Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The Dangers of Fluent Lectures

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This article reports on a study (7 page PDF) that counters what we are (repeatedly) told by the supporters of direct instruction. "Students who engage in active learning learn more -- but feel like they learn less -- than peers in more lecture-oriented classrooms. That's in part because active learning is harder than more passive learning." And it's also in part because skilled lecturers can lull students into believing they've learned more than they actually have. That said, the usual caveats about education research (192 students in a US-based university taking a single undergraduate class) apply.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 11, 2025 07:23 a.m.

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