Lecturing and Presenting in Engineering

While research has established that learning is an effortful process, which requires students to process information or to apply skills, classroom practices in science and engineering have yet to undergo the transformation necessary to make active and collaborative learning the norm.

This course offers an opportunity to discover and practice effective research-supported strategies for lecturing and presenting in science and engineering. We will focus on techniques that enable students to effectively transfer their skills into practice, that address challenges inherent to different audiences and differences within audiences, and that make effective use of high tech or low tech presentation tools.

The goals of this course are:

• To present research-informed strategies for presenting and explaining in science and engineering.
• To offer intensive opportunities for students to practice lecturing and to receive feedback.
• To provide a framework for continued progress towards personal goals for teaching science and engineering for diverse audiences.

The course has 4 components:

(a) interactive lectures on presenting and explaining in Engineering (15h),
(b) preparatory reading and online actitivites around research evidence on lecturing in Engineering (5h independent work),
(c) skills labs in which participants will give practice lessons and get feedback (20h), and
(d) preparation of 5 mini lessons and a project report describing the evidence base you employed (20h independent work).

This course focuses on lecturing in higher education, and does not lead to a recognized teaching qualification for primary or post-primary schools.

Format

Intensive course in January 2020 with 5 days of interactive morning lectures and afternoon skill labs, preceded by preparatory reading assignment. The final project report is due 11.2.2020.