Making It Clear, Clearly Makes A Difference

These insights about how new material can be presented to students to encourage more learning and understanding are abstracted from G. W. Chilcoat’s article in Instructional Science. Chilcoat’s meta-analysis of 95 articles, 35 of which presented research at the college/university level, showed that the behavior recommended had a significant effect either on student achievement (learning) or perception at the p <.05 level. This abstract can be found at The Active Learning Site—http://www.active-learning-site.com/.

It is imperative that teachers provide lectures that are as clear as possible so that students can make sense of what is being presented. Understanding allows students to retain, recall and apply material in other circumstances. Failure to understand often leads students to incorrectly interpret material or, in frustration, to ignore what has been said. In the past, many instructors believed that comprehension was entirely the students’ responsibility. As we become more knowledgeable about cognitive research, however, it is apparent that much of that burden is the responsibility of the instructor as well. The question, of course, is how do we explicitly make our lectures more clear to students? Chilcoat’s synthesis of the research suggests the following.

1. Provide a preview of information prior to an explanation.
Research suggests that this can be done effectively in one of three ways:

An overview, designed to familiarize students with what is to be learned, can both facilitate student achievement and create positive student perception of a lecturer’s presentations. Specifically an overview should be short and precise, providing a statement of the overall idea to be presented, the importance of the information to be learned, and a statement that outlines the structure of the content to be presented.

A second preview is called a “set induction,” which consists of two parts. Prior to the presentation, students are given a commonly known referent in the form of an analogy. During the presentation, new information is constantly referred back to the introductory analogy. This procedure allows students to link unfamiliar material with a concept they already understand. Research suggests this approach encourages student involvement, creates a positive student perception of the lecture, and increases student achievement with regard to both short-term and long-term retention.

The third preview strategy is the “advance organizer,” which is an introductory statement at a higher level of abstraction than the detailed, related information in the presentation. The advance organizer therefore, provides an appropriate conceptual framework, depending upon the age and level of the students, for understanding the material to follow. Also, the organizer should provide a link between students’ previous understanding and the material to follow, giving concrete examples wherever possible.

2. Organize information within a step-by-step lesson sequence.
Chilcoat notes, “students tend to get lost in verbal mazes.” When exposed to too much material at one time, student learning is reduced. The teacher, therefore, should carefully structure the lecture sequentially, arranging information logically, and breaking down material into clear, coherent, and explicit steps. “It is important that the presentation begins with information that is simple, concrete, familiar and explicit, then progresses to information that is increasingly complex, abstract, unfamiliar, inexplicit and …long” (p. 302).

3. Assess student learning when information is being given.
The instructor should actively and frequently determine if students understand the material that has been presented. Specific strategies to engage students could include discussion questions, written responses (summaries, analytical lists, “what didn’t you understand?” in-class journals), formative (ungraded) quizzes, thumbs up/thumbs down, written problems, etc. Whatever the technique, the goal is systematically and explicitly to see if students understand what was being presented.

4. Signal transitions between information.
Transitions are statements that are used by the lecturer to move from the introduction to the body of the presentation, between major points and subpoints, and from the body to the conclusion. Transitions allow students to switch attention between topics, maintain focus and reduce confusion. The key is to make the transition explicit, then to relate the previous information to the new information.

5. Use multiple examples to illustrate information points.
Well-chosen examples illustrate and clarify the conceptual material being presented by making the abstract concrete and understandable. Multiple examples lead to increased student learning and retention of material. When providing examples, teachers should (1) use examples that are appropriate for the level of the student, (2) carefully explain why the example is significant and relevant, (3) use examples in close proximity to the conceptual material being presented, and (4) obtain student feedback to see if the examples are understood.

6. Stress important points during explanations.
Lecturers need to draw students’ attention to the material that is most crucial in the presentation being given. It is particularly important to stress anticipated difficult points, because detailed, redundant explanations for difficult concepts can lead to increased student learning. Other techniques include (1) writing and underling key concepts on the blackboard; (2) enumerating points; and (3) using voice inflection or pausing after a point; or employing verbal signals such as “It is important to remember.”

7. Provide for brief pauses at appropriate times during the lecture.
As a result of rapid teacher-talk, students often are not given adequate time to process information. This has two consequences: (1) students have trouble taking good notes and (2) they often cannot make sense of what is being said. Research suggests that the amount of notes a student takes correlates positively with achievement. Yet, while teachers talk at a rate of 120–240 words per minute, many students are only capable of taking notes at a rate of 20 words per minute. In addition, one study demonstrated that pausing periodically for as much as two minutes so that students could compare notes, led to a significant increase (statistically and educationally) in both short- and long-term recall.

8. Eliminate additional unexplained content nonessential to current explanation.
Research shows that presenting less is more effective.

9. Review information frequently.
Periodically during a presentation, but particularly at the end of difficult material, lecturers should review and summarize the main points. In addition, reviewing the entire presentation at its end, summarizing main points, is particularly effective. It is also effective to have students review what has been presented through the active learning techniques discussed previously. These reviews, carefully presented, demonstrably increase student learning.

Additional references of interest on related topics:

Cashin, W. E. 1985. Improving lectures. IDEA Paper No. 14. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University, Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development.

Hartley, J., and A. Cameron. 1967. Some observations on the efficiency of lecturing. Educational Review (Birmingham Institute of Education) 20: 30–37.

McLeish, J. 1968. The lecture method. Cambridge Monographs on Teaching Methods. Cambridge Institute of Education.

Full citation for this article:

Chilcoat, G. W. 1989. Instructional behaviors for clearer presentations in the classroom. Instructional Science 18: 289–314.