I’ve gotten back into the swing of things in the classroom. I have figured out how much material I can cover in an hour and a half. I’ve got a better handle on the students, so I think I’m targeting the material at the right level. I intersperse lecture with discussion playing devil’s advocate to force the kids to think. I walk around the room and dashing down rough notes on the black board. I’ve never used power point in the classroom, because the other universities weren’t wired for it at that time.
I’ve always been against detailed powerpoint lectures in the classroom. Students lose the ability to take notes on their own; they no longer know how to pick out what’s important in class discussion. Students become transcribers rather than participants in a classroom. Tests become about regurgitation. Students don’t bother doing the readings. Professors get glued to a projector and stop walking around the room. Dramatic walks and perching oneself on top of a desk is useful for keeping sleepy students awake. Students also keep their eyes on the screen and not the professor. Um, large ego here.
On the other hand, I can tell the students really want me to give them neat notes. My scribbles on the board make them nervous. It might be easier for me, too. All that posing and notes on the board can be exhausting. Thoughts?
Apt. 11d 
I say no to the powerpoint. I’m about 5 years out of college (History major Holy Cross in Worcester MA), but we never had a powerpoint presentaion during a lecture. Everyone would have tuned out completely. What’s the point of attending class if you can get the lecture on a disk? People shut off their brains with power point. I’m against them in business meetings, too.
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A remote control enables walking about and changing slides. If you walk in front of the screen you’ll recapture their attention.
The real danger from powerpoint (actually I use Keynote because my remote works with Keynote but not the old version of PowerPoint on my laptop) is that students will want you to provide them copies of the slides. I refuse and tell them to take notes. (Then, during the last class I unhide pdfs of the slides in webct, so they get to correct their notes while studying for the final. But I don’t tell them in advance that I’m going to do this.)
One way to start a discussion is to put up a slide with a question or two about the reading. Make it clear you’re not going to go to the next slide until the discussion on this one is done. Do this a couple of times and they’ll do the reading (or enough of them will). During that discussion, though, you’ll still have to write on the board, if you want to capture, emphasise something that’s said. My students can now anticipate when we’re going to go to discussion because I turn off one projector and wind up one screen so as to clear board space. The discussion topic still stays up on the other screen, though.
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Laura, you describe exactly what I hope my own teaching style is like–equal parts lecture, discussion, and blackboard scribbling. I was talked into using the electronic Blackboard system once, and haven’t done it again since. I don’t see sufficient payoff for the major upfront investment in time that would be required to turn all my old notes and outlines into something I could put up on a screen. I don’t like the structure that PowerPoint and similar programs seem to oblige me to adopt. I don’t want to have to learn to use all the (don’t forget: constantly being replaced and updated and reconfigured) technology. I like chalk. (I don’t even like dry erase boards.)
I admit some of my classroom Ludditism is probably ego-driven, but seriously, I stay in near constant touch with my students via e-mail, and I have pretty clear handwriting and a good speaking voice. If that’s still not enough for them, then they should reconsider exactly what they think a university education is all about.
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I vote for no Powerpoint, unless you need to use it to project images etc. If you want to give them something in writing, a four-page handout on folded 11×17 paper contains an awful lot of information. I used this in lieu of a deck in a highly Powerpoint-oriented organization and it was very well received.
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Forgot to mention that I can’t claim credit for the 11×17 idea – it has been extensively discussed on Edward Tufte’s site.
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As a student, I found PowerPoint/projector slides helpful in 2 cases.
One is in biology classes, where knowing what to look for is a key skill. (A sketch isn’t nearly as helpful as a picture.)
The other is in history, when studying non-Western European history. A diagram of the main players, with the names spelled correctly, is very helpful when you are dealing with unfamiliar names.
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I use powerpoint extensively, but teach upper-division science, and we talk extensively about quantitative data & pictures (think, like in an art class). That being said, I’ve learned over the years that simplifying data slides is often necessary, to the point where the same info could be sketched on the board. And, lecturers often pack way too much info into a powerpoint lecture, info that cannot be adequately explained in a lecture.
So, I think you shouldn’t give in. You might consider getting rid of the scribbling. You could have a word document up on a screen, and type in the comments that you would otherwise scribble. I suggest this, only because students really shouldn’t have to learn how to decipher my handwriting. I don’t know if yours is good enough that that shouldn’t be a problem
bj
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1. As SamChevre and bj say, I think the answer really depends upon the course content. One question would be: when is a picture worth a thousand words?
2. I’ve gotten enthusiastic about the ideas of concept mapping and (for the k-12 set) unit mapping in humanities courses.
3. I’ve noticed that my daughter (the one with the language-based learning disability) does much better in courses with notes available online at some point after the lecture. I like Jim’s idea of making notes available at finals time, to help students study.
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I do think Powerpoint does help visual learners. The information doesn’t have to be so extensive that it prevents other note-taking, but instead provides enough information to create a structure.
The most riveting, electrifying lecture in the world can be helped by a little visual structure. We have to be careful about putting ego ahead of learning.
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I was coming in to post what SamChevre and SusanS said. It all depends on the content under discussion and what you put on the slide. A slide can provide invaluable reference or context for a discussion. (Timelines, maps, process flows, photos of the historical figures you are discussing, etc).
When slides function as class notes on screen – forget it. Boring. Discussion stopping. Sleep inducing. And yet that’s how most people use them.
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I can tell that most of my students are used to slides as class notes. For the first couple of classes, the kids were jonsing for the slides. They had no clue how to take notes on their own and looked very uneasy about being asked to give their opinions on things.
One kid told me that he wishes he went to an unnamed big Jersey state school, because the lectures were so big that the teachers couldn’t take attendence and they always put their notes on webct. The kid told me that his buddies download the notes the day before the exam and memorize them. No need to attend class or do the readings.
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I use powerpoint extensively because it’s great to have names up there in readable format as well as my beloved maps and images. Early medieval history without images is dry, tedious and doesn’t stick.
The slides also will have key points that might suffice as an outline, but they’re not nearly enough to serve as exam answers. I tell the students not to confuse the overheads with the course content. There are always a few who skip a raft of classes because they “can download the notes anyway” and, despite the warning, fail the tests or exams miserably.
I love Powerpoint because it frees me. I am not stuck near the blackboard or covered with chalk dust. I have all sorts of great visuals to hand with the click of a remote. Plus, I can use the system to call up the library and databases, which is great in teaching research topics.
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I have been against Powerpoint. My style is very much like yours, Laura: roaming about, scribbling, modulating my voice, throwing the odd piece of chalk for effect. I like to walk away from my notes, to put myself in a spot where I have to work mentally to get the words out; that way, I think, I keep from getting stale. But I am likely going to bring some slides into my classes soon. Not notes and outlines, but names and pictures and maps. Visuals. I think students now are used to a visual element in their learning – and not just the visual thinkers. Today, at the end of a class on socialist revolution in China, a student came up to me and said she was having a hard time “seeing” early 20th century China. She needs pictures and descriptions, not analytic points and outlines. I started to think of novels she might read. But then I realized she also needed pictures – and maps and visuals.
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Sam’s and Ancarett’s comments force me to admit that, as much as I like cultivating an old fuddy-duddy, chalk-dust-on-my-courduroy-jacket persona, I do worry about the need to incorporate other media into my lectures, to help all the facts and theories I toss around stick in the minds of my more visually-inclined students. I’ve experimented with a few things (Monty Python is actually enormously useful for making a wide variety of points; try using the scene about the trial of the witch from Holy Grail sometime when discussing the proper use of logic and evidence in an argument…), and will probably try others as time goes by. But I really resist the idea of subjecting my lectures themselves to PowerPoint or some other visually-oriented schematic.
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Sam’s and Ancarett’s comments force me to admit that, as much as I like cultivating an old fuddy-duddy, chalk-dust-on-my-courduroy-jacket persona, I do worry about the need to incorporate other media into my lectures, to help all the facts and theories I toss around stick in the minds of my more visually-inclined students. I’ve experimented with a few things (Monty Python is actually enormously useful for making a wide variety of points; try using the scene about the trial of the witch from Holy Grail sometime when discussing the proper use of logic and evidence in an argument…), and will probably try others as time goes by. But I really resist the idea of subjecting my lectures themselves to PowerPoint or some other visually-oriented schematic.
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Pro-powerpoint! But all in how it’s used.
I taught music appreciation, and, as a new teacher, introduced it half-way through the course when I saw that whatever I was doing (traditional lecturing interspersed with questions and CD listening) was fallign completely flat. Powerpoint remade that class, because it provided a visual reference for the largely auditory factor I was trying to draw from students who weren’t used to listening as a way of “reading.” It also helped to bring in pictures of the time period or opera or whatever to provide the visual aesthetic culture. And since we were doing a lickety-split through music history, I made timelines on it, too.
Powerpoint is a dream come true for the visual learner. *raises hand*
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I attended college for the first time in the 80’s (Caltech) and for the second time in 2004 (Columbia). I have to admit that I somehow had less respect for professors who used Powerpoint instead of writing. It seemed like they were reading stuff instead of knowing it, somehow.
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I’m thoroughly anti-PP (in classrooms, at conferences, for job talks) within political theory. I recognize (thanks to being married to a quant scholar) that there are fields where it’s hugely helpful, but by and large this isn’t one of them. I would occasionally like the ability to put a map (or, say, a royal family tree or a dateline, but generally a map) up where I could point to it and talk about it. But I don’t want to get into the habit of spending my class-prep time hunting for the right image online, or scanning stuff in, or my in-class time messing with the tech.
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“They had no clue how to take notes on their own and looked very uneasy about being asked to give their opinions on things.”
So not giving any structure beyond your eloquence and scribbles on the board really helps that? or does it just leave them completely swimming in uncertainty?
How about giving basic outlines so that they understand how to structure their note-taking. I’m betting most of us are not nearly as well organized and easy to follow as we think we are, and the structure helps both learning and teaching.
Everytime you find yourself making a “back in the old days” or “these damn kids” kinda-comment, remember your professors said the same thing about having to accommodate women and bosses say that when they have to accommodate families.
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I use PP occasionally in my big intro politics course, but beyond that I’m usually teaching political theory where I have never found it useful.
In the big intro class I try to strike a balance between powerpoint-intensive lectures and more traditional blackboard+socratic sessions. The PP-intensive classes usually feature maps, charts and tables, and the odd diagram to lay out relationships between concepts.
One place where I find it really helpful to combine old and new technologies: I do a three-week segment in the first half of my course on probability, decision theory, and game theory. One year I tried it with PP but hated not having the blackboard. Then I tried it just at the blackboard, but some politics students freaked out finding themselves in a math lecture!
(They freaked out at the PP math lecture the year before, of course, but at least then there were slides of text as well as math, trying to explain the underlying intuitions – the sort of elaboration that one does in lecture at the blackboard, but doesn’t usually write down because it’s time- and space-intensive. Somehow, the reaction against math seemed more visceral when it was being scribbled on the board, rather than hammered into their visual cortex via powerpoint).
This year, finally, I have a big lecture hall that lets me put up slides yet still have access to a three-panel blackboard directly beneath the screen. This way I can have a slide up that poses questions and summarizes intuitive ideas, and I can formalize and extend those ideas on the blackboard beneath. Took a bit of planning, but I think it works better than either full PP (which sucks for math) or just blackboard (it’s nice to have the core ideas expressed in non-mathematical terms above the math, so that kids who fear and loathe the math can see those intuitive ideas as they’re being expressed and manipulated formally).
In line with some deep pathological need to warp young minds, I put this three-week math-heavy segment right after two weeks of in-depth study of the Scott-Popkin debate about subsistence farming and rebellions in colonial southeast asia (powerpoint intensive), and in turn that follows a week or so of them reading both Clifford Geertz and Machiavelli’s Prince (decidedly non-powerpoint intensive lectures!).
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I’ve ordered projectors for my classes next week. I’m going to play around and see what works. We’re past the theory portion of my Intro to Pol Sci. There’s no way that you can use PP for a class on Machiavelli or Mill. However, this week in my intro class we talked about the state, nation, nationalism. I could have used maps and diagrams as I talked about colonization. In my media class, we had a couple of classes on the first amendment. I scribbled down many legal cases with years and summaries. I guess PP could have made my notes neater. Maybe I could have shown a slide with the ad in Hustler which drove Larry Faldwell insane. The only reason to use it in my policy class is to neaten up the notes.
I’m curious if it’s going to deaden my teaching style or just save me some trouble on the blackboard. Curious how it’s all going to work.
Also, I don’t think that power point lectures are part of my job description. It’s a lot of work for me. Scanning and uploading lecture notes is a huge pain in the ass. I don’t think that professors should be in the business of having comic book images fly behind them in the classroom to make things more “fun.” Taking notes on their own is a skill that students should come to school with or figure it out damn quickly in the first semester at college. Teaching them how to take notes is not my job. I’m looking forward to seeing if PP can make things easier for myself and perhaps more interesting for the students. I’m not doing it to help them out with their notes.
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“Also, I don’t think that power point lectures are part of my job description. It’s a lot of work for me….Taking notes on their own is a skill that students should come to school with or figure it out damn quickly in the first semester at college. Teaching them how to take notes is not my job.”
Absolutely; I couldn’t agree more.
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PowerPoint is great for multiple sections, as you can be sure you covered the same material and thus give the same exam.
I do think writing your own slides is key, don’t use the ones provided with some textbooks unless all you are using are the images.
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I use powerpoint for PMLD kids (Autism, holoprosencephaly, CP – that sort of thing) as well as college entry students and at professional level for colleagues.
It is a complete waste of time if everything that you are saying is on the slides.
You make your point – and the slide should provide the evidence and justification for it. That way the attention is on you, the tools are being used properly, and the exercise isn’t limited to the transfer of notes without use of brains.
It challenges your audience to pay attention, keep up, and take notes.
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“I don’t think that power point lectures are part of my job description”
But being an effective teacher is. Whether it’s powerpoint or some other approach, it seems improtant for teachers to consider if we are being effective and students are learning. The idea that the best learning experiences occur through lectures, socratic discussions, and scratching on a chalk board is not supported by the research on effective teaching.
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I would love to see a study that shows that professors who use PP are more effective communicators.
Some of the most boring people I know use visuals. The visuals don’t improve things at all. While some of the most interesting people just sit on a desk and talk for two hours. They would be interesting no matter what charts they had at hand.
College is not high school. I feel like this technology is dumbing-down my job. It’s dumbing-down college. I’m going to be very selective in its use — charts, graphs, maps, and other images.
SusanS, the only comments you leave on this blog are negative, rude, and personal. This blog is supposed to be amusing for me. I’m cool with criticism as long as it’s mixed with other comments that contribute to the larger discussion and are non-personal in nature. You hovering on troll status.
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I’ve put detailed notes on the web for years (teaching history) and that gives some students license not to show up. But those are the uncommitted studdents anyway.
I use PP not for notes or bulleted lists, but for maps and pics and I love it for that.
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There was a passing mention of Edward Tufte in a comment above. That is not enough. Tufte is an eminent authority on the visual presentation of data and the author of the classic “The Visual Display of Quantative Information.”
He site has for sale (price: $7) here:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint
a pamphlet titled “The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint.” I own a copy. Typically for Tufte, it contains beautiful illustrations, data, and prose worthy of E. B. White. IMHO the cover alone is worth the price.
Rather than relying simply on opinions yea or nea, let Tufte show you some data. You’ll enjoy the process. (And if anyone who uses illustrations of quantative data hasen’t read the book above they are making a big mistake. Nor do I get a commission).
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As a student, graudate student and instructor, I hated PP and vaguely despised those who relied on it. It’s a crutch; good teachers use it selectively, and use it as a tool not an end. the only times i’ve fund it useful is for spelling foreign names and non-English terms (though handoouts with the terms work just as well), and for getting a class to analyze pictures/material culture.
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After reading the majority of the comments, I think that most important part of making Power Point presentation is missing, the main idea of a presentation is to help the TEACHER to remember what to say and only we have to outline the class not to write everything there otherwise the teacher is only the person that click the mouse to pass to the next slide. In my classes I use Power Point presentation in a daily basis and students like them, specially because we can convey more graphic and video information that can put emphasis in some key concepts.
I do give student a copy of my presentation but in a handout format, six slide per page but beside each presented slide there is a empty space where the student write their comments. I must say that in some cases they need more space to write which proof that they are taken notes.
As a corollary I can say that technology is made to help us but first we need to learn HOW TO USE IT.
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PPTs have to be engaging, well-done, with a visual/artistic color “theme” and with less text and more graphics, charts, political cartoons, art work, mini-webs, etc. that summarize information with accompanying visuals.
PPT is a VISUAL medium–not written notes on individual slides. Use a Word doc. instead. The teacher should use a PPT with at least 50% of the class “lecture” a Q & A, asking the students questions about the visuals–this helps them especially in my subject [history] to analyze historical graphics, which tend to be difficult for many students.
I have made over 145 PPTs in the last five years, and I try to see each topic covered with an artistic eye — what colors do I associate with the Populist movement, for example [gold & silver]. I create my own backgrounds for many of my PPTs and I try and associate a fancy font that reflects the main theme of that lesson as well as fancy bullets.
Students today are visual learners [especially many with various special ed needs] and they require that additional visual stimulus to remember information. Using a little bit of sound also helps.
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Please check out my two web sites:
http://www.pptpalooza.net
http://www.historyteacher.net
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Power points are great sometimes. I use them at the end of a unit as summary of the main points. I try to incorporate images and animations (not just bouncing letters and other distractions!) with music or short speeches. I collaborate with some fellow teachers and we try to bring in humor and color to keep reluctant teens interested in history. We avoid wordiness (we have already done the lectures anyway) and focus on the visuals. Most importantly–short and sweet.
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