chunking lectures – it’s a bit of a no-brainer

Breaking a lecture up into distinct chunks or sections is a bit of a no-brainer. It is all to do with understanding the implications of cognitive load theory, specifically that the brain can only process a small amount of new information at once. Presenting more information than the brain’s architecture can handle leads to overloading the working memory, and usually a significant decrease in learning.

Breaking your lecture into chunks provides students a chance to process each chunk before new material is presented. Designing opportunities for students to be active (black boxes) in the processing of the content also assists in facilitating the content’s understanding, and eventual transfer into long term memory.

So, here’s a possible live -streamed lecture design that considers cognitive load implications, the need for the student to be active in their learning, and is very manageable for the lecturer. The model can be applied to both live and recorded lectures, but the recorded lecture will need some more specific context discussed, which I will do in another post.

I’ve talked before about the possible mixed-mode future of live lecturing, with it being able to facilitate a breakout room. The below model considers this as a possibility.

lesson segment	rationale	tech to assist
intro	The lesson begins with a retrieval quiz. The benefit of retrieval is enormous. It strengthens the memory of key ideas and content. The purpose of this is so the knowledge can be automatically brought to cognition when new learning is presented, without taxing the working memory. The more knowledge the student can draw from, the greater the opportunity to delve into more higher order independent learning, so building students’ schema through retrieval is is a bit of a no-brainer. The lecturer will place answers on the screen, and spend 2-3 minutes explaining answers if common errors were made.	Polls Echo 360 Mentimeter Quizziz Canvas quiz
teaching	Delivering content. 10-12 min. Incremental building to application is is a bit of a no-brainer. The lecturer is conscious of the need to present content clearly and simply, very much aware of multimedia principles that promote the efficient encoding of new information. They are also aware of the importance of modelling problem solving and incorporate worked examples into the presentation. Where appropriate, the lecturer connects the new learning to real world applications, not just to make the content relevant, but more so to build the mental patterns and analogies in the students’ schemata. The lecturer also frequently mentions the reasons why decisions in the teaching are being made so as to strengthen the students’ metacognition.	PPT slides. Document camera. Students can take notes in Echo, can raise confusion flag, and ask a question at precise point in either the live stream.
student activity	Strengthening understanding This provides students a chance to take in what has just been presented, and think about the concepts before they are presented with more content. Essentially the student is trying to convert the abstract to the concrete. Providing students with the opportunity to complete worked examples, practise solving similarly structured problems, or discussing with a peer possible analogies to the content is valuable at this point in the lecture, and is a bit of a no-brainer.	Breakout rooms. Mentimeter open question. Echo discussions. Canvas discussions. GoFormative.
teaching	Discussion of last task if necessary – may not be if practising or completing examples. Delivering content. 10-12 min. Incremental building to application is a bit of a no-brainer. The lecturer is conscious of the need to present content clearly and simply, very much aware of multimedia principles that promote the efficient encoding of new information. They are also aware of the importance of modelling problem solving and incorporate worked examples into the presentation. Where appropriate, the lecturer connects the new learning to real world applications, not just to make the content relevant, but more so to build the mental patterns and analogies in the students’ schemata. The lecturer also frequently mentions the reasons why decisions in the teaching are being made so as to strengthen the students’ metacognition.	PPT slides. Document camera. Students can take notes in Echo, can raise confusion flag, and ask a question at precise point in either the live stream.
Formative assessment	Checking for learning A quiz of short answer opportunity to see if what you have presented so far has been understood is is a bit of a no-brainer. The questions also provide another opportunity for a student to process the content and develop a better understanding.	Questions up on screen. Zoom polling. Using Canvas discussions as student answer repository. Mentimeter. Quizziz.
teaching	Check answers – you may need to pivot the lecture if misconceptions are still prevalent. Delivering content. 10-12 min. Incremental building to application is a bit of a no-brainer. The lecturer is conscious of the need to present content clearly and simply, very much aware of multimedia principles that promote the efficient encoding of new information. They are also aware of the importance of modelling problem solving and incorporate worked examples into the presentation. Where appropriate, the lecturer connects the new learning to real world applications, not just to make the content relevant, but more so to build the mental patterns and analogies in the students’ schemata. The lecturer also frequently mentions the reasons why decisions in the teaching are being made so as to strengthen the students’ metacognition.	PPT slides. Document camera. Students can take notes in Echo, can raise confusion flag, and ask a question at precise point in either the live stream.
student activity	Strengthening understanding This provides students a chance to take in what has just been presented, and think about the concepts. Essentially the student is trying to convert the abstract to the concrete. Providing students with the opportunity to complete worked examples, practise solving similarly structured problems, or discussing with a peer possible analogies to the content is valuable at this point in the lecture.	Breakout rooms. Mentimeter open question. Echo discussions. Canvas discussions. GoFormative.
summary	Recapping key ideas. Tying the lecture all together: linking it to previous learning and real word contexts. Discussion and questions asking students to link their learning is a great way to draw attention to the key concepts again, and is a bit of a no-brainer.	Mentimeter open ended question.

I’m Paul Moss. I’m a learning designer at the University of Adelaide. Follow me on Twitter @edmerger