Dr Thomas Boysen Anker

Senior Lecturer

@BoysenAnker

It’s Called a Lecture TheatreReflections on Large Class Student Engagement

• Aim & context

• A change of paradigm

• Using film/media/theatre-thinking to engage large classes

• Results

At a glance

• Teacher enthusiasm key predictor of successful learning (Patrick et al.

2000)

• Creativity often impeded in large organisations (Amabile, 1998) and

universities (Walder, 2015)

• Quality control (non-conducive metrics

• Lack of tech equipment

• Resistance to change

• Productivity

• Uniformity of delivery

The challenge we all face…

What can we do to

facilitate creativity

in Universities?

• How can university lecturers generate student engagement in teacher-

led, large-class teaching (i.e., classical lectures with 100+ students)?

Aim

• Limited scope for group work/exercise

• Lively debate impeded by feelings of intimidation (on both sides)

• Your textbook doesn’t exactly help

• The architecture doesn’t help either

• My journey from a successful philosophy teacher to a boring

marketing lecturer

• My engagement vehicles failed

• Intrinsic/extrinsic motivation

• Interesting content

• Dialogue/discussion

Break down of communication

Change of paradigms

DialogueTeacher Student

Knowledge pushTeacher Student

Teacher Student

Knowledge co-creation

Remembering

Recall

Cognitive

processingCommunicative modus

Discussion

Argumentation

Evaluation

Active reflection

Change of paradigms

DialogueTeacher Student

Knowledge push

Teacher Student

Teacher Student

Knowledge co-creation

Remembering

Recall

Cognitive

processingCommunicative modus

Discussion

Argumentation

Evaluation

Active reflection

Bloom’s taxonomy

Shifting the perspective!

The basic idea

Approaching the lecture

theatre as… a theatre

Applying theatre/media thinking

to business teaching

Narrative models

• Film/media/theatre always based on a storyline/narrative model

Narrative models

• Using a narrative model in marketing teaching

• New types of content required

Marketing

thought for

the day

Textbook

Interlude:

Experiment (blind tasting)

Discussion (sex in marketing)

What is creativity (individual exercise)

Textbook

Themed

music

Narrative models

• Using a narrative model in practice

Marketing

thought for

the day

Textbook

Experiment (blind tasting)

Discussion (sex in marketing)

What is creativity (individual exercise)

Textbook

Cognitive modus

- Critical thinking

- Evaluating - Remembering

- Understanding

- Critical thinking

- Debating

- Remembering

- Understanding

Themed

music

?

Narrative models

Critical thinking

Understanding

Active

Passive Time

Marketing

thought for

the day

Textbook

Experiment

Discussion

(non-

textbook)

Textbook

Themed

music

Read more at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121310977

In behavioural economic terms, this is a nudge.

Also known as choice architecture

Marketing thought for the day

EXAMPLE nudging

Read more at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121310977

Are you, as a marketer, a choice architect?

Marketing thought for the day

EXAMPLE nudging

Marketing thought for the day

EXAMPLE nudging

Smaller packs of paracetamol have

reduced overdose deaths by 43%

YOU ARE A

CHOICE ARCHITECT

THAT CAN SAVE LIVES

Plain packaging will scare you, but it

won’t make you stop smoking!

Marketing thought for the day

EXAMPLE plain packaging

Interlude: experiment

EXAMPLE blind taste

Embedding learning in physical objects

Props

Props

Your textbook definition

Marketing is the achievement of corporate goals

through meeting and exceeding customer needs

and expectations better than the competition.

But the very essence of marketing is missing…

Props

• Mobile learning offers rich opportunities to enhance research

informed/led teaching if we adopt media-thinking

Thinking like a journalist

• And rich opportunities to do investigative (consumer) research…

Thinking like a journalist

• The relationship between appearance and key indicators of effective

communication

• Trust

• Believability

• Expertise

• Sense of urgency

Costumes

“Over 80 million people watched at least one of

the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon television debates.

Those who listened to them on the radio tended

to think Richard Nixon had outdone the youthful,

inexperienced JFK. The Republican's words

carried more weight. Those who watched on

television, however, proclaimed Kennedy the

winner. His words were less important than his

warmth [and] his sincerity. All of these qualities

came across on television.”

Krauss, in Davis & Baran

(1981, pp. 103-104)

• Qualitative and “corridor” feedback

Results

Your lectures are

different!

• Student Representative Council Nomination for Most Innovative

Teaching (2013)

• High student feedback scores on (i) enthusiasm and (ii) intellectual

stimulation and (iii) general satisfaction

• Some students prefer a more conservative approach

Results

• You can engage students in large class settings by

implementing media/theatre thinking into your

course design and delivery…

Results

General conclusion

Risks and barriers• Some students very much prefer textbook-based approaches

• The Uni-mindset often does not encourage experimentation

• Peer/institutional recognition skewed towards research (and now

impact)

• You risk making a fool of yourself (but is that such a bad thing?)

Success consists of going from failure to

failure without loss of enthusiasmWinston Churchill

Share your insights!!