Variety in modes of delivery

For many students the 50 minute (or longer) lecture is an unfamiliar and off-putting format. They very much appreciate anything that breaks up what they perceive as the monotony of the traditional lecture 'we like lectures that are interactive' [Pasifika male students]. Several students said that they hate it when the lecturer talks ‘at’ you [Pasifika male students, Maori students]. Clickers, audio-visual material and music were all identified as ways of making lectures more ‘fun’ or engaging [Pasifika female students]. Even when students are familiar and comfortable with the format, they still appreciate some variety. Sometimes this is because their preferred learning style may be visual or kinetic, rather than visual.

'I really like it when the lectures include pictures, graphs and YouTube clips. I’m a very visual learner, even at home in China I didn’t like to get everything through reading and listening and here that’s even more true because it’s all in a foreign language.' [Rose, international student, from China]

'Lecturers need to be flexible in their delivery. One size doesn’t fit all. I found it really helpful when they used video and you tube.' [Mature student with learning disabilities]

'It’s really good if you can get a discussion going in the lecture, that makes it more interesting.' [Maori student, female]

For students who don’t speak English as their first language, listening to a solid 50 minutes of someone talking in English can, in itself, be a big learning burden. It’s helpful for them if the lecturers break up the 50 minutes. 'Some lecturers use pictures, video, diagrams and animation. All of those can be useful to help you understand the meaning, to help you understand the language the lecturer is using. Pictures, video (as long as it’s brief) and animation are fun as well, and help make the lecture more interesting.' [International student from Japan, female, graduated with BA/BTM]

Lecturers echoed this theme.

I try to think of different ways of presenting the material. Sometimes it’s boring to read another chapter of another book. There are aspects of theory that can only be presented in a verbal textual way but other material can be presented differently. Perhaps my thinking about this comes from the fact that I was educated in Germany and the German system is generally regarded as being pretty traditional and text-based. You do a lot of reading and I sometimes found that a pretty uninspiring way to learn. It made me think that learning should be more accessible and even fun. … I started using music back in 2003 and then realised that I could make a link between the country I was talking about and the music I was playing. From this I developed a quiz and then introduced Google Earth once it became available. So these different modes of presenting information are interesting for all students and may be particularly useful for students with different preferences for how they receive information – aural and spatial for instance. It combines learning ‘facts’ with contextual information which helps to make those facts easier to remember. If there are students from the countries under discussion I often ask them to share information as well. Christian Schott, Senior Lecturer

And I try to use different techniques of delivery, not just words but art and photographs as well. Cherie Chu, Programme Director, BA Educ.

I do recognise that not all students learn best by sitting and listening. So I try to have visuals, text, videos and to keep on pushing boundaries by getting them to learn in different ways and become more active in their role as learners and collaborators. Chris Bowden, Lecturer

Multimodal delivery is another way of helping to ensure that all students have access to the material. Students who speak English as an additional language can benefit from film clips, and images, as can students who are dyslexic. Students who read slowly and perhaps with difficulty benefit from reading shorter, briefer, less academic articles. And all students find the variety of material interesting. Karen Smith, Senior Lecturer

I like to use other media such as video as I think it gives people with different ways of learning more opportunities to take in information. Marcela Palomino-Schalscha, Lecturer

Warwick Murray, Professor, School of Geography and Earth Sciences pointed out that using a range of materials in class is one way of acknowledging diversity in the classroom: I think it’s important to incorporate the expression of the diverse nature of the class into the class materials so I ask the students to bring along their own material such as you tube clips, videos, books, music. I start the classes with music – usually linked to the places we’re talking about and I often ask the students to bring examples of music from their country if we’re talking about that place and I ask them to tell the class about the music and about any story that links it to the place.

Exemplification and contextualisation

Both students and teaching staff made the point that good exemplification could be useful in all sorts of ways, and could certainly make students feel more included.

'Chinese students need encouraging to talk and it’s encouraging when the teacher uses examples from our country.' [Rose, international student, from China]

'He was talking about all these European countries but when he talked about Niue it really made me sit up and take notice.' [Niuean student, female]

'Even if your discipline doesn’t touch on social issues, you probably still have to use examples drawn from social settings and it would be useful if this included LGBT examples.' [LGBT student, male]

This relates strongly to the Pacific female students comments that lecturers should use familiar stuff and modern day cases to help us understand unfamiliar material

Teaching staff emphasised the use of good examples.

If I was advising others about how to be inclusive teachers I would say that … it was important to think of good examples of the ideas you were talking about. Sara Kindon, Senior Lecturer

I also try to link theory with specific examples. Marcela Palomino-Schalscha, Lecturer

I use a wide range of examples, not simply New Zealand examples and not simply examples from the usual source countries of international students. I try to find examples that none of the students will have a strong background in (for instance, speed skating events in Canada). This means that everyone is on a level playing field in comprehending the example. Karen Smith, Senior Lecturer

When it comes to case studies and examples, I recognise that they can be very culturally specific, so we either let students pick their own or we try to pick ones that are universal. David Mason, Undergrad Programme Director

The other really important thing is to link theory to examples. Lots of students – and I was one myself – find theory, on its own, hard to grasp. Once it’s linked to good clear examples then they find it much easier to understand the theory. Tai Ahu, Assistant Lecturer