Pre-lecture Activities in Undergraduate Science Courses

In undergraduate science courses, students typically attend lectures without preparing in advance and are often overwhelmed with the quantity of new material they are being taught. In addition, instructors often teach new material without adequately assessing students’ prior knowledge and any misconceptions that students may have in relation to key concepts. These challenges can be addressed by incorporating pre-lecture activities, which help to prepare students for lecture by introducing them to key concepts in a structured way. Pre-lecture activities facilitate student learning in three ways. First, students are introduced to core concepts before lecture to help identify misconceptions, activate prior knowledge and familiarize students with lecture material. Secondly, instructors can incorporate the pre-lecture questions into the lecture itself and provide student responses as discussion openers. Lastly, students are more likely to participate if they are familiar with the material and feel confident in their understanding. Therefore, pre-lecture activities help students prepare for lectures and provide a basis for interactive learning, without compromising the amount of content that can be taught during the lecture. The purpose of this workshop is to prepare instructors to effectively incorporate pre-lecture activities into their courses. In addition to providing specific examples of pre-lecture activities, the workshop will also highlight how this teaching approach is supported by several learning theories, including constructivism, cognitive learning theory and Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) pedagogy. Lastly, the workshop will emphasize the adaptability of pre-lecture activities and how they can be incorporated into any science course. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to discuss different types of pre-lecture activities and different ways of implementing them into their courses.