powerpoint slides
i would have to disagree on only 5 slides. adding effect always can help draw students in
Adina,
I don't know that there is a hard and fast rule about the number of slides. There's an expression called "death by PowerPoint", and it suggests that students can be numbed and turned off if too many slides, or too much time is spent on a slide presentation. The solution probably lies in assuring slides are simple and informative, and only in enough quantity that provides the needed information.
Barry Westling
I love powerpoint slides it should be the presenters option to how many slides to use for their presentation.
Valerie,
I think of PPT as a tool, and every tool has it's place. In general, too many slides for too long a period may begin to lose students attention. If I had a longer presentation, I'd opt to break it up into smaller segments, with a variety of other instructional strategies substituted in between.
Barry Westling
When PPT is required for all lessons, it helps to add in an activity as you go through the modules. The activity does not always have to be on the slides, but it allows a break from the slides. Students can then apply what they have reviewed/learned thus far. A variety of learning activities are being implemented.
Jantez Taylor-Harrington
Jantez,
Too many slides, or too much information for too long a stretch is less apt to keep our students interested for long. Inserting activities and/or a variety of different types of assignments is a much better approach than the dreaded "death by PPT!"
Barry Westling
I personnaly like using powerpoint slides beacuse it helps keep the course content organized and students know what to expect on the exam. Also it helps the instructor to keep track of covered material.
Amandeep,
Nothing wrong with PPT. I like to use it as a guide to discussion, rather trying to put all information on the slides. I think of PPT as a tool, and tools have a specific purpose (and can also be misused as well).
Barry Westling
We had a speaker come in to discuss powerpoints and he mentioned images are more powerful than any effect you add or the number of bullets. I teach interior design courses and I don't put bullets on my powerpoints. It takes time to find images, but I find analysis of each to be effective in getting students to understand and think about concept and application. What they liked, what failed, what could be better, etc.
I never add bullets because students should be reading course materials prior to lecture so we can they can grasp lecture better. If they are busy writing bulleted information I put on powerpoints, they haven't done their reading before hand. So, in essence, I would have done their highlighting/bulleting of important material for them.
Rtee,
Good point, especially about the power of (good) visuals. Bullets are good for the instructor to summarize major ideas, or provide a guideline for discussion with students by the instructor. In general, I agree PPT works best for illuminated images, photo's, illustrations, diagrams, schematics, tables, figures, and the like. Note these are are visually oriented displays, allowing for image + discussion.
Barry Westling
I have used PP for year now. The 10/20/30 rule is new to me. I think this is a good measure to go by. This is about 2 minutes per slide. Another rule I explain to students is the 4x6 rule. No more than 4-6 bullets per slide, not more than 4-6 words per bullets. Too often students include entire paragraphs and then read them. Especially introductions & conclusions. It is hard to get them to understand this is too much.
Best wishes, Wynell
Wynell,
It's interesting that students will often think that more is better. I once saw a resume that said only "I can help, hire me". Obviously that's too brief, but PPT is a tool that has better and less than useful attributes commonly portrayed. We need to use tools with their intended purpose and and the manner most useful.
Barry Westling
I use Powerpoint quite often in my courses but I rarely use more than one line of text. I am all about the pictures of what we are discussing. The students are given assigned reading to prepare them ahead of time for lecture. They should be famaliar with the bullet points already. I show them real life pictures and examples of the material and expand on that. It engages them more and is much more interesting for them than words on a page. Plus, I feel like if they can see multiple pictures and views of the real thing,it better prepares them for when they are out in the workplace and see the content. It does take time to find these images but it is well worth it.
Nicole,
Most students are visual learners, to one degree or another. Complementing text with visual images does reinforce the point an instructor wants to make, and may help clarify and add to student understanding.
Barry Westling
I strongly agree power point slides is the predominant method used to deliver subject material. However, the rule of 10/20/30 does not necessarily works best for most instructors and also for some students. some times I have to be detailed oriented including more bullet points than required in one slide. Based on my research , students tend to score higher in unit exams with this thorough approach
Sudarshan Daniel,
PPT is a tool and instructors should use tools to accomplish their intended goal. Any tool can be misused, or used for optimal results. So would it be for PPT.
Barry Westling
