOOL

Harvard Graduate School of Education

COURSE

Adult Development

COURSE DETAILS

Spring 2016, ~200 students

Dan Levy

Dan Levy

Senior Lecturer in Public Policy

STUDENT GROUP  

Graduate

SCHOOL  

Harvard Kennedy School

COURSE

Advanced Quantitative Methods

COURSE DETAILS

Fall 2016, 74 students