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Lecturing style

When they lecture, lecturers are modelling a preferred style of thinking about their subject.

Lecturer A may spend a lot of time on definitions and explanations, often speaking very slowly so you can take down exactly what she's saying.

The emphasis here seems to be on mastery of subject matter, where you may have to take a number of things for granted and learn some things by rote in order to build later understanding.

Lecturer B may spend a lot of time linking theory to everyday examples.

Seeing precisely how the examples relate to the theory is likely to be important. You will probably do well if you develop your ability to pick out and think about your own examples.

Lecturer C may spend a lot of time asking questions, pausing, and outlining different viewpoints.

This could be a subject where the questions are seen as more important than the answers, where the way the question is asked is crucial, or where there have been famous ways of asking which you need to be able to follow.

Scholars in different disciplines ask questions, use evidence, and reason differently. Lectures in different subjects will therefore take on very different styles.

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