Topic 5: Practical tips for effective lecturing

1. Background knowledge
   Provide some background knowledge about Australia today to allow international students to understand Australian culture, history, politics, welfare, multiculturalism, indigenous people and so on. Also invite students to contribute knowledge about their culture and systems to broaden understandings across cultures.
2. Structure and repetition
   Irrespective of students' cultural background, it's preferable to present lectures in a reasonably structured way. For example tell students what you're going to talk about, talk about it, then sum it up, so that you give them a number of opportunities to hear the information to enable them to grasp it more easily.
3. Questioning in lectures
   Make it clear that questions are welcome during, or at the end of a lecture. In a large lecture situation most students are not going to ask questions. However, even if they do not ask questions themselves, they can benefit from questions asked by other students.
    
   Some staff wander around the lecture theatre and direct simple questions to individual students, others are not inclined to do that in case they do not come back to lectures. Whichever approach you choose, ensure that students are not set up for failure or embarrassment. When asking questions of international students in lecture situations, be strategic about who you ask, how you ask it, what you ask and what you expect from them.
4. Gather feedback to find out where students are at and what they want
   One useful way of getting feedback is to ask students to get a blank piece of paper and to write down something they haven't understood and something they have understood at the end of the lecture. Then you can review the material and cover some of the issues they haven't understood in the next lecture or in a tutorial.
5. Be present after a lecture
   If you like students and want to know what they're learning, you'll try to find out who they are, and find out something about them. If they want to ask you questions after the lecture, it's well worthwhile being available. Try to finish the lecture a few minutes early or be available in that 5 or 10 minutes after the lecture so they individually can come and ask those questions. International students might have questions, but be reluctant to ask them in a large lecture theatre, but they might ask you one-to-one in more informal surroundings outside the lecture theatre. The student grapevine works well in relation to whether a staff member has the reputation of being easily approachable or not before or after lectures.
6. Perform in an authentic way
   To create a persona in the teaching situation, more particularly in the lecturing situation, present yourself in a lively and interesting kind of way, so that when you come into the room, students will have an instant sense of who you are and what you are and what you represent. If possible, use humour to make them laugh, so there's something in the transaction that they're likely to enjoy and that you're likely to enjoy as well.
7. Internationalise lecture content when appropriate
   As far as possible, ensure the international dimensions of every topic are covered - it's good for international students as well as for local students who are going to be working in a much more internationalised, globalised setting, so it doesn't unfairly advantage or disadvantage any particular grouping, but it makes more accessible to all the students the relevance of what you're doing.

Give examples from Australia and also give examples from other countries because that is not only useful for international students, it's useful for Australian students as well. Try to emphasise what dimensions or concepts of the subject matter are generic and really international, and then how the applications could vary from location to location.

Give examples of the things you might believe they could be watching or reading in the popular media, and that you might even be following as well. You might want to relate things to humorous events in your own life. All of this done professionally and within reason can help create connections and trust between you and the students.

Be clear about what concepts, language, examples you want students to understand. When using PowerPoint slides be attentive to number of words, lines on the page, choice of vocabulary, and layout so that the hierarchy of concepts is very clear. Use the functionality of Powerpoint to assist students' understanding of which is the main point, subpoint, and sub-sub-point. Sometimes international students can get lost in the hierarchy.

When presenting a lecture, make a conscious effort to use the same language that is used in the points on the slide. The students may be confused if there are discrepancies between the written and spoken language.

Consider recording lectures and uploading them as streamed files that can be downloaded in the future - it's very useful for students to revise, or to listen to it again from a different perspective.

Be aware of the amount of time it takes international students to write down notes, so pace the delivery of slides and verbal explanations accordingly. Research shows that if students are not engaged with the lecture, they are less likely to pick up what you're talking about. A good compromise between expecting them to write copious notes or giving them the complete lecture notes is to have gaps in the lecture notes for them to fill in. Pay attention to what aspects they are expected to fill in and what aspects will be provided.

Let students know that you recognise the diversity of the group and that you value their presence, their different perspectives, and their contributions. Encourage them to find examples from their own country that are illustrative of particular concepts or behaviours, so that all students can learn from and about each other.

Avoid using outdated or inaccurate examples which may convey inappropriate cultural and national stereotypes. Cultures and nations change and inappropriate examples may reflect historically based and negative stereotypes, perhaps wrong in their historical setting and grossly outmoded by present standards. One example of this might be describing certain countries pejoratively as 'third world'; this may be a misrepresentation of their current status and how they see themselves. It could give offence best avoided by using a phrase like 'other parts of the world'.