The Lecture: A Teaching Strategy through the Looking Glass

This paper explores the viability of the lecture as a teaching strategy for large groups in light of the various elements that influence the choice of method for teaching large groups. The method employed in this paper draws on the Brunswick Lens Model and Foucauldian discourse to evaluate the dominant pedagogical perspective of the past to translate the perspective into the current view of the lecture as a teaching strategy within the context of current practice. Consideration is given to issues about the future of the lecture. The literature suggests that research and debate regarding the role of the lecture in the learning process has been minimal and mixed. Historically, the changes that have occurred in the lecture format are the result of new technologies applied to the presentation process rather than the content. The evolution of a discerning/sophisticated audience (students) has given rise to technological advances in the classroom and lecture theatre. Technology in its many guises, such as the creation of cyberspace, has motivated the development of alternative approaches both to the traditional lecture as a strategy and to its parameters.