Dorr, Dill, Anderson, and Heppner (1996) used a class activity called think-pair-share as a way to make students more actively process lecture material. Instructors presented and defined concepts in lecture, then asked students to think of examples and applications of the concepts. Students wrote out their thoughts on a worksheet, and then shared them briefly with a classmate sitting beside them.

After these pair-share discussions, several students volunteered to present their examples to the class as a whole. Scores on an exam showed students who had shared in pairs retained more information from lectures than students who had simply listened to the lectures. However, this effect was significant only for conceptual or application types of questions whose answers required more than simple definitions.

Though most instructors make some use of examples in lectures, and believe examples improve their students' comprehension, I found relatively few empirical studies supporting the usefulness of such examples for student performance. Wollen, Quackenbush, and Hamlin (1985) presented students with textbook passages in two forms. Some passages defined concepts and provided several examples. Other passages merely defined a concept, without further examples. A fill-in-the-blank test was used to assess retention. Half of the test questions were application or conceptual questions, and half required literal recall of wording or definitions.

Performance on applied or conceptual questions was enhanced when students read passages that provided examples of the concept. However, performance on literal questions was the same whether the student read definitional passages with or without examples. Definitions helped students understand textbook material, but one can only assume the same applies to material presented in lectures.