Handouts
How far in advance should you pass out a lecture outline?
I thought the handouts would be a clear consice review for the students.
Thanks Cindy
Cindy,
You might want to go ahead and print the PP in advance, even though you are making final changes just prior to class. This way the students can see the bulk of the slides in advance. Use the handouts as guides to the PP and include in the handouts any last minute changes or new content you want to introduce. This way you are balancing the flow of material to the students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I prefer to give out handouts on the day of the class so they all have them in class! The school would like me to gice them the powerpoint by an email a week before class,however, I am redoing the presentation the night before. I need to give them some time to print out the PP. It is a dielemna??
I pass out the course outline the first day of class to allow the students enough time to plan ahead but i pass out the handout of the topic outline to the student the week each topic will be discussed.
Michelle,
We use Blackboard so I post them in the Class Documents section of BB that hosts my course information.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Michelle,
Good point about the timing of when to handout the outlines. Students lose things or so it seems no matter what age they are.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I like the idea of posting the handouts. Where excactly do you post them? On the portal? There are usually requests for the handouts because they have misplaced them.
I typically try to pass out the outlines a few days in advance (1-2 days). Like on a Monday, I'll pass them out for what is covered that week. I find that when they are passed out too soon, students tend to misplace them. I like to assign prereading which also helps.
Keith,
It has been proven that there is a higher level of content retention when a number of the senses are involved. So if you give the students a copy of the PPs I would put them in the form where to the right of each slide there are lines where they can put notes. While going over the PPs give students information that they can write down on the lines. This will create a stronger connection between the content and their memories.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
For each section of a course, I hand out a copy of my PowerPoints to the students. It's good that the students get this information, but I'm concerned that they may be missing an opportunity to support their memory. I believe that when one puts the pen to the paper, there is a stronger connection for memory recall as compared to simply reading.
What do you think?
Thank you,
Keith
I agree. I pass them out on that day. I also post them online after class incase they were absent or misplaced their handouts. They can then print them from home.
Frederick,
This is a common problem with students whether they are in middle school or college. So we need to find a method in this case during the class that the handout is available for student use. The most effective is the one that you are using.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I usually give out my handouts on the day of the class. I find if they are given before,some students will misplace them or completely forget about them.
i pass it out that day, otherwise i find the students not paying attention and doing other things
I pass out my handouts at the beginning of class so I can go over the handouts before the end of the lecture. So the are aware of the next lecture material.
Jennifer,
I think it depends on how often the class meets. In my class, we meet 4 times (alternating lecture with lab time) So I like to pass out the outline atleast 1 lecture day in advance before I present the material in class. I find if I hand the outlines out too early the students will misplace them or not even look at them at all. I also like to give the course outline out at the same time I assign the reading assignment, and since lab follows a lecture day, this allows the student 2 days to prepare.
Jennifer,
Depends on how often the class meets in my opinion. My classes that meet once a week get the lecture outline a week in advance. For those that meet daily or several times a week I give out the outline for the week. Too far in advance and as you know they forget about them.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
