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“lecturer says words describing an idea; students hear words; then they understand.”

Yes. A good description of a misguided method. There is a great book by Thom Scott-Phillips called "Speaking Our Minds". It starts off by criticizing what it calls the "signalling model" of communication, and gives a good argument that ordinary conversation with someone you know, or maybe even someone you know something about, is always two-way. Even in a simple 1-way statement, you are having a conversation with your understanding of that person (consider how differently you'd speak to a very young child). Before you open your mouth, you've tried out what effect this or that word would have on the listener. Obviously teachers, addressing a large group can hardly do any of this. This is why Khan Academy teachers have learned to "flip" the classroom. The student absorbs concepts away from the class, and in the class, is working on projects (normally relegated to homework) and very likely working in teams, with the teacher walking around and mostly having conversations with individuals or small groups.

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