Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.
In higher education teachers often fail to exploit the instructional advantages of audiovisual materials. Teachers in some disciplines use media very heavily; others use none at all. We know that learning is enhanced by the use of visual aids because pictorial representations and symbols clarify verbal explanations and provide additional clues for memory. Effective teachers plan ways to engage the visual sense as an important part of the teaching process, regardless of what they teach.
Visual aids are most often used to illustrate or reinforce lecture material, but they can also be used to stimulate discussion and encourage student participation. For example, one award-winning teacher at UNC introduces statistical graphs by first asking students what they think a particular graph would look like, based on material they have already read or discussed. He then displays the graph and initiates a discussion about the accuracy or inaccuracy of student predictions about the material. Another master teacher uses short segments of videotaped interviews to stimulate discussion about counseling techniques. These "trigger tapes" often show ambiguous or even deliberately incorrect techniques, depending on the teacher's objective for the discussion.
Visuals can also be packaged in self-instructional units that students can use outside of class (e.g., workbooks, videotapes, and slide-tape programs), thereby saving class time for more important learning objectives. You can place audiovisual materials on reserve in the Undergraduate Library and students can use them in the Non-Print Materials section nearby.
Every classroom at UNC has a traditional chalkboard or the new white board that uses dry marking pens. Blackboards are such simple devices that teachers who have used them for years may never have considered some of the basic requirements for using them effectively.
The first requirement is that your writing should be large enough so students in the back of the room can read it; you may need to practice writing large and legibly. Some teachers with poor handwriting print on the board to insure legibility. The seating arrangements in some classrooms may keep students in the back from seeing anything written on the lower quarter of the board, so check with them to determine how much of the board they can see and don't write below that area. You may block their view when you are writing on the board, so stand out of the way after you have added something. "Talking to the board" is one of the most common teaching errors, so hold what you have to say until you have finished writing (unless you have a very strong voice).
Planning your use of the blackboard is very important. Review your class notes to determine the material you want to write or draw on the board, then decide the most logical way to proceed, planning your work so students will have ample time to record important material before it is erased. For example, one section of the board might be reserved for a topical outline or an important graph to which you refer throughout the class period. You could plan to fill other sections of the board from the top down with supporting information or drawings that follow a sequential pattern, then erase them as you need more space. Students will usually copy everything you write on the board, so you need to allow time for this, especially if you use pictures or diagrams that you alter as you go along. Instead of erasing and redrawing,use dotted lines or colored chalk to show changes so students will be able to follow your explanation better. The details in complex drawings are often illegible on a chalkboard, so it is better to use another medium, such as an overhead transparency, for a complex image.
Most people have little difficulty using overhead projectors because the technology is very simple. Some teachers use the projector as a surrogate for the blackboard, writing and drawing on clear acetate sheets with colored pens, but the medium has many advantages over the traditional blackboard. Transparencies can be prepared ahead of time to present more complex and polished images than are possible if drawn on the spot. Some teachers also duplicate the transparencies on handouts to insure that students get complete and accurate images. This step also insures that students don't have to divide their attention between copying a diagram and listening to the teacher's explanation.
Transparencies can be drawn by hand with colored pens on clear acetate, but the common practice is to reproduce material on a copy machine that accepts acetate. The latter technique results in serviceable black-and-white transparencies. Some photocopying firms have color photocopy machines that produce full-color transparencies from colored originals, but the service tends to be expensive (about $4.00 per page). Many experienced teachers prefer to produce their transparencies on a thermal copy machine, since the image is darker and a selection of colored acetate is available. The Self-Service Lab at CTL has a thermal machine and a supply of acetate for use by faculty and teaching assistants--the service is free, but there are restrictions on the number of transparencies a teacher may make per semester. If you use computer graphics programs to produce visuals, the Center staff may be able to convert these files directly into transparencies on special printers, subject to hardware and software compatibility. Please call CTL for further information.
When using prepared transparencies, be sure that you give students sufficient time to analyze and copy the images in their notes (providing them with paper copies will speed up this process). Also, remember to turn off the projector when you have finished talking about the image on the screen, otherwise the image will provide a strong stimulus that can distract students' attention from the rest of your message. The on-off switch is an effective device for changing the focus of their attention from the screen to you and then back to the screen, as your narrative dictates. Mounting your transparencies in cardboard frames will make them easier to handle, and you can write your notes on the frames so your explanation will not be interrupted by having to refer to other notes.
Slides are as simple to make and almost as easy to use as overhead transparencies, but they do have some limitations in the classroom. Slides require a fairly dark room, and often this means that there is insufficient light for note-taking. Moreover, the distance between the projector and screen make it difficult for the teacher to control the projector and point out important elements on the screen (and long remote control cords have a tendency to malfunction). On the other hand, the projector is easily transportable, and slides are much easier to store than transparencies.
Many teachers make slides on research trips to illustrate phenomena or show locations that are otherwise inaccessible to students, and some departments have collections of slides that cover subject areas commonly taught in the curriculum. You can also make slides of pictures in books, magazines, or photo albums using the copystand in CTL's Self-Service Lab. If you wish, you can combine a set of slides with a taped narration to create a slide/tape program students can use in the same way they might view a videotape.
Random access to slides in a carousel tray is very difficult, and it is wise to plan the sequence of slides so you won't need to back up or use a slide out of order. If you need to refer to a slide more than once in a presentation, have duplicates made and insert them in the appropriate places. If you want to interrupt the slide sequence, insert a plastic slug or black slide at that point in the sequence (unless the projector you are using goes automatically to black when there is no slide in the slot). When the screen goes black, students will immediately shift their attention back to you.
Videotapes are replacing films in the classroom because they are so much easier to use, and, with video beam projectors, the video image can be quite large. Although videodiscs have many advantages over videotape (such as instant random access to any part of the disc), they are not yet widely used in instruction because of their expense and lack of software.
The key to using film or video effectively is careful planning. Films or tapes should never be used as fillers for times when you plan to be out of town. Films should serve clearly-stated learning objectives and be carefully integrated into the rest of the course. Remember that you will be turning your class over to the medium for a significant length of time, so the film should provide something important to your students' understanding of the material. If only a portion of a film is relevant to the course, just show that portion rather than waste time with the entire program. If a film is too long to fit into the class period, show part of it one day and part of it another day.
To insure that students derive maximum benefit from the film or video, it is a good idea to provide them with a short viewing guide that directs them to focus on particular aspects of the program and to answer questions about it. Viewing guides provide a basis for class discussions that relate the film to other course material and are also a convenient source of test questions (see example in Figure 4).
Film: "Killing Us Softly"
Soc 20: Social Problems
The Undergraduate Library's Non-Print Materials Collection and the Learning Resources Services in the Health Sciences Library have films and videos for instructional use. They can also help you locate films through film catalogues and computer data bases. In some cases they will handle rental arrangements, although rental fees and postage must usually be paid by the teacher.
Microcomputers can enhance instruction in a variety of ways, and teachers are finding novel applications for the technology every day. As an alternative to classroom instruction, computers allow students to learn material on their own, at their own pace. They can provide learning experiences that simulate real-life problems, both in and out of class. Teachers can also use microcomputers as a presentation medium that goes beyond the traditional advantages of audiovisual aids.
Instructional software is now available for every subject area in higher education, providing individual drill and practice sessions, tutorials, or simulations that students can use on their own. In addition, teachers can assign projects that require the use of software for data processing or analysis. UNC's microcomputer labs are distributed across campus to provide access to computers for students who don't have their own machines, so an increasing number of teachers are making these kinds of assignments.
If you decide to assign microcomputer projects, first check with other members of your department to find out the kinds of projects they assign and the software they use. Although there are thousands of programs on the market, many of them are poorly designed or inappropriate for college-level work, so experienced teachers choose and test software carefully before using it in their courses. Once you have selected a piece of software, familiarize yourself with its features and apply it to the tasks you will assign to students. You will find that software descriptions and their actual performance can differ in important respects. Also check on the compatibility of the software with available computers and output devices in the labs. Finally, provide complete instructions for the assignment, just as you would for any other student project. Experienced teachers suggest that you demonstrate the software in class so students will know how the programs are supposed to work. It is also wise to ascertain how many of your students have used microcomputers before, and to what extent, because some of them may need remedial help before they can do the work. If project deadlines are tight, check to see if the microcomputer lab schedules provide sufficient opportunities for students to do the work.
Some classrooms have video beam projectors that can show microcomputer output, and an increasing number of teachers now use presentation software to illustrate their lectures in these classrooms. Presentation software can be programmed to show images in a straight sequence or in whatever order the teacher desires, and the graphics and color features of these programs make it easy to create a polished presentation. Some programs also enable you to show animated sequences. Remember, however, that students need time to take notes on the material you are showing, so reasonable pacing is very important.
Some teachers use classrooms with video projectors to run simulation software that was originally designed for individual use. The entire class participates in the simulation, making decisions at critical points, observing the results, and discussing the outcomes. In similar classrooms with mainframe connections, teachers often use the microcomputer as a terminal to illustrate mainframe applications in statistics and data processing. Currently (outside of the School of Journalism), there is only one classroom equipped with individual student work stations, so opportunities to use interactive computer strategies in the classroom are severely limited. For more information about voice, data, and video telecommunications technology on campus, contact the Office of Information Technology.
The CTL staff will help you if you are interested in exploring the use of microcomputers for instruction or need help locating appropriate software. Although a few departments will purchase software for instruction, the teacher or the students must usually pay for it.
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Last updated: January 30, 2001