Lectures are classroom style presentations delivered by university staff and are a major part of university teaching.
Lectures are designed to guide your study, introducing you to key topics, theories and concepts that will form the basis of your knowledge. Lectures are a crucial part of structuring and delivering your learning.
When are they scheduled, where & how long do they last?
Generally, you will have at least one weekly lecture per course module and you will likely have multiple lectures to attend per week. Lectures usually run once and involve all students on a module. These sessions are recorded.
Lectures are typically between an hour to three hours long. Longer lectures will usually have a break half-way through, although this is at the lecturer’s discretion. You can see what lectures you have and when they are scheduled on your university timetable. This is accessible through Blackboard, and you will be given these prior to teaching starting.
Lectures can be held:
- In person in lecture theatres or smaller classrooms (depending on numbers).
- In laboratories, workshops or studios for practical demonstrations
- Online via Microsoft Teams
For in person lectures you will be given a room number which corresponds to a particular site. Welcome Heroes, wearing pink hoodies, are available at the start of term to help you find your room and you can also check out our Finding your Lectures and Tutorials page.
Your attendance at lectures will be monitored via a tap in system, so make sure you attend them.
Do I need to prepare for Lectures?
Yes - you will be set work that you need to complete to prepare for your lectures.
Lectures are designed to summarise and explain a lot of new and complex information in a short amount of time. We want to develop your skills as an independent learner, so you will be in charge of both capturing that information for yourself and making sure you are familiar with what is required of you for each lecture.
Remember it’s normal to feel nervous preparing for your first lecture - it’s a new way of learning!
You will usually be set pre-reading to complete before the class to help you understand the lecture and get the most out of them. Your course pages on Blackboard will make clear what this preparation will look like for each session, but it can involve:
- reading book chapters, academic journals, or newspaper articles
- watching demonstration videos
- completing quizzes to test your understanding
- self-reflection tasks
- using Develop@Derby to develop relevant skills
What if I haven’t prepared for a lecture?
We understand that there may be times where you are unable to fully prepare for a lecture, for example periods of illness or approaching assignment deadlines.
However, you should still attend your lecture even if you haven’t been able to complete all or any of the preparation work.
If time is running out, try to fit in as much as you can do, even if it’s only 10-15 minutes. You could try:
- Reading the abstract, intro and conclusion to a reading to get its main ideas down
- Looking over notes from previous, related sessions to familiarise yourself with the topic
- Asking friends and colleagues about the pre-reading to get their insights