chapter 12: Teacher Action Research on Interactive Lectures: Engaging All Students in Verbal Give-and-Take.

This chapter discusses teacher action research on interactive lectures at Amherst Regional High School in Massachusetts. Conducting action research allows teachers to develop changes that measurably benefit students. However, sharing this research with other practitioners has proven itself an effective vehicle for reflecting on why these changes are beneficial to students, and so for continuing to develop new ideas. Interactive lectures are defined as a method of conveying concepts, ideas, facts and information that invites active learning by students. Any technique that can momentarily slow down the pace, and thereby increase student participation in a lecture, without significantly lengthening the time needed to cover a unit of material, is an interactive lecture.