UWA SPOT/SET Project

126)          material has been delivered at the right pace

The pace of delivery may be perceived as 'right' differently by different students for a number of reasons. One of those reasons may be attributed to the "tyranny of content" (Centre for Staff Development, 1997).

·         Davis, Wood & Wilson (1983) suggest varying the pace and instructional activities of the course. One teacher surveyed says that he conducts each class meeting differently "to keep the students off balance. Students always know what topic will be covered in a given session," he says, "but they don't always know how it will be handled."

·         The Large Classes Newsletter (Carbone, 1996) encourages the use of visual devices which "break the tedious stream of words, words, words, allowing students to see what they are hearing. . . .they break the pace of discourse, shift focus from the lecturer to the material, and help stem the erosion of interest that occurs when students are fixed to one spot for fifty minutes or more." (Clarke, 1987).

Carbone, E. (1996). The large classes newsletter. Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Maryland. Retrieved 20 October, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/FacRes/CTE/lcn/lcn2.html

Centre for Staff Development. (1997). Issues of teaching and learning Volume 3 Issue 6 [World Wide Web]. University of Western Australia. Retrieved 20 October, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://www.catl.uwa.edu.au/newsletter/issue0697/

Davis, B. G., Wood, L., & Wilson, R. C. (1983). A Berkeley compendium of suggestions for teaching with excellence [World Wide Web]. The University of California. Retrieved 20 October, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/compendium/suggestions/file149.html