This is a very delicate subject for me. It is very effective to use power point presentations only if we do it once every 4 or 5 weeks. When instructors use power point only to make it easier on them, and not to honestly prepare the class, then it is not effective at all. I have heard hundreds of students complaining about professors that only use power point presentations in class. They say they could teach a class too if the only thing they have to do is read over a slide on a power point. I believe we need to star setting up policies that will prevent the abuse of power point presentations by faculty members of all fields.
I have always found it useful to take the PowerPoint presentations developed by the publishers that often accompany the text and modify them.
I have found that inserting audio and video clips into a presentation keeps the class more "lively" and keeps the student's attention.
As a new instructor I did not use any audio or visual effects and I could tell I lost many of the students after only a handful of slides.
Andy
Hi Paul,
You hit upon a good way to get the students away from just following the slides in the PP. With the guided notes and graphics you have them involved in the acquisition of new knowledge via their own notes. Thanks for sharing this strategy with us for getting them invested in the learning process.
Gary
I thought the purpose of taking notes was for the student to get the ideas down in their own words. I started out printing out the power point presentations for the students. But I found that they just looked at the paper while I was teaching and didn't worry about taking notes because everything was already written down for them. Now I might give them a page or two with a diagram or picture from the power point so that they can add the "circles and arrows" and put down the information in their own words.
Hi Kari,
Thanks for sharing your instructional development experience with us. This is good advice for new instructors. Through your sharing you are going to save other instructors a lot of time trying to figure out the most effective way to share content with students while keeping them engaged.
I use the same method with my students and they really appreciate having a copy of the slide while making their own personal comments along side.
Gary
Hi Brianne,
I think you will have great results with your lecture method plus enjoy the interaction with your students. This strategy will help them to become even more invested in the course content.
Gary
I had to learn on the go how to make powerpoint presentations work for me. I was given a set of powerpoint presentations and fill-in-the-blank style notes to go with each. I made only minor adjustments to the first two lectures (mostly due to time constraints). Since then the students requested notes with fewer blanks to fill in, so I made futher changes on the notes portion. This worked for a couple lectures but since then, I have gone to printing off the powerpoint slides with lines for students to take notes. This has seemed to be the easiest format for me and the students. Just wish I could have started this course earlier and figured that out before wasting a lot of time editing a seperate set of notes for the students.
I like the use of powerpoint, however at times I find myself relying too heavily on them. I am going to integrate more lectures into my course without using powerpoint. I believe I can be more interactive with my students when the computer isn't there to distract me or them.
I find that it depends on the topic being covered that night. If it's a topic that requires a lot of defining, it helps greatly. If it's a topic that's more of a review, it doesn't really help (b/c you flip through it so quickly).
The most effective presentations for me have just the topics on the screen as the instructor guides a class discussion.
Thanks, that's comforting. Unfortunately, most of my core classes won't be taught by me for two years. I'll just have to take good notes.
Hi Mark,
It does get easier for two reasons, one you have more experience in relation to what slides will and won't work in the class and two, you have been through the PPT and know better how to pace the flow of the slides and how much time to spend on each. As you develop the "Master" set of slides that you have customized you will just quickly glance at them and decide what minor "tweaks" to make and you will be good to go.
Gary
I use PPT presentations to help keep me on track. This allows the class to discuss ideas but still cover what we need in the course. Many of the courses I teach have PPT presentations already made up but I find myself "tweaking" them to suit my presentation style. Does this get easier over time? I spend a lot of time on editing the prepared presentations.
Hi Richard,
This is a great way to show what not to do and then give you an idea of how to build PPs that are effective. Your school is to commended for trying to make their instructors even better at their teaching.
Gary
At our school, we have a powerpoint example that does everything wrong. Too many graphics, too busy, too many details, too many different fonts, too much audio, etc. We can judge each of our slides against this "bad" example to try to keep from falling into the same traps.
Hi David,
It all depends on how the PPs are created and presented. PPs need to have limited text, be highly graphic and colorful and serve to reinforce key learning points. If the PPs are read to the students while they write down line after line of text they are going to be deadly. A good way it to print up the PPs presentation in advance with 6 slides per page and note lines beside each slide. Then you can highlight the slide while students are taking their own personal notes about the content rather than just copying the slide. This lets the students get the key points while freeing them up to discuss and reflect more since they have a copy of the PP to take with them to study in-depth later.
Gary
