Effective Use of Teaching Aids

Session 1 Basic Teaching Skills Course

for Recently-Appointed Academic Staff

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

TASK - Introductions
Stage One
Find a partner, preferably someone you dont know. Find out a few things about them, e.g.:
Who they are, Which school/unit they work in, What they do.

Stage Two
Prepare a brief presentation to introduce the person to the group, and illustrate it with with either:
flipchart, or overhead transparencies.

Time for task - 10 minutes.

Time for task - 5 minutes

Stage Three
Make your presentation to the whole group.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, you should be able to: Choose the most appropriate visual aid for your purpose and context, Use the black-/white-board effectively, Make the most of the overhead projector, Produce a basic presentation with MS Powerpoint, Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of other media.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

Why use teaching aids?

Teaching aids are useful to:
reinforce what you are saying, ensure that your point is understood, signal what is important/essential, enable students to visualise or experience something that is impractical to see or do in real life, engage students other senses in the learning process, facilitate different learning styles.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

We Learn and Retain:

10% of what we READ

20% of what we HEAR

30% of what we SEE 50% of what we HEAR and SEE Higher levels of retention can be achieved through active involvement in learning.
DCU Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning 5

WHITE-/BLACKBOARD
Advantages
No advanced preparation required, except when displaying a complex table/chart/ diagram. Technology is not dependent on electricity or other possible glitches. Can be used by students for problem-solving, etc.

Disadvantages
Time-consuming if you have a lot to write. Handwriting may be difficult to read (legibility, size, glare, etc.). Turn your back on audience. Cleaning the board (chalk dust, permanent marker, etc.) Cant go back to something youve erased.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

WHITE-/BLACKBOARD
TIPS
Get to the lecture hall early to make sure that the board has been cleaned. Bring your own chalk/markers and eraser. If you have problems with keeping your writing level, draw horizontal lines in advance using a pencil and metre stick. Draw complex diagrams, charts, etc. in advance and cover with a piece of newsprint until needed.
Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

DCU

OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Advantages
Allows you to prepare all your slides in advance. Particularly suited for complex diagrams, charts and illustrations. Can build up information point-by-point through the use of overlays. Dont have to turn your back on the audience.

Disadvantages
A blown bulb or power failure can spoil all your hard work. Image quality can also be a problem. Can be disorienting to manipulate transparencies on projector plate.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Preparing Transparencies
By hand, or Computer application (eg. MS PowerPoint, MS Word, HTML documents) Printing - colour or B/W Printer (laser or inkjet), or Photocopier

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Selecting Text
Avoid overcrowding Avoid continuous prose Bullet or numbered points preferred KILLS
Keep It Legible, Lean and Simple

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Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Keep words to a minimum:
Please observe the rules prohibiting the combustion of vegetable material and the exhalation of noxious fumes in this auditorium.

NO SMOKING

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Tables are best avoided:
1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 20.4 27.4 90.0 20.4 30.6 38.6 34.7 31.5 45.9 46.8 45.0 43.9

East West North

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Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Use Charts/Graphs instead:
200 150 100 50 0 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr North West East

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Choosing a Font
Size - minimum 20pt (5mm high)

Examples:
14 pt Tahoma

20 pt Tahoma

28 pt Tahoma

36 pt Tahoma
Sans serif fonts preferred Times New Roman Arial Comic Sans
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DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Style Notes for Transparencies
Allow a margin of 5 cm (2) all round. Avoid TOO MUCH UPPERCASE TEXT For emphasis, use bold or underlining instead of italics Keep titles systematic and consistent Justification - left or centred Avoid light text on dark background.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Beforehand
Get to the room early to make sure the OHP is working. Check the aim and focus. Walk to the back of the room to see whether the smallest print is readable. Relax (if possible).

During the Lecture

Keep used and unused slides in separate piles. Cover the slide with a piece of cardboard and slide it down to reveal text as you go. Use a pen on the OHP glass rather than pointing to the screen.
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DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

DATA PROJECTOR (portable)

How to connect your Laptop to a portable data projector:
Attach one end of the data cable to the serial port of the laptop. Attach the other end to the RGB IN port of the data projector. Switch the data projector on followed by the laptop. Press the 'Fn' and the appropriate function key to display.
Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

DCU

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DATA PROJECTOR (fixed)

NOTE: Available in certain classrooms only A FEW DAYS BEFORE
Contact Education Services Helpdesk to have your account authorised for log on.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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DATA PROJECTOR (fixed)

JUST BEFORE YOUR LECTURE/TUTORIAL
Log on as normal. Open PowerPoint (or other application) and access files on your designated network drive, or Open web browser, type in the URL and queue up what you want to present. Minimise window until you are ready to use.
For further information, see: http://odtl.dcu.ie/projects/web-tl/terminals.html

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Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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Other Media FLIPCHART

When to USE:
if electricity is unavailable, to enable students to illustrate group reports, to provide a written record of points made by students.

TIPS
Check the room and equipment beforehand. Get your own pad of newsprint. Write out important pages in advance. Dont put too much on a page. Carry a collection of felt-tip pens and check that they havent dried out.

Bring along some Blutack.

DCU Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning 20

Other Media AUDIO TAPES or CDs

When to USE:
Particularly suited for language learning, media studies, English literature, etc. Valuable when referring to recorded historical events (e.g. Martin Luther Kings I have a dream speech). Background music can also be played before class starts and during group activities.

TIPS
Check the room and equipment beforehand. Can it be heard from the back of the room? Find the right spot on the tape/CD and queue it up in advance. Dont play more than a few minutes of audio at one time. Break up longer clips into segments, interspersed with discussion or other activities.
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DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

Other Media VIDEO TAPES or DVDs

When to USE:
Adds a dimension not available through audio alone - helps students to visualise. Essential when illustrating things that are impractical to do in real life. Particularly suited for language learning, media studies, engineering, etc. Valuable when referring to recorded historical events.
DCU

TIPS
Same as for CDs/audio tapes Check equipment beforehand. Can images be seen from the back of the room? Queue up the tape in advance. Break viewing into short segments, interspersed with discussion or activities.

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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Making the most of the DATA PROJECTOR

A brief introduction to MS PowerPoint
Further information can be found on the CSD web-site: http://www.dcu.ie/internal/csd/sms/webguides2000/power2k/power.htm

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Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

23

TASK: Choosing Media

Stage One
Work individually. Think of a lecture/ tutorial you will be giving. What media will you use to support it? Time for task - 2 minutes.

Stage Two
Form triads. Share you plans with each other. Why did you choose specific media? Time for task - 5 minutes.

Stage Three

Raise problems/issues in plenary session.

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Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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TASK: Stop - Start - Continue

Work individually. Take out a piece of paper, and answer the following:
STOP - What would you like me to stop doing? START - What would you like the facilitator to start doing? CONTINUE - What would you like the facilitator to continue doing?

Fold over and hand in on your way out.

DCU

Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning

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