Miwa's Reading Notes #2

I am interested in two topics to discuss: the use of Power Point presentation for a lecture and delivering a lecture.

The Use of PowerPoint Presentation for a Lecture

Currently, I am heavily relying on Power Point presentation to assist my lectures and question the effectiveness and efficiency of the use. I wonder to what extent I should limit the use of PowerPoint presentation, in terms of the number of slides (Davis, p. 454) and breaking up blocks of lecture time (Lang, p. 78). I am using the presentation not only to present main points for students to take notes but also serve as an outline to guide the entire class: for example, I indicate transitions of the class such as “group discussion (5 min): why study public speaking is important for you?”, which helps me organize the class structure.  

One of frequently asked questions by students is availability of the downloadble version (Davis, p. 454). As a student, I also prefer to have the downloadble version for reducing note-taking time in class, but I am afraid that students may take advantage of it to minimize their efforts. Note-taking is also an effective way to learn (Lang, p. 76), especially for those who come to class without preparation.

I am not sure how much is appropriate for me to provide written information (Lang, p. 74) and how much should I rely on technology (Lang, p. 59). I am sure that I should focus on the main points, but the degree to exclude details depends on how much students come to class with their reading done. Could I teach on an assumption that students have done reading and be ready to deepend their understanding, or should I try to go through all materials at least for those who are not ready (or haven’t done reading)? I am afraid that they cannot focus on understanding if they take notes a lot, so I am trying to minimize information on the presentation with indicating page numbers in the textbook and encourage students to understand and consider.

Delivering a Lecture

In addition to my challenge to teach in my second language, I feel heavy pressure to always make excellent oral presentation as a model to practice what I teach, while covering all necessary information for students to learn. This problem also leads to heavy reliance on PowerPoint presentation. In order to avoid reading prepared notes (Davis, p. 140) and talking into my notes (Davis, p. 152), I need to rehearse my lecture (Davis, p. 141) a lot. It is a very time-consuming task and I am facing difficulty in time management. My situation might be improved from the second semester once I become comfortable with the material (Davis, p. 135), but still I would try to improve my time efficiency.