Student preferred lecture formats more beneficial

Learning with clarity through student preferred lecture formats contributes to producing knowledge workers to advance the agenda of the government to make Sri Lanka a knowledge based economy. These were the findings of a study done by Senior lecturer discipline of Accounting University of Sydney Dr. Indra Abeysekera on the invitation of Dr. P. M. C. Tillekeratne.

He said that the aim of the study was to improve teaching methods by understanding the learning styles preferred by students from the Accountancy Department University of Kelaniya.

He presented this paper at the 5th Global conference on Business and Economics held from July 5-8 at the University of Cambridge, London. Dr. Abeysekera said that the study highlights that the students should be consulted when deciding lecture formats for them, no lecture format should be taken for granted as the students are the best to provide that feedback.

Most importantly Academics should partner with students and respond to students' needs accordingly to enhance their learning because when students learn with clarity they are bound to apply the knowledge with clarity becoming more productive workers.

He said that the study was undertaken to improve teaching methods and added that two major approaches can be used to improve the learning styles which include changing the order of presentation or style of presentation.

One way to change the style of presentation is changing the lecture format and style of presentation. He said that style of presentation rather than the order of presentation could have a greater impact on improving the learning of students as changing the order of presentation is restricted by the chosen style of lecture format.

On the other hand, the change of lecture format allows students to approach learning in a whole different way.

He said that students equally prefer all lecture formats including traditional, interactive and group based to maximise their learning but it differed according to the subjects. The traditional lecture format is where the lecturer dominates and it is a one way communication while interactive is where the lecturer and student interact. The group based method is where the students break into groups and work with the lecturer and the peers.

Dr. Abeysekera gave a questionnaire to 139 students representing the third and fourth year in 2005. In that he asked them to rank the extent of their preference of each lecture format in studying subjects in the accounts curricula. I clustered the subjects in the curriculum into six areas including financial accounting, management accounting, finance, quantitative studies, business environment and management, he said.

When I aggregated their answers I found that most students preferred the interactive lecture format in all subject areas except in management.

Students said that the interactive format enabled them to clarify doubts about learning the subject matter by the lecturer and the student. This opportunity was absent in the traditional lecture format although it allowed the lecturer to transmit knowledge to students.

Students expected clarity and comprehensive knowledge rather than mere acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, students rated traditional lecture formats as the least preferred. The reason for them to prefer group based lecture formats in the management subject is because it is more theoretical and descriptive and the best method to learn such subjects is through collective discussions among peers.

They said that other subject areas in the accounts curriculum is more numerical and interaction with the lecturer about the numerical logic and approach is helpful in understanding them.

(SG)