1. Using PowerPoint for Teaching
Stephen Bostock Staff Development Keele University ? ?
©Keele

2. Summary Should we teach with presentations?
PowerPoint in/supporting lectures
Supporting student activity
Refining presentations
Some PowerPoint facilities
Tips for preparation
Advantages and disadvantages of presentation slides

3. What’s the use of lectures? Donald Bligh 1972 …
as effective as other media
not effective
not very effective
His review of research into what (traditional) lectures might be good for:
transmitting information ?
promoting thought ?
changing student attitudes ?

4. Lecturing to large groups Andreson 1990
Faced with bigger classes and/or more classes, two responses are possible for lectures
Refinement as theatre: enhance style, techniques, presentation skills & technology
Augmentation with student activity, feedback, dialogue, using other media
better presentations
less ‘lecturing’

5. Uses for PowerPoint In “Refinement” Effective delivery of information
Structured note-making
Efficient for staff (in long run)
In “Augmentation”
Support student activity in lecture periods with questions, interactive handouts, …

6. Selecting media Some or all of Displays using (35mm slides) Acetates
(LCD panel with overhead projector)
Digital projector, fixed or portable
Interactive whiteboard
Paper handouts in various forms
Web pages in various forms - accessibility

7. Presentation slides Provide clear, readable text
In attractive colours, designs
The consistency helps understanding
Can append during a lecture, make dynamic and responsive
Automatic numbering, footers, administrative information helps filing

8. Pictures, charts

9. Video/sound

10. Handouts
Note-taking is passive, boring and inefficient - look at their notes! So, for example ...
Full handouts of slides for accuracy and to save time, especially diagrams
Semi-notes with missing content; unlabelled diagrams, empty tables, bullets - instruct students to complete them
Skeleton notes of structure + keywords - students to add detail during the lecture
stop after this slide and get them to write down one example they can try, then tell their neighbor about it.

11. Web versions
Make presentation accessible to students before or after lecture (Accessibility required from 2002/3)
With full versions of slides for reference, colour, animation, etc.
You could include lecturer’s notes
As an Acrobat (pdf) file, handouts are ready for printing

12. Tips for better presentations
Prepare:
Know your audience, the room, lighting control, equipment
Acetates backup (?)
Design easily understood charts, graphs, pictures, diagrams
Rehearse – use the PowerPoint rehearsal feature for timing

13. Summary: advantages of presentation software
Clear, legible text
Information in well structured chunks
Images, diagrams, charts done easily
Handouts are copies of screens but can have gaps, questions, space for notes
Use the same slides on a digital projector, acetates, web pages, handouts
Use different selections of slides for modifying presentations, reusing slides

14. Summary: disadvantages of presentation software
Some ready-made designs are too complex and print badly
It imposes a modular structure of slides and bullets - can fragment an argument or story
Summary: disadvantages of presentation software
All content can look the same, boring, death by PowerPoint
Learning to use it!
Drawings are time-consuming, (but photo images are easy)
Keeping versions for handouts and screen, or hiding some slides or objects

15. The end

16. References
Lee Andreson, Lecturing to large groups, in C. Rust, Teaching in Higher Education, 1990, SCED Paper 57, ISBN
Donald Bligh, What’s the use of lectures? Exeter: Intellect, 1998, 5th ed.
Phil Race, The Lecturer’s Toolkit, 2001 Kogan Page
Paul Ramsden, Learning to teach in Higher Education, 1992, Routledge, ISBN
for presentation technology
Designing Slide Presentations for Adults by Raymond W. Barclay Jr. and Nancy G. Wyatt

17. Some bad reasons for lectures
Students expect them
To fill up the timetable
To keep students under control
That’s how I was taught
It’s always been done like that …

18. Some good reasons for lectures
Introduce a new topic, relate to other topics, where detailed information comes later
Do course administration and changes
Provide and introduce reading material
Provide a social occasion between students and with staff
Engage student interest, stimulate thinking, make memorable demonstrations
Some students like lectures
Efficient use of staff time with large numbers

19. What’s the use of lectures? Donald Bligh 1972 …
His review of research found that lectures might be good for:
transmitting information ?
promoting thought ?
changing student attitudes ?

20. Lecturing to large groups Andreson 1990
Faced with bigger classes and/or more classes, two responses are possible for lectures
Refinement as theatre: enhance style, techniques, presentation skills & technology
Augmentation with student activity, feedback, dialogue, using other media

21. Handouts – a skeleton Try handouts of slides ‘semi-notes’
‘skeleton notes’
stop after this slide and get them to write down one example they can try, then tell their neighbor about it.