Value of lectures and tutorials at university

I HAVE lived in Toowoomba since 1990 when I joined the new University College of Southern Queensland (UCSQ). I was working at the University of Queensland, living in Brisbane and generally very happy with life.

Then, always looking for a new challenge, I responded to an advertisement for a professorship at UCSQ which at that time had been established as an independent college of UQ. I had been encouraged to apply by Tom Ledwidge, soon to be appointed as Vice Chancellor of that college. I got the job and trotted off to Toowoomba.

I knew very little about the city and even less about emerging events at UCSQ.

When I told my colleagues at UQ what I was embarking on, the general reaction was that I had lost my marbles, big time! That reaction was typical of those who were enjoying a comfortable university existence.

They believed “new universities” were a threat to intellectual integrity. They were unlikely to be of high quality and generally took good money from the government that would have been better spent on the old and longestablished more reputable institutions.

I had spent many a long day lecturing and researching at the older institutions and I found I had sympathy with them and their concerns.

After all, it had taken lifetimes of intellectual effort and masses of public money to get them to where they were. Their wisdom and their established processes should not be put at risk by newcomer universities riddled with lecturers and researchers who couldn’t possibly be as clever, wise and valuable as those at their own institutions!

They were wrong! Outstanding new universities, staffed by really able people were guided by the years of mistakes inevitably made by their older colleagues. New and innovative people would emerge as leaders in research and as presenters of their disciplines. Of course, let us all be realistic, mistakes were made, over-optimism sometimes occurred. There are “slow learners” among the newer universities and there has to be restraint in what we try to achieve.

There has to be recognition by all who work in all our universities that brains are precious things. To teach students is a privilege and new knowledge must never be dealt with frivolously!

Is the old-fashioned lecture a thing of the past? Are one-on-one tutorials really that valuable? Is the creation of a challenging study and learning environment a reality in most institutions or is such a concept a mere invention of the imagination by spotty men and over-earnest women anxious to show how clever they are?

My own views on these matters are predictably old fashioned and obviously assume that they are pursued with integrity and kindness. The “oldfashioned” lecture given by a caring and careful staff member still takes a lot of beating.

This is only possible if the lecturer is well-informed about the subject matter and has prepared very carefully.

This may seem to be a very obvious necessity but my own experience over many years is that there are still lecturers who believe they can survive with half-truths and a smile. “They will know less than I do about the subject and I will be able to get away with it!”

Not for long, mate! The sooner their university gets rid of them the better for everyone.

One-on-one tutorials have a very valuable place in a student’s timetable. Tutors must assiduously do the necessary homework, think through the major knowledge-sharing needs and sometimes admit that they must do some more homework of their own before seeking to impress the student!

And, yes, I do believe it is possible to create an appropriate and challenging study and learning environment ... but you have to work at it, every day, all day!