If teaching is not reading, as suggested in last week's tip, some might assume that to teach means to lecture. Indeed, some Sunday school lessons rival the pastor's sermon in tone, delivery, and length. However, the most effective lessons are typically not lectures. In fact, a study in the secular realm reveals that "undergraduate students in classes with traditional stand-and-deliver lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes that use more stimulating, so-called active learning methods." (news.sciencemag.org)
Why is this true?
A lecture assumes that students learn best by listening, but requires passivity. Some learners are more visually oriented. Others internalize by writing. Some learn best through dialogue. Lectures may be important, but only utilizing this method of learning may shortchange many of our students. Why? Most often, we learn best through activity.
How can you design your lesson so that your students do not only hear the Word, but also begin to put it into practice?
Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/education/2014/05/lectures-arent-just-boring-theyre-ineffective-too-study-finds
