The disadvantages of lectures

The human ecology history line is tightly linked to how we communicate the environment or should we say our surroundings and what we care for? Here is some tips about why ordinary lectures are not the best way to talk about complex questions, like whith those we now stand for, when everyone need to understand and really do something else.

• Real knowledge is assumed to belong to the lecture, as communication is one-way with no participation, feedback or reinforcement from the audience
• It is assumed that there is a knowledge gap between the lecturer and the listeners. It is assumed that the trainees' heads are empty vessels which need to be filled with facts
• As trainees are passive recipients of information they soon become bored or restless
• The lecture method emphasises the transfer of information and facts, but the strength of the message depends upon much more than the facts themselves
• Attention spans are limited, especially if the lecture is delivered in a montonous voice. The average person immediatly forgets 50% of what he/she has heard
• Too often the lecture is a 'canned' talk, prepared only once and repeated often
• The lecturer has no way of knowing how well the trainees are understanding or believing the messages if there is no focused feedback during or after the lecture

Source: Ray Ison, 1990 in A trainer's guide for participatory learning and action, 1995 IIED