Folk--
I've been using Powerpoint for two years, and I experienced a lot of trouble
(bored students, bad evaluations, poor test grades) the first term.
Then I changed the handouts. I was using the handouts with six frames per
page, and the handouts contained every word the presentation I projected
did. Students felt they did not need to take ANY notes, and were not paying
attention. So, I decided to delete selected words (I choose the ones most
crucial for each statement/definition, etc.) and have a blank on the handout
instead. Now, student have to fill in the blanks during class. This seems to
keep them tuned in, they are more engaged (it seems to me), their grades are
better, and my evaluations went back up to where they were before I made the
switch to Powerpoint. (Of course, this is not based on an experiment with
random assignment.) I also have the presentations (without blanks) available
on my website. I even see students who miss class borrowing the notes from
other students to get the missing words.
I really like this form of presentation in class. But I agree with others
that it is easy to get carried away with all the bells and whistles. I try
to keep my slides simple, not too much information on each, and try to keep
them in basically outline form (much like you'd do with the blackboard or
overhead).
Matt
-----Original Message-----
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 22:58:51 +0000
From: "Richard Pisacreta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: powerpoint
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I just started getting into powerpoint slides for my classes and I was
wondering if those of you that use powerpoint attach
sound effects or clipart to some slides.
