New and experienced STEM educators alike can struggle to organize their lecture preparation. While most have a ‘system that works’, I have experienced some educators who simply work their way through through a notebook or slide deck without a clearly defined plan about what they are going to cover each day (‘here is a good stopping point’). This can be challenging for students to follow and refer back to, as there aren't clear delineations (other than maybe date) to break up their notes.
I have developed a common-sense framework for preparing lectures in a more organized way. I’ve used this process to create and rework 12 different courses over the past 8 years.
I firmly believe that the more organized and prepared you are, the easier it is to be agile in adapting to the particular needs of your students. Let me be clear, the tips in this article are a framework for creating well organized lectures, but those plans are not rigid!
Think of it like this: before each airline flight the pilot has a cleared flight path planned out which will take them between their starting point and the destination. If unexpected weather conditions arise, they may have to divert around them, but, more often than not, the plane lands where you expect it to. It may land at a different time, and have adjusted flight path, but because they have a clear path and destination, they get where they are going. This may be a terrible analogy, but having a great plan makes adjusting that plan easier.
Here is my (idealized) step-by-step procedure I use to prepare my lectures. I don’t always follow my own advice, but I think the principles have been proven to work for years.
1. Research - This is where you get the content for your lecture. Depending on the topic of your lecture, this could be as simple as reading the sections from the textbook you plan to cover, cross referencing several textbooks, reading articles, doing some internet searches, or watching videos. I also will commonly refer to old notes from my undergraduate experience or from graduate school. It is important that you understand the material you are teaching, as well as the applications. This is the space that you use to prepare for student questions-try to identify interesting things students who want to go deeper might want to know.
2. Reflect - Spend some time thinking about what you’ve researched. Think about the most effective way to communicate this information with your students. I often identify analogies or similarities to other things they have seen to help them understand the concepts better. I believe you can only help your content preparation by sitting on the material for a little while before putting pen to paper with detailed notes.
3. Think about structure - Every lecture should have a consistent structure! Even if you aren’t the most engaging lecturer, students will forgive a lot if you are well organized and consistent. I like this structure
Introduction-How could we solve this problem? How can we move from what we’ve already learned to what we need to learn next?
Teaching-Here’s where you put theory, equations, proofs, etc.
Examples-Application of the theory to a problem
Conclusion-Summarize what we just did, spell out what was valuable from the lecture
Sometimes, if I have more than one topic to cover in a lecture, I go through this structure more than once! This is where you should also identify key examples you will use-what illustrates the theory you just taught? What types of problems may you ask on an exam, quiz, or homework? I like to make examples in lecture ‘easier’, then really challenge students on their homework, and maybe find a different way to ask about the topic on an exam or quiz. I think examples are the single most important part of your lecture, followed closely by a summary of the value you provided the students in the lecture.
4. Put your content into a delivery system which will help you map out timing. This includes clear headings and obvious breaks between topics. Clearly spell out when you are doing an example, so students can refer back to it.
The majority of my courses involve writing on a whiteboard or chalkboard, so I use a system to plan out what the boards will look like as I lecture. This system is called board notes, and you can see an example here. Each box represents one ‘board’ worth of material. Typically, you can assume that you will take 3-5 minutes per board to deliver the content. In a 50 minute class, some folks will cover 10 boards. I talk quickly, so I can often get through 12-13. Much more than that is overwhelming for the students. In a longer class, you can probably cover more ground, as you don’t have the 3-5 minutes of adminstrivia to cover at the beginning of the lecture.
You can use a very similar system to put content onto slides, but be aware that you will be able to cover far more content in slides because you don’t have to write things down-but be aware that your students will want to write! One way to help with this is to provide outlines or handouts for your students to keep up with the structure. I’ve also used handouts to capture key examples (especially those with complicated pictures) so the students don’t have to rely on their (often poor) drawing skills. This will save time and allow you to cover more content.
Another note-I often don’t write out my introduction or conclusion directly in my notes. I typically synthesize these on the fly to make sure they are most relevant to the audience at that time. If I identify a sticking point, I will be very careful to emphasize or explain that content again in the conclusion-and this is different for each class cohort! Good preparation helps you to be adaptable.
5. If you have physical or software demos, plan them and make them easy to access from where your lecture is stored. This is fairly straightforward! I think a lot of lectures benefit from some sort of demo, especially if the content is complicated or hard to visualize. Making them easy to access will help you keep the flow of lecture going. If it’s a software demo, include a link to the demo in your slides, or make sure your computer is booted with the right software before class starts. If it’s a physical demo, make sure you bring it, and position it in a place of prominence in the room. That way, you won’t forget to use it, and students will be interested to see what it’s for! I’ve sat in on chemistry lectures with a small experiment set up that kept me intrigued from the beginning of class, and I thought this was especially effective.
6. Make sure everything works before delivering the lecture. I call this the last minute prep. Ideally, the previous 5 steps would have been completed at least a week ahead of time. Make sure your lecture demos work! Double check math on examples! Make sure you have a great handle on what you are talking about in that lecture. I usually complete these steps about an hour before class so I feel the most prepared. In a particularly helpful article, Carey Nieuwhof says that the secret sauce to being ready to give a talk is not ‘memorizing your talk’ but instead, ‘understanding it’. This is absolutely essential, and will keep you from over dependence on your notes and will make the students more engaged with the content.
In this article I discussed a 6 step framework that has been proven to make your lecture preparation better. Other incredibly effective frameworks exist! What process do you use for designing your lectures?