PowerPoint Hand Outs
Has anyone else observed that the students don't take notes anymore? I am thinking about not giving the PowerPoint handouts to the students next term so that they will actually write something down.
Has anyone else experienced this?
ROBERT,
I believe PPT is merely a tool, one among many, that can assist instructors achieve thier instructional goal. We should always evaluate the merits of each activity, in this case, the use of ppt handouts (or not). Simply stated, will this be in the best interest of the students? That's my measure and rationale for use for this, or any activity.
Barry Westling
On occasion I do hand out P.P. slides and controlled notes this is to keep the student focused during the lecture and supply the student with notes that they can study at home. I do not do it for all presentations because I also want to help the student to develop his/her note taking skills that will serve in the work place and also as lifelong learners.
What I do is sometime during the beginning of the class, phase, semester, I go over how to take notes how to make a concept map how to read a textbook. The basics of how to be a good student other strategies to encourage note taking are, tell the students that during one or two test that they can use their notes taken in class. Break the students into study groups and ask every group to combine notes on different subjects take them and make copies for the whole class or even at the beginning of the class pick a day and ask the students for their notes and grade them .
Lizette,
PPT is a tool, and really, any tool that is used incorrectly (or overused) is going to eventually fail. Keeping the slide format simple with no fancy frills, bells and whistles will make for more focus on the information. From a students perspective, long stretchs of anything will begin to lose the students attention, so breaking up the teaching segments into different activities will improve retention of information and make for more interesting class sessions too.
Barry Westling
I find PPT work best as an overview... inspiring discussion on the information on slides. Since we have different learning style, handout help those that need to write the information. Then for those that can listen and read the ppt later it will help to trigger their memories.
However, I have heard students complain that too much PPT can be boring.... So a variety of activity still sounds best.
Donna,
PPT handouts can be a great asset if used as the instructor intends. With or without slides, I have adopted a mannerism during my lectures where I will say, "this is important, write it down". So rather than leaving it to my students to try to figure out my point, I just tell them. That, along with anything else they write down and other resources they refer to, they will have my message and information exactly how I want them to remember it.
Barry Westling
When I first started out teaching I would never give out powerpoint slides. I felt the students needed to take notes to keep them engaged. Then I started to find that certain students were not good at pulling out the main idea and were writing everything down. It held up lecture and many students started to complain. I went to slide handouts and have found my lectures go along alot smoother.
Priscilla,
It's interesting to think that a few bits of information handed ourt from PPT slides could even remotely subsitute for nearly any textbook. I believe PPT is best used as a guide for discussion by the instructor. Obviously, any material should be suplemental to the textbook, not a substitution for it.
Barry Westling
I noticed that students don't study using their books and that caused me to stop handing out PPTs.
Belinda,
Since there is so little space to put too much information on a slide, I find the comprehensive information should be left to the textbook, handouts, worksheets, and similar worksheets. The PPT then can include just the general topic areas used for discussion. This works far better if we want students to listen, think, and learn from our discussions.
Barry Westling
I have experienced this as well. I have also experienced students just studying the power point and not the book. So when it comes to test time they complain about not knowing the material due to lack of studying the book as well. I as well have decided not to hand out power points.
Hugo,
I believe when a student writes (or types) something they hear and have thought about, that is one added opportunity that it will be remembered. That's the nice thing about using mutiple senses in the classroom and for individual study.
Barry Westling
Yes if you do both the handouts are like the notes, in the way that they will remember something you but did not take any notes by reading the handouts. Sort of like when you listen to music and can only remember when you listen to same song.
Kevin,
Note taking is always a dilemma as to how best to make it work for students. I have students who write every word (like transcribing), but can't tell me what I've just talked about in detail. Still others take few notes but have amazing recall ability. For PPT, I have students take notes from my brief PPT slides (these don't contain all the information, just the bullet point guides for my discussion). This works for me, in my classes most of the time. Each instructor probably has to decide what works best for them.
Barry Westling
My fear in giving out the exact PowerPoint that is being lectured on is that students can choose to zone out in the belief that they have all the required information and just learn it later. Right now I believe it is best to have students take their own notes. There will always be a couple students who never really take notes and the only suggestion I have for dealing with them is specify that this information will show up on a test and it will be very beneficial to write it down.
Marcella,
I think the more senses we use, better retention of information will result. Certainly taking notes helps. Rewriting them, re-reading them, reciting them aloud, summarizing them, matching them to textbook paragraphs are all good ways to utilize notes.
Barry Westling
Its true, I also notice students not taking notes. I do believe that it is helpful to both write down and visualize wit power point. I try to implement both so it sticks. I find it just works better than doing one or the other alone.
Patricia,
I think note taking is a personal matter. Notes are important and be a very helpful resource. There are extremes. One is where the student writes down everything the instructor says (like dictation), but misses the point being made. The other is little note taking with little to reference later. I've had a few students who were exceptionally good at listening and grasping the ideas. Probably for most students there is a middle ground that is appropriate.
Barry Westling
