The Death of the Traditional Lecture

It's likely that many of us have experienced or practiced traditional lecturing where all or the majority of class time is spent with the instructor giving a lecture and the students passively absorbing it. You may have heard it described as the "sage on the stage" approach, and we all know how that often goes, in one ear and out the other. Know that if you're doing this, you're not alone. Many of us start by teaching how we were taught, and lots of us were taught through traditional lecture. Are you interested in making a change and looking for other ways to teach, approaches that engage your students with the material and move them from passive to active learners? If so, you've come to the right place! In this episode, Angela and honored guests, Ashley Tharpe, Branka Manojlovic, Chris Ferrigno, and Mike Bradaric discuss alternatives to the traditional lecture and reflect on their own experiences learning and teaching using active learning strategies. They offer practical advice on how to reserve in-class time for discussion, application, and group work, while still allowing time for lecturing as needed, and the pedagogical reasons for doing so. They also discuss how faculty can get help implementing these changes. CTEI extends a big thank you to our guests and their valuable contributions to this discussion! Dr. Ashley Tharpe is an Online Chair in the School of Business and Associate Professor for the Department of Public & Community Health at Liberty University. She holds an EdD in Educational Leadership, Master of Public Health, MA in Human Relations, a MS in Health Sciences, and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. She is currently serving as the past-president of the Virginia Public Health Association (VPHA) and serves on several health-related committees with ImmunizeVA, VPHA, and the Northeastern Distance Learning Association board of directors. Dr. Tharpe is passionate about online education, supporting faculty, and the optimal health of people and communities. Branka Manojlovic is an Instructional Designer (ID) at the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation at Rush University. Branka has been working in the field of Instructional Design for the past 10 years. Prior to coming to CTEI, Branka worked as an ID at Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies and Indiana University Northwest Center for Innovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning. Dr. Chris Ferrigno is an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology. Prior to coming to Rush in 2011, he was a Physical Therapist. He completed his PhD in Anatomy and Biomechanics at Rush University in 2015, and subsequently joined the Rush faculty. He teaches courses in gross anatomy and neurobiology for the medical, nursing, and health sciences colleges at Rush. His clinical research interests are in the areas of knee osteoarthritis and gait analysis, as well as anatomy education. Dr. Michael Bradaric is an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and the current Director of Pharmacology for Rush Medical College. Mike has a PhD in pharmacology and was a cancer researcher specializing in gynecologic malignancies. Prior to his position at Rush, he taught integrated pharmacology for Chicago State College of Pharmacy, where he researched anticancer compounds from marine sources. Episode transcript