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Making lecture prep less overwhelming?

In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

I'm new to teaching courses that I myself have designed. Is there a way to make lecture prep less tedious and overwhelming? Unfortunately, making the class significantly less lecture-focused is not an option in my situation.

Good question. Alas, my main strategies for making lecture prep less overwhelming are exactly what the OP says they can't do: make classes less lecture-focused. So I'm not sure that I can be of much help here.

Do readers have any helpful lecture-prep tips?

Posted in

8 responses to “Making lecture prep less overwhelming?”

  1. Young SLAC Prof

    I do a mix of lecture and discussion. Two reasons. First: students don’t want to listen to me for an hour. Second: more discussion means less prep on my part.
    I simply build in discussion prompts, have in-class writing time, and pose questions about readings. Unless you have a group of students that is totally exhausted, such strategies will work well.
    All that said, I have found time is the main thing that minimizes prep. I have taught my offerings multiple times, and so, I don’t really worry about filling up time; I have the main points in my head and have found ways to introduce them in class successfully.
    Lastly, my first advisor said that the best way to prep is not to prep. He didn’t mean that I ought to wing it. He meant that I shouldn’t plan things out too much, as you want some flexible time, and time to pursue anything of interest that comes up. So, I try to not even make much of a plan. E.g., If I’m teaching the Apology, I just know to discuss the nature of wisdom and the importance of criticism. From those two bits, you can frame things, on the fly, in interesting ways.

    Reply
  2. still learning grad student

    I switch mainly between two different lecture styles: the first is PowerPoint, and the second is writing on the board, using some notes. There are other ways to do it as well, like handouts or notes on the computer. I find switching up between methods helps me with the tedium and makes it easier, since I can do what is easiest for the topic.
    I also was very nervous that I need to have everything planned out exactly, but I found I was better at just winging it than I thought I was. I just have sketchy details and then I can fill it in when I’m talking.

    Reply
  3. nihil nimus

    Read Part 1 of Robert Boice’s Advice for New Faculty (you can get an online PDF at Anna’s Archive, if that’s something your conscience is okay with).
    A lot of the advice is to start early on preparation, work in regular and brief sessions, generally make a small number of points with lots of examples, pause frequently during lectures to gather yourself/glance at notes/let students ask questions.

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  4. Lots of up front labor

    Even in 250 people classes I do a fair amount of discussion.
    The honest answer though, for me, is that I put a TON of work into doing it the first time (making all the slides, the sheets for in-class exercises etc) and then the next time I teach the class I do like 15 minutes of prep before class and I’m good.

    Reply
  5. Bill V.

    Unfortunately the answer is “not really.” You need to go through a period of struggling with teaching, prep, etc., to figure out what works for you (more often, what doesn’t).
    What works for other people might work for you–by all means experiment with ideas you learn in conversation and reading. But those experiments fail, often enough.
    There is a pretty big literature on college pedagogy. Going through that might feel like more prep, and a great deal of the advice there is to not lecture so much.
    As others have mentioned, the burden of prep significantly diminishes over time, even when you are doing new preps.
    Part of what you learn in the painful process of beginning as a teacher is that students read way less than you expect, are way less interested than you hope, and can process/remember way less in class than you think. Fewer readings, slower lectures with less content, an emphasis on explaining why the content is interesting/worthy of attention, plenty of repetition, stopping to check understanding, re-explaining, etc., are things that tend to improve learning outcomes and are actually a lower burden on you.
    You can take a little more pressure off by realizing that students are supposed to do most of their learning outside of class, not in it. The US Department of Education (RIP) defined a credit hour for college credit as a minimum of two hours of studying out of class for every hour in class. Part of the task in class then becomes motivating students with various sticks and carrots: extrinsic and intrinsic reasons to actually do the work on their own.

    Reply
  6. Michel

    The first time through is the hardest. But it doesn’t have to be good, just good enough. You can improve your courses over time, as time allows; you just have to make it through the first round. So give yourself permission to do less than you’d like.

    Reply
  7. Prep less

    I try not to give myself too much time to prep my lectures. Lecture prep expands to fill whatever space you give it. If I give myself a whole day for one lecture, I’ll spend a whole day on it. Instead, I try to give myself whatever amount of time I think is reasonable given my schedule (3-4 hours), and I try pencil it in as close to the time of the lecture as possible. The results aren’t perfect, but aiming for perfection is a recipe for spending too much time on teaching.

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  8. agree with prep less

    expanding on what Prep less says: most of us aren’t privileged enough to have this kind of control, but you can adapt your schedule yourself instead, I received the helpful advice when I started my first job to schedule my courses in such a way that I only had a certain amount of time before them in the morning to prepare, and to simply not allow myself to do any preparation before the morning. I’ve consistently taught large lecture courses at 10 am, but when I first started my job, I was typically in my office before 8am to prep. Now I am happy to roll in at 9, to do something else first if I am there earlier, or, if it is something I have already taught somewhat recently, to roll in at, honestly, like 9:45 to print a handout and glance over it. Again, not everyone has this control over their schedule, but if you can create a set amount of time and then really control it/not let it bleed into other things, you simply will be fine and will get enough done.
    Also I know opinions are divided about this, but knowing that lots of people (myself included) have witnessed in their own teaching that more preparation and more stress about the preparation actually results in worse teaching, not better, might be helpful.

    Reply

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