Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.
As the semester comes to an end, we are now in what I refer to as “guest speaker season.”
New material is taught less, and guest speakers are brought in to present to the class instead. It is a common consensus that guest speakers bring new perspectives to classrooms and help connect theory to reality. These speakers can be persuasive to students and shed new light on topics that have already been taught.
But guest speakers are often overused. While I’ve had classes with no guest speakers or very few, I’ve also had classes with more than five speakers in one semester.
The classes taken up by guest speakers become more important than you realize when the time allotted for a semester is broken down. The more time a class devotes to guest speakers, the more pressure there is for them to cover new material instead of reinforcing ideas and providing new perspectives on topics that were already taught.
It is important to note that guest speakers in the classroom are not the same as guest lecturers and should not be treated as such. Expecting guest speakers to cover material outlined in the syllabus in place of a lecture on said topic can leave students confused as to what to take away from the speaker.
It is unfair for students to be expected to understand material from someone who may not have a clear lesson outlined in their presentation. This pressure also extends to the guest speaker, who may feel like they should have an overarching idea instead of focusing on their experiences outside the classroom. Faculty should have a clear understanding on what role a guest speaker plays and recognize that it is not one of a teacher.
To avoid misusing guest speakers in the classroom, professors should avoid formally assessing content covered by guest speakers.
Departments at this university could create comprehensive lists of potential guest speakers for faculty to reference or add to, if one does not currently exist. This would allow professors to make sure they choose guest speakers who are not only relevant to their class but also engaging and knowledgeable in the classroom environment.
Departments could also create surveys for students to participate in that let them know how many guest speakers they wish to see in classes, and what topics they’d be most interested in covering. This would allow for some flexibility, as business classes may benefit more from guest speakers, whereas English classes may not.
By selectively choosing a few guest speakers who supplement the material directly, students are more likely to be engaged and ask follow-up questions. While some classes may be designed around a guest speaker and lecturer learning environment, classes that are not set up similarly should avoid becoming too guest speaker-heavy.
Guest speakers are not responsible for teaching content to a class — that is the professor’s responsibility. Instead, guest speakers should be a tool in the classroom to connect material to real life and give students insight into career paths that may be unknown to them. While some professors may have mastered this skill, the university and students must guide how guest speakers impact their learning experience.
Limiting the number of guest speakers who join a class and understanding how to maximize their benefit can make guest speakers feel less redundant and more inspiring to students. Student feedback should be at the forefront of how classes respond to their use of guest speakers, whether that be in the form of student surveys at the beginning of the semester or student evaluations of the guest speakers after attending their presentations.
Sophia Williams is a senior architecture major. She can be reached at sgw76@terpmail.umd.edu.
