James Lang, regular contributor to the Chronicle’s “On Course” column, writes this month about strategies for incorporating guest speakers more effectively into courses. He begins with the story of his own fairly disastrous attempt to host a guest speaker in a writing class and concludes with the lessons he’s learned since:
In any case, it seems clear to me now that while a good class with a guest speaker requires plenty of advance preparation, the real clincher is for the teacher to create a tight fit between the course objectives and the speaker’s purpose in being there. The speaker has to play an essential role in fulfilling the learning objectives of the course; if that doesn’t happen, the students will have little incentive to take advantage of what guest speakers can bring to a classroom, and the guest speakers won’t understand what they can contribute.
