Etymology

The noun “lecture” dates from 14th century, meaning «action of reading, that which is read”, from the Latin lectus (“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”.

History

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.

A lecture at a medieval university Rembrandt’s The Anatomy

(1350s ) showing the lecturer Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

reading a text from the lectern to

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 günürale). 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.

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 put it) with unnecessary and possibly distracting or confusing graphics. Others simply think this form of lecture is non-spontaneous and boring...

Research

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.

O ther 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.

In schools the prevalent mode of student-teacher interaction is lessons.

Lesson

A lesson is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one section of a textbook (which, apart from the printed page, can also include multimedia) or, more frequently, a short period of time during which learners are taught about a particular subject or taught how to perform a particular activity. Lessons are generally taught in a classroom but may instead take place in a situated learning environment. In a wider sense, a lesson is an insight

gained by a learner into previously unfamiliar subject-matter. Such a lesson can be either planned or accidental, enjoyable or painful. The colloquial phrase “to teach someone a lesson”, means to punish or scold a person for a mistake they have made in order to ensure that they do not make the same mistake again. Lessons can also be made entertaining. When the term education is combined with entertainment, the term edutainment is coined.

Types of lesson

There are many different formats and structures of lessons:

• One teacher/instructor with many students

• Private tuition (one-on-one teaching)

• No teacher presence, perhaps a formal learning time with use of textbooks or multimedia

Pre-recorded tapes have been a popular method of learning, particularly for foreign languages and modern techniques such as video conferencing have allowed teaching to be undertaken without the students or teachers being in the same room.

Colloquium

A colloquium is an academic activity. Typically, a collo- quium consists of a single lecture given by a member of the academic community about his or her work to colleagues who work in the same or an allied field. The audience is expected to ask questions and to evaluate the work presented. Colloquia provide scholars with the opportunity to face and respond to criticism in the early stages of the development of new ideas. In legal parlance, colloquium is used when the identity of a plaintiff in a defamation suit is not expressly stated, but people know who the tortfeasor was attempting to defame.

Seminar

Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at a university or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular

subject, in which everyone present is requested to actively participate. This is often accomplished through an ongoing Socratic dialogue with a seminar leader or instructor, or through a more formal presentation of research. Normally, participants must not be beginners in the field under discussion (at US universities, seminar classes are generally reserved for upper-year students, although at UK and Australian universities seminars are often used for all years). The idea behind the seminar system is to familiarise students more extensively with the methodology of their chosen subject and also to allow them to interact with examples of the practical problems that always crop up during research work. It is essentially a place where assigned readings are discussed, questions can be raised and debates conducted. It is relatively informal, at least compared to the lecture system of academic instruction. In some European universities, a seminar may be a large lecture course, especially when conducted by a renowned thinker (regardless of the size of the audience or the scope of student participation in discussion).

Science Fair Report and Presentation

Whether your teacher requires an in-class science report and presentation of your science project, or it’s just for the judges at the fair, you will probably have to give an oral presentation on the content of your science project. There may or may not be a time limit, but even if there isn’t, it’s important to keep your presentation short and to-the-point. Be sure that your science fair report touches on all of the elements of your project, including but not limited to the points of the Scientific Method.

Be sure to practice. Giving an oral presentation, and talking to the judges at the fair who may be teachers from other schools whom you’ve never met before, could end up being the hardest part of the science project. Practice will give you the confidence you need to sound like an authority in your area of research, and that’s something that the judges like to hear.

Points at a science fair are awarded for your ability to discuss the project clearly and to explain each stage of your research and every step of your experiment. The judges will ask you questions, and so practice will really help. Try to have someone ask you questions about your project. It might make you think about things that you haven’t thought of before. An important thing to remember is to never make up answers to difficult questions. Instead of admitting that you don’t- know, tell the judges that you didn’t discover the answer to that question during your research, and then present other, relevant information.

Finally, your appearance may also affect the way that the judges view you. A professional appearance will reflect well on you and your project. You are not only trying to look professional, but you are trying to make your project look like the result of thoughtful, mature, and professional scientific research.

In summary, it’s important that you have a professional- looking, well-organized science display board to make a good impression on the judges. It is also important, that you appear relaxed and knowledgable while presenting your science report.

Grammar Reference

Частини мови (Parts of speech)

In talking about the ways in which words combine, we need to refer to classes of words. Words classes are usually called parts of speech. If we take an example sentence The chief accountant in the company has explained the new procedures, a traditional analysis assignes each word to a part of speech:

The (article) chief (adjective)accountant (noun) in(preposition) the (article) company (noun) has (verb) explained(verb) the(article) new (adjective) procedures (noun).

Many words belong to more than one part of speech. We can only know what they are from their use in a particular sentence. So, light is a noun in The light hurts my eyes, an adjective in I prefer light colours, and a verb in I cannot light my pipe.