Student Perceptions of the History Lecture: Does this Delivery Mode have a Future in the Humanities?

Abstract

This article reports on a large survey of undergraduate history students, and reveals their attitude toward lecturing, particularly in the discipline of history. We argue that the evidence shows that students like lecturing and believe it aids their learning. In particular students value enthusiasm, organization, and an interesting analysis/argument in lecture presentations. We conclude that this suggests that historians should maintain the lecture when they are able to deliver lectures with these characteristics. Otherwise, they should adopt more interactive techniques.