Editing Lecture (section)

{{Short description|Oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject}}
{{For|the academic rank|Lecturer}}
[[File:ADFA Lecture Theatres.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Lecture at the [[Australian Defence Force Academy]]]]
[[File:Laurentius de Voltolina Vorlesung vor Studenten - Min 1233 - Kupferstichkabinett Berlin.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|A lecture at the University of Bologna in Italy in the mid-fourteenth century. The lecturer reads from a text on the lectern while students in the back sleep.]]
[[File:McClintock Nobel Lecture.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Barbara McClintock]] delivers her [[Nobel Prize|Nobel]] lecture]]

A '''lecture''' (from {{langx|la|lectura}} {{gloss|reading}}) is an [[speech|oral]] [[presentation]] intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a [[university]] or [[college]] [[teacher]]. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theories, and equations. A politician's speech, a minister's [[sermon]], or even a business person's sales presentation may be similar in form to a lecture.  Usually the lecturer will stand at the front of the room and recite information relevant to the lecture's content.

Though lectures are much criticised as a [[teaching method]], universities have not yet found practical alternative teaching methods for the large majority of their courses.<ref name=cirtl />  Critics point out that lecturing is mainly a one-way method of [[communication]] that does not involve significant audience participation but relies upon [[passive learning]].  Therefore, lecturing is often contrasted to [[active learning]]. Lectures delivered by talented speakers can be highly stimulating; at the very least, lectures have survived in [[academia]] as a quick, cheap, and efficient way of introducing large numbers of students to a particular field of study.

Lectures have a significant role outside the classroom, as well. Academic and scientific awards routinely include a lecture as part of the honor, and academic conferences often center on "[[keynote|keynote addresses]]", i.e., lectures. The [[public lecture]] has a long history in the sciences and in [[social movement]]s. [[Hiring hall|Union halls]], for instance, historically have hosted numerous free and public lectures on a wide variety of matters. Similarly, churches, [[Community centre|community center]]s, [[library|libraries]], [[museum]]s, and other organizations have hosted lectures in furtherance of their missions or their constituents' interests. Lectures represent a continuation of [[oral tradition]] in contrast to textual communication in books and other media. Lectures may be considered a type of [[grey literature]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://greynet.org/greysourceindex/documenttypes.html |title=Grey Literature - GreySource, A Selection of Web-based Resources in Grey Literature |access-date=2016-05-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603045435/http://greynet.org/greysourceindex/documenttypes.html |archive-date=2016-06-03 }} GreyNet International, Document Types in Grey Literature</ref>