A lecture on linear algebra at the Helsinki University of Technology

A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theories and equations. A politician's speech, a minister's sermon, or even a businessman's sales presentation may be similar in form to a lecture. Usually the lecturer will stand at the front of the room and recite information relevant to the lecture's content. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x900, 147 KB) A mathematics lecture, apparently about linear algebra, at Helsinki Univeristy of Technology - TKK. File links The following pages link to this file: Mathematics University Student Lecture ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x900, 147 KB) A mathematics lecture, apparently about linear algebra, at Helsinki Univeristy of Technology - TKK. File links The following pages link to this file: Mathematics University Student Lecture ... Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerned with the study of vectors, vector spaces (also called linear spaces), linear maps (also called linear transformations), and systems of linear equations. ... Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) (Finnish: Teknillinen korkeakoulu; Swedish: Tekniska högskolan) is the premier technical university in Finland and the largest in the Nordic Countries with over 15000 students. ... For other uses, see Presentation (disambiguation). ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... For other uses, see College (disambiguation). ... For university teachers, see professor. ...

Though lectures are much criticized as a pedagogical method, universities have not yet found practical alternative teaching methods for the large majority of their courses. Critics point out that lecturing is mainly a one-way method of communication that does not involve significant audience participation. Therefore, lecturing is often contrasted to active learning. But lectures delivered by talented speakers can be highly stimulating; at the very least, lectures have survived in academia as a quick, cheap and efficient way of introducing large numbers of students to a particular field of study. Pedagogy (IPA: ) , the art or science of being a teacher, generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction[1]. The word comes from the Ancient Greek (paidagōgeō; from (child) and (lead)): literally, to lead the child”. In Ancient Greece, was (usually) a slave who supervised the... For other uses, see Communication (disambiguation). ... Active learning, as the name suggests, is a type of instruction which some teachers employ to involve pupils during the learning process. ... Academia is a collective term for the scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. ...

Lectures have a significant role outside the classroom, as well. Academic and scientific awards routinely include a lecture as part of the honor, and academic conferences often center around "keynote addresses", i.e., lectures. The public lecture has a long history in the sciences and in social movements. Union halls, for instance, historically have hosted numerous free and public lectures on a wide variety of matters. Similarly, churches, community centers, libraries, museums, and other organizations have hosted lectures in furtherance of their missions or their constituents' interests. For other uses, see Keynote (disambiguation). ... A public lecture is one means employed for educating the public in the sciences and medicine. ... American Civil Rights Movement is one of the most famous social movements of the 20th century. ... Union Hall (Bréantrá in Irish) is a small fishing village located in County Cork, Ireland. ... For the architectural structure, see Church (building). ... Community centres are public locations where members of a community may gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. ... Julio Pérez Ferrero Library - Cúcuta, Colombia A modern-style library in Chambéry A library is a collection of information, sources, resources, and services: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. ... For other uses, see Museum (disambiguation). ...

Etymology

The noun "lecture" dates from 14th century, meaning "action of reading, that which is read," from the Latin lectus, pp. of legere "to read." Its subsequent meaning as "a discourse on a given subject before an audience for purposes of instruction" is from the 16th century. The verb "to lecture" is attested from 1590. The noun "lectern" refers to the reading desk used by lecturers. In British English and several other languages the noun "lecture" must grammatically be the object of the verb "to read." For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... Look up instruction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

History

A lecture at a medieval university (1350s) showing the lecturer reading a text from the lectern to students.

The practice in the medieval university was for the instructor to read from an original source to a class of students who took notes on the lecture. The reading from original sources evolved into the reading of glosses on an original and then more generally to lecture notes. Throughout much of history, the diffusion of knowledge via handwritten lecture notes was an essential element of academic life. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1634, 326 KB) Description: Title: de: Liber ethicorum des Henricus de Allemania, Einzelblatt, Szene: Henricus de Allemania vor seinen Schülern Technique: de: Pergament Dimensions: de: 18 × 22 cm Country of origin: de: Italien Current location (city): de: Berlin Current location... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1634, 326 KB) Description: Title: de: Liber ethicorum des Henricus de Allemania, Einzelblatt, Szene: Henricus de Allemania vor seinen Schülern Technique: de: Pergament Dimensions: de: 18 × 22 cm Country of origin: de: Italien Current location (city): de: Berlin Current location... The first European medieval institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology. ...

Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

Even in the twentieth century the lecture notes taken by students, or prepared by a scholar for a lecture, have sometimes achieved wide circulation (see, for example, the genesis of Ferdinand de Saussure's Cours de linguistique générale). Many lecturers were, and still are, accustomed to simply reading their own notes from the lectern for exactly that purpose. Nevertheless, modern lectures generally incorporate additional activities, e.g. writing on a chalk-board, exercises, class questions and discussions, or student presentations. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2536x1902, 440 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mauritshuis Autopsy Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp Wikipedia:Recent additions 42 Rembrandt Nicolaes Tulp Talk:Anatomy Lesson... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2536x1902, 440 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mauritshuis Autopsy Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp Wikipedia:Recent additions 42 Rembrandt Nicolaes Tulp Talk:Anatomy Lesson... Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (pronounced ) (November 26, 1857 – February 22, 1913) was a Geneva-born Swiss linguist whose ideas laid the foundation for many of the significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. ...

The use of multimedia presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint has changed the form of lectures, e.g. video, graphics, websites, or prepared exercises may be included. Most commonly, however, only outlines composed of "bullet points" are presented. Critics contend that this style of lecture bombards the audience (as critics such as Edward Tufte [1] put it) with unnecessary and possibly distracting or confusing graphics. Others simply think this form of lecture is non-spontaneous and boring... Look up Multimedia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Power point redirects here. ... Edward Rolf Tufte (IPA /ˈtʌf. ...

Research

William Hogarth's 1736 engraving, Scholars at a Lecture

Bligh, in What's the Use of Lectures? argues that lectures "represent a conception of education in which teachers who know give knowledge to students who do not and are therefore supposed to have nothing worth contributing." Based on his review of numerous studies, he concludes that lecturing is as effective, but not more effective, as any other teaching method in transmitting information. Nevertheless, lecturing is not the most effective method for promoting student thought, changing attitudes, or teaching behavioral skills. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (496x613, 37 KB) Uploading reduced size jpeg of same picture William Hogarths 1736 engraving, Scholars at a Lecture http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (496x613, 37 KB) Uploading reduced size jpeg of same picture William Hogarths 1736 engraving, Scholars at a Lecture http://www. ... William Hogarth (November 10, 1697 – October 26, 1764) was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, and editorial cartoonist who has been credited as a pioneer in western sequential art. ... Hercules fighting the Centaurs , engraving by Sebald Beham Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ...

Other forms

Many university courses relying on lectures supplement them with smaller discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory experiment sessions as a means of further actively involving students. Often these supplemental sections are led by graduate students, tutors, Teaching Assistants or Teaching Fellows rather than senior faculty. Those other forms of academic teaching include discussion (recitation if conducted by a Teaching Assistant ), seminars, workshops, observation, practical application, case examples/case study, experiental learning/active learning, computer-based instruction and tutorials. For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... // Academia In British academic parlance, a tutorial is a small class of one, or only a few, students, in which the tutor (a professor or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to the students. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... In British, Australian, New Zealand, and some Canadian universities, a tutor is often but not always a postgraduate student or a lecturer assigned to conduct a seminar for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial. ... A teaching assistant (TA) is a junior scholar employed on a temporary contract by a college or university for the purpose of assisting a professor by teaching students in recitation or discussion sessions, holding office hours, grading homework or exams, supervising labs (in science and engineering courses), and sometimes teaching... fellows may refer to: the plural of Fellow Fellows, California This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A faculty is a division within a university. ... Debate is a formalized system of (usually) logical argument. ... Recitation means a repetition of what has been said before. ... A seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at a university or offered by a commercial or professional organization. ... A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. ... For other uses, see Observation (disambiguation). ... Case studies involve a particular method of research. ... Case studies involve a particular method of research. ... Active learning, as the name suggests, is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process, rather than passively absorbing lectures. ... Active learning, as the name suggests, is a type of instruction which some teachers employ to involve pupils during the learning process. ... This article is about the machine. ... // Academia In British academic parlance, a tutorial is a small class of one, or only a few, students, in which the tutor (a professor or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to the students. ...

In schools the prevalent mode of student-teacher interaction is lessons. Students in Rome, Italy. ... A lesson is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. ...

See also

Look up lecture in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• public lecture

Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ... A public lecture is one means employed for educating the public in the sciences and medicine. ...

References

• Donald A. Bligh: What's the Use of Lectures? (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000). ISBN 0-7879-5162-5
• Konrad Paul Liessmann: Über den Nutzen und Nachteil des Vorlesens. Eine Vorlesung über die Vorlesung (Vienna: Picus, 1994) ISBN 3-85452-324-6 [2].
• Edward R. Tufte: The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within (Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press, 2006, 2nd edition). ISBN 0-9613921-5-0 The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ... For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ... Edward Rolf Tufte (born 1940) is a professor of statistics, graphic design, and political economy at Yale University and an expert in the presentation of informational graphics, such as infographics, charts and graphs. ... Location in Connecticut Coordinates: , NECTA Region Incorporated 1780 Government  - Type Council-manager  - Town manager Michael A. Milone  - Council Matt Hall, Mayor Elizabeth Esty, D-1 Thomas Ruocco, R-2 Diane Visconti, D-3 Tim White, R-4 Matthew Altieri D-at large Michael Ecke D-at large David Orsini, R... Graphics Press is a publishing company started by Edward Tufte which primarily publishes works authored by Tufte himself. ...

External links

• lecturefox.com: free university lectures (videos, podcasts, notes)
• World Lecture Project (wlp°): free academic lectures from around the globe, covering all faculties
• videolectures.net: free academic lectures, especially on Computer Science
• platformed.org: A New York based organization advocating public lecture attendance.
• Lecturefinder: Search academic and college grade lectures online.