Slide presentation softwaresuch as PowerPoint hasbecome an ingrained part ofmany instructional settings,particularly in large classesand in courses more gearedtoward information exchangethan skill development.PowerPoint can be a highlyeffective tool to aid learning,but if not used carefully, mayinstead disengage studentsand actually hinder learning.
Potential benefits of using presentation graphics include:
Engaging multiple learning styles
Increasing visual impact
Improving audience focus
Providing annotations and highlights
Analyzing and synthesizing complexities
Enriching curriculum with interdisciplinarity
Increasing spontaneity and interactivity
Increasing wonder
Although there are many
potential benefits to
PowerPoint, there are
several issues that could
create problems or
disengagement:
Teacher-centered. Students
often respond better when
instructors have designed
sessions for greater
classroom interaction, such
as the use of student
response clickers,
designing PowerPoint
to facilitate case studies, or
use the slides as
a replacement for paper
worksheets.
Lack of feedback.PowerPoint-based lecturestell you nothing aboutstudent learning. Designthem to includeopportunities for feedback(not simply asking if thereare questions, but moreactively quizzing yourstudents). This often takesthe form of listingquestions, not information,on the slides themselves.
Student inactivity. Slide
shows do little to model
how students should
interact with the material
on their own. Include
student activities or
demonstrations to
overcome this, either
before or after the
slideshow presentation
Potentially reductive.
PowerPoint was designed
to promote simple
persuasive arguments.
Design for critical
engagement, not just for
exposure to a “point.”
PowerPoint presentationsshould help studentsorganize their notes, notjust “be” the notes. This is aparticular danger withstudents who grew upaccustomed to receivingPowerPoint notes to studyfrom. Some may requireconvincing that notesshould be taken beyondwhat is already on theslides.
This single presentation
about the anatomy of the
human eye has been
rewritten in three different
ways:
this version offers complete
phrases and a comprehensive
recording in words of the material.
The text-heavy version can be
used as the lecturer's speaking
notes, and doubles as student
notes that can be made available
for download either before or after
the lecture has taken place.
If the information can be accessed
elsewhere, such as a textbook, it
may be preferable to avoid a text-
heavy approach, which many
students find disengaging during
the delivery.
this version sacrifices some of the
completeness of the material to create space
for accompanying images. The mixed
approach appeals to more visual learners
while keeping some lecture notes visible,
though perhaps in a more abbreviated format.
This is a common mode of delivery in large
classes. However, there are still some
challenges. There is enough material already
present in text format that some students may
feel obliged to write it all down in their own
notes, thus paying less attention to the verbal
lecture.
Conversely, if the slides are available for
download, some students may be able to
eschew note-taking in class, yet be tempted
to consider these fragmentary notes sufficient
for studying for exams.
this version relies almost exclusively
on images, with little text. The image-
heavy approach signals to students
that they will have to take their own
notes, as these are plainly insufficient
on their own for studying.
However, lecturers often need more
than visual clues to remind
themselves how to propel the lecture
forward, and separate notes may be
required. One elegant solution is
to use "Presenter View" on the
speaker's screen (which displays the
notes only to you) and project the
slides without notes onto the larger
screen visible to the audience.
Elizabeth Rash (Nursing) provided this sample
iterative case study (where parameters evolve
over time) given to a midsize class. Students are
required to come to class prepared having read
online resources, the text, and a narrated
slideshow presentation that accompanies each
module. The classroom is problem-based (case-
based) and interactive, where students are
introduced to a young woman who ages as the
semester progresses and confronts multiple
health issues. Since the nurse practitioner
students are being prepared to interact with
patients, some slides require students to
interview another classmate in a micro role-play.
Problem-based lectures frequently alternate
between providing information and posing
problems to the students, which alters the entire
character of the presentation. Rather than
explain and convey information, many slides ask
questions that are intended to prompt critical
thinking or discussion.
Classroom response systems canimprove students' learning byengaging them actively in thelearning process. Instructors canemploy the systems to gatherindividual responses from studentsor to gather anonymous feedback.
It is possible to use the technologyto give quizzes and tests, to takeattendance, and to quantify classparticipation. Some of the systemsprovide game formats thatencourage debate and teamcompetition. Reports are typicallyexported to Excel for upload to theinstructor's grade book. Learn moreabout how to use this system in yourown classes.
Instructors who do not havesufficient photocopying opportunitiesin their departments may be lesslikely to use paper worksheets withtheir students, especially in largeclasses. PowerPoint offers theability to approximate worksheets toillustrate processes or to provide"worked examples" that showsproblem-solving step-by-step.
One valuable technique is to firstdemonstrate a process or problemon one slide, then ask students towork on a similar problem revealedon the next slide, using their ownpaper rather than worksheetshanded out.
The PowerPoint software itself includes built-
in functionality to record your audio
commentary. In this fashion, instructors can
literally deliver their entire lecture
electronically, which can be especially useful
in an online course. The resulting file is still a
standard PowerPoint file, but when the
slideshow is "played," the recorded
instructor's voice narrates the action, and the
slides advance on their own, turning
whenever they had been advanced by the
lecturer during the recording. Click here to
see a sample.
It is also possible to use AuthorPoint Lite, a
free software download, to take the narrated
PowerPoint presentation and transform it all
into a Flash video movie, which plays in any
Web browser. Here is a sample. To create
such a video, you must first record a narrated
presentation, and then use AuthorPoint Lite to
convert the file. Our tutorial explains the
process.
Using this mode of PowerPoint, yourslides are projected as usual on the bigscreen and fill the entire space, but thecomputer used by the lecturer displaysthe slides in preview mode, with thespace for notes visible at the bottom ofthe screen. In this fashion, lecturerscan have a set of notes separate fromwhat is displayed to the students, whichhas the overall effect of increasing theengagement of the presentation.
This example of "Life in ElizabethanEngland" shows how to structure apresentation with nothing but imageson screen, using the Presenter View tohold the lecturer's notes.
Microsoft's tutorial explains how toconfigure the Presenter View.
1. Avoid reading: if your
slides contain lengthy text,
lecture "around" the
material rather than reading
it directly.
2. Dark screen: aneffective trick to focusattention on you and yourwords is to temporarilydarken the screen, whichcan be accomplished byclicking the "B" button onthe keyboard. Hitting "B"again will toggle thescreen back to yourpresentation.
3. Navigate slides smoothly:the left-mouse click advancesto the next slide, but it's morecumbersome to right-click tomove back one slide. Thekeyboard's arrow keys workmore smoothly to go forwardand backward in thepresentation. Also, if youknow the number of aparticular slide, you cansimply type that number,followed by the ENTER key,to jump directly to that slide.
1. Text size: text must be
clearly readable from the
back of the room. Too
much text or too small a
font will be difficult to
read.
2. Avoid too much text: onecommon suggestion is toadhere to the 6x6 rule (nomore than six words perline, and no more than sixlines per slide). The"Takahasi Method" goes sofar as to recommendenormous text and nothingelse on the slide, not evenpictures, perhaps as little asjust one word on each slide.
3. Contrast: light text on
dark backgrounds will
strain the eyes. Minimize
this contrast, and opt
instead for dark text on
light backgrounds.
Combinations to avoid, in
case of partial color
blindness in the
audience, include red-
green, or blue-yellow.
4. Transitions and
animations should be
used sparingly and
consistently to avoid
distractions.
5. Template: do not
change the template
often. The basic format
should be consistent and
minimal.
6. Use graphics and
pictures to illustrate and
enhance the message,
not just for prettiness.
Change font
Shapes
Clip art
Images
Charts
Tables
Transitions
Animations
Animating text or chart
FACULTY CENTER FOR
TEACHING AND
LEARNING