I have never used PowerPoint in my lectures – especially in my political theory classes. There are many reasons for this. First, political theory is not about regurgitating facts. It is about analysis – and it is very difficult to analyze the content while copying the slides or staring blankly at the presentation. Second, copying slides distracts students from the lecture. Third, writing large pieces of text onto slides is pointless – and political theory is about textual interpretation.
For the first time, I am considering doing a PowerPoint presentation for my Introduction to Political Theory class. Not for the entire semester but for the really difficult stuff – like Plato’s Republic. There is one major reason for this change – I find that students are confused about what is important and what is not (especially in political theory). Usually, I write important terms etc on the board but as we all know, writing the words “4 virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation and justice” would not mean that they have understood the meaning and place of those terms in Plato’s thought. I am hoping that a PowerPoint presentation (though without pictures or graphs) will give them the important details and the order in which these should be argued. I had been handing out an outline of my lecture for them to follow but apparently, Power Point is seen as more authoritative by the students.
However, I am still worried about doing it and the impact it will have. Students universally appreciate PowerPoint but as a person who wants them to understand and analyze, I remain wary. On top of that, I am not sure whether I should put my slides on Blackboard. Students usually like that but I fear that it encourages them to skip class. I cannot make up my mind on that issue as well.
Any thoughts? Any experiences with PowerPoint as a teaching tool that you want to share?
2 comments:
I use powerpoint for the courses on the Middle East, but I am finding that I am also using it for the intro to IR course too because I like to be able to refer to maps and other figures. Also my handwriting is awful so I don't want to subject them to that. I post my slides on blackboard, but I try not to put too much information on them. Key points, diagrams, maybe important individuals, which will help them when they study but in no way can the slides replace the lecture. In other words, I keep them bare bones--except in special cases--and try to keep them as short points not complete sentences or paragraphs. And I never read off of them! To keep the kids interested, do what I do and wander around the classroom. Then I see them if they are surfing the web or dozing off and they feel uncomfortable when I'm standing by them. You can still do this with powerpoint as long as you don't use too many slides. Change them every few minutes at the most (on average).
I don't know how much this helps since I know PT is way different than IR or CP, but that's my take on it.
I just started using PP in my large Gen Ed U.S. Government course this fall. I put a moderate amount of info on the slides (definitions, key terms and concepts) and it seems to be working okay. Ofc I was asked on the first day if I'd be posting them online, which I respect if others do, but I do not. I consider the slides my intellectual property, and once they're out there, I know I can't take it back. I also think it's a disincentive to come to class, and that learning to listen to someone talk and jot down notes at the same time is an important skill students will need in their jobs/life and need to learn at some point. It does seem to help them grasp the important points, as long as they know that just b/c something ISN'T on the slide doesn't meaning it's NOT important. It also seems to help with attention span especially in a 75-minute class to intersperse graphs, tables, handouts, videos, etc in with the slides to make things less monotonous...
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