#  Synthesizing simulation takeaways through lecture 

 



##  Synthesizing simulation takeaways through lecture 

If simulations plunk students right in the middle of the action, what is the role of the instructor? Though instructors in simulation-based classrooms typically play the role of facilitators rather than lecturers, a strategically placed lecture gives the disciplinary expert in the room a chance to distill key conceptual takeaways from student-centered activities. This video shows how Brian Mandell commences full group sessions by delivering a mini-lecture that responds directly to what students just experienced. The analytic lecture aims to, in Mandell’s words, provide students a “seamless narrative about multi-party negotiation and mediation.”

*Profiled:* [*Brian Mandell*](https://prod-instructionalmoves.drupalsites.harvard.edu/brian-mandell)*, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy, teaches "Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution" to 60 students at the Harvard Kennedy School.*



 

 

 

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 Classroom Considerations Relevant Research Related Resources 

## Classroom Considerations

 

 

- Deliver mini-lectures strategically to highlight and review the major takeaways and themes gleaned from simulations.
- Find opportunities to put students’ simulation experiences into dialogue with broader concepts and frameworks used in your field.
- Conceptual frameworks often make more sense to students after they have used them to solve a specific problem. Expose students to relevant problems and frameworks in simulations and then use synthesizing lectures to describe other potential applications and uses of these frameworks.



 



 

 

 

## Relevant Research

 

 

- Due to the differences between expert and novice thinking (National Research Council[, 2000](https://www.nap.edu/catalog/9853/how-people-learn-brain-mind-experience-and-school-expanded-edition); [Sawyer, 2006](https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/psychology/educational-psychology/cambridge-handbook-learning-sciences-2nd-edition?format=PB); [Chi et al., 1981](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0364021381800298)), lecture can be an efficient way to make visible the underlying concepts in the learning simulation ([Kirschner et al., 2006](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1)).



 



 

 

 

## Related Resources

 

 

1. In this Faculty Focus blog post, [an instructor describes the benefit of incorporating 8-minute mini-lectures into his active learning classroom](https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/the-eight-minute-lecture-keeps-students-engaged/).



 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Teaching Through Problems ](/modules/teaching-through-problems)
- [ Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ](/school/harvard-kennedy-school-hks)
- [ Mandell, Brian ](/instructors/mandell-brian)
- [ Simulations ](/sub-modules/simulations)
- [ Simulations from the Public Policy Classroom ](/sub-modules/simulations-public-policy-classroom)