The best teachers, Kevin Roddy says, always keep learning.

"The process of teaching is a continual exploration," said Roddy, a medieval studies lecturer. "The classes are always different, the students are always changing. And we change, too, as instructors."

Roddy is one of the participants in the Lecture Club, which this fall is studying the teaching methods of some of the brightest teaching stars on campus -- Liz Applegate, a nutrition lecturer; Dean Simonton, a psychology professor; and Thomas Famula, an animal science professor.

Barbara Sommer, psychology lecturer and program coordinator for instructional resources at the Teaching Resources Center, which is overseeing the Lecture Club, explained how it works:

"Faculty participants in the Lecture Club sit in on one of these classes to observe the instructor's teaching methods," she said. "Then they get back together for a debriefing to talk about nuances in instruction technique that came to mind."

The first debriefing took place Oct. 7 in 25 Wellman. Several Lecture Club participants discussed Applegate's instruction for the first day of her Nutrition 10 class, "Discoveries and Concepts in Nutrition."

Technology matters

For her large class of a couple hundred students, Applegate used Microsoft's PowerPoint slide software to discuss nutrition, homeostasis, body composition, body fluids and digestion.

The PowerPoint presentation "gave the lecture a dynamic nature," said Barbara Sommer, "allowing for information to be released a little at a time."

Instructors can get help for such presentations through MediaWorks, the group noted. For example, currently MediaWorks is collaborating with departments that are using online course content to offer "hybrid" or Web classroom courses.

Victoria Cross, a program coordinator for educational technology, said instructors can pursue grants through MediaWorks for this kind of technology. See http://mediaworks. ucdavis.edu for more details.

"MediaWorks will work with you to produce what you need," said Cross, "from videotaping lectures to digitizing slides."

Though the group acknowledged that a smooth PowerPoint presentation has some advantages over the traditional blackboard, they agreed that technology is just part of a successful teaching method in our day and age.

Planning goes a long way, too

Robert Sommer, a psychology professor emeritus, said he was impressed by Applegate's "integration of the textbook" into the lecture. Throughout her lecture, she would often point out that a slide referred to a certain page in the textbook, and the students would follow along accordingly.

"I've never seen that kind of integration of a textbook and a class," said Robert Sommer.

Now and then, Applegate would tell students they didn't need to remember a particular chunk of information for the test. While it seemed that this might cause students to pay less attention to the lecture, observers said they did not notice that taking place.

"The lecture moved quickly enough that they still paid attention," he said.

Human and community development professor Judy Reitan said, "Applegate was teaching them material she wants her students to carry with them for the rest of their lives."

Indeed, Applegate introduced her class on the first day in terms of its practical benefits. For example, students taking her course would learn how to explain to their roommates the pros and cons of the Atkins diet.

Sometimes a reliance on PowerPoint presentations can cause students to take fewer notes, said Ken Shackel, a pomology professor. "Some people say that's important" to take notes, he said, noting it's also part of the educational process for students to actually see their professors "think" as they scrawl on a blackboard.

Agreeing was Dave Smart, a professor of viticulture and enology. "It's important to learn how to take notes."

Increasingly, students are expecting PowerPoint lectures that can also be accessed later on the Web, the group noted. All of this, along with note-taking services like Classical Notes, is challenging the art of note-taking. Yet some of the professors questioned the accuracy of Classical Notes, which pays students for their notes.

The nature of the physical classrooms also affects the teaching outcome. Jack Milton, who teaches about 250 students in Math 16, said large classes hinder give-and-take between students and the instructor. "How do I interact with my students?" he said.

As Roddy said, some rooms are just not designed well or set up well for classes. On the flip side, Milton identified 2 Wellman as arguably the best large-scale classroom on campus.

Personalized and lively

Noise and distractions are other issues that instructors confront, especially in larger classes like Applegate's. This comes in many forms, from talking, late arrivals and cell phones.

Reitan said that when a large number of students begin closing or "slamming" their notebooks shut toward the final minutes of class, it is bothersome for the lecturer. "Students can shape our behavior," she added.

Now Reitan says to her students at the outset of the session, "I will tell you when I'm finished, so please do not slam your notebooks closed before then."

Milton said he's had difficulty with the noise factor. He suggests keeping the lectures as "interesting as possible."

Shackel said, "The noise means that somehow they're not being engaged." He added that different people handle being in front of a large group in different ways. "You just have to be yourself."

Robert Sommer said that when students read the California Aggie in the back of his classroom, "I figure that I've got to beat the competition" by delivering a more intriguing lecture.

Other group members said anonymity in large classes creates problems. When possible, calling on disruptive students by name is a useful tactic.In any event, most agreed that today's students are "multi-tasking" or juggling different activities at the same time more than previous generations.

"If you drive down I-80 and see what people are doing in cars," chuckled Barbara Sommer, "you realize there's a lot of multi-processing going on in our society."

She was struck by how Applegate "personalized" her lecture with anecdotes about her life and eye contact with the students -- she did not fall into the trap of "talking at the PowerPoint" slides.

In upcoming weeks, the Lecture Club will observe and discuss Dean Simonton's class on "Genius and Creativity" on Oct. 18 and 20 and Thomas Famula's course on "Domestic Animals and Man" on Nov. 1 or 3.

Join the club

All faculty are invited to participate in the Lecture Club. For details, call Barbara Sommer at (530) 752-1875 or visit http://trc.ucdavis.edu/trc.