RE: power point is evil?

[Peterson, Douglas]

I'm glad Gary could put into words what I have been struggling with for the last few hours.  I too follow the same basic principles of no background and simple font.  I do not allow the downloading of complete PowerPoint slides I do however create note guides which contain the structure and key terms to be filled in from the slides.  I have also use images, integrated video and demonstrations - even basic PowerPoint skills can recreate Sperling's Partial Report Paradigm - albeit with slightly longer exposure durations.  I even encourage class participation through the use of form fields so that student responses can be typed in and saved with the power point.    I have noticed a tendency on the part of students to write down only what they see on the slides so about 3 years ago I began using my PSYC 101 class as a mechanism to teach note taking skills.  I begin the semester with fairly detailed slides and complete descriptions of terms as the semester progresses I gradually present less and less material on the slide so the students can transition from writing down what they see to writing down what they hear.  I also put terms on the note taking guide that do NOT appear on PowerPoint but that I know I will talk about.   I am still frustrated by the overuse of PowerPoint features.  I just returned from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Annual Meeting and saw some of the worst examples of PowerPoint from a group of people one would expect to know better.  I'm also curious as to why there is not more research on this topic?    Doug Peterson Associate Professor of Psychology The University of South Dakota   --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]