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Technology was introduced into my First Year Seminar course this Fall through the use of electronic discussion and by having students do PowerPoint presentations. Technology will be introduced into my Senior Seminar course in the Spring through the use of electronic discussion and by having an electronic syllabus. The results of incorporating technology into my First Year Seminar were somewhat mixed. The e-mail discussion didn't work so well, partly because of a glitch in the technology and partly because my first-year students generally preferred to avoid any further debate and possible conflict with fellow classmates. On the other hand, the PowerPoint presentations were very successful. Students' presentations of their final papers were better prepared, better presented and more well received than in prior years when students distributed paper outlines of their talks.
Report
Technology was introduced into my First Year Seminar course this
Fall through the use of electronic discussion and by having students
do PowerPoint presentations. Technology will be introduced into
my Senior Seminar course in the Spring through the use of electronic
discussion and by having an electronic syllabus. What follows
is an evaluation of the use of technology in my First Year Seminar
Course: Current Economic Controversies.
A.
Pedagogical Goals
One of the things I try to do in my First Year Seminar is to have
a heated discussion each week on that week's topic. Typically
the class is divided fairly evenly on the issue and if not, I
try to weigh in on the one side that seems to be shorthanded.
Having 18 students in a class that lasts 80 minutes (usually 70
once the administrative work is taken care of) and discussing
a complex topic such as international trade, we end up having
too little time to debate too few aspects of a topic. Clearly,
more time is needed for students to make their positions known
to others in the class and to respond to their classmates' positions.
Another thing I try to do in my seminar is to give students some
practice presenting material to the rest of the class. One year
I had students give oral Reports on current economic issues they
found in the Wall Street Journal. Another year I had them give
oral Reports on an assigned reading. In both years the Reports
were at best competent, and at worst, nearly deadly to those in
the audience. Feeling secure that it wasn't the material that
was at fault, I thought that it was necessary to get students
more excited about their presentations. If they put more into
their presentations, their fellow classmates would get more out
of them.
B.
Strategy
An e-mail discussion group seemed like the perfect answer to the
problem of running out of class time. Our in-class discussion
could be carried on immediately after class and for as long as
students wanted to debate each other. All students would have
equal access to this forum and the shier, quieter (often better)
students might feel a bit more courageous without 17 students
staring at them. And better yet, the statements might be more
thoughtful since students can choose to have more time to think
before posting their entries as opposed to responses made in class.
Unlike the e-mail discussion group, a PowerPoint presentation
didn't seem like the perfect answer at first. While it might get
students more excited about their presentations, excitability
amongst freshmen isn't something that should always be encouraged.
The ability of students to import any kind of graphic they wished
into their presentations, which were given during the last week
of classes, with the lights off was simply a tad worrisome. Knowing,
however, that past student presentations were usually awful, that
PowerPoint was a tool that students could use throughout their
college careers and possibly in their worklife as well, and that
this adventure would probably be funded I decided to give it a
try.
C.
Assessment
The e-mail discussions got off to a rocky start. We didn't get
our account until the second or third week into the semester despite
requesting it before classes began. Then after one week of mostly
successful postings by students the following week about half
the class lost their subscription. They claimed they sent their
e-mails but no one else received them nor did they receive any
of their classmates' e-mails. Hearing that other faculty were
having similar difficulties and that the correction was to have
students resubscribe we tried again the following week with better,
but not perfect results. At this point I told the students who
were still having difficulty getting through to check their subscription
again and, in the meantime, to just turn in handwritten responses
to our class discussion since their postings were part of their
grade. Around this time as well we had a scheduled break from
our electronic discussion group because of our library orientation,
a PowerPoint demonstration, a paper assignment and Fall Break.
When we got the e-mail discussions going again they just seemed
to be an afterthought for students. They would simply go through
the motions of briefly laying out their positions, not immediately
after class as I had hoped, but usually hours before the next
class and the next topic. Whatever momentum we had, we lost.
A second problem with the e-mail discussions was that while it
provided an opportunity for students to continue debating, for
the most part, students felt that there was already too much conflict
in class and that they didn't want to extend it any further. While
I tried to reassure them that the conflict of ideas is healthy
and stimulates learning many seemed more concerned about what
others were saying about them after class. The result was that
far too many e-mail entries were just bland summaries of the class
discussions and personal positions that were not too far from
the class consensus position. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal
with this next year but I don't expect this problem to exist in
my Senior Seminar where students tend to be more self-confident
and where most enjoy strutting stuff.
Midway through the semester I demonstrated PowerPoint to the class
to show them what their end-of-the-semester presentation might
look like. I thought then that my worst fears were going to be
realized. The class was having a blast imagining (and vocalizing)
the possibilities. At one point students were encouraging me to
paste an animal graphic into one of the PowerPoint slides and
then make words fly from its mouth. Needless to say, this experience
significantly lowered my already low expectations for their presentations.
Much to my surprise, however, the presentations were very, very
good. Students put a lot of time and effort into their presentations,
maybe because they didn't want to be embarrassed relative to what
others were going to do or maybe because they had a powerful tool
that was simple, fun, and very professional looking. The presentation
slides were logically laid out, the bullets captured the most
important points, and many students scanned or copied in relevant
graphs and charts. It was much easier for me and the rest of the
class to follow compared to prior years when students would stand
in the front of the class, look down at their notes, and talk
in a monotone voice that wouldn't let you know what was important
and what wasn't. I could also tell that students were less nervous
this year as opposed to other years. I'm not sure why, but maybe
it was because the lights were dimmed and that fellow students
were fixated on the screen instead of the presenter. In any case,
the presentations (not the content) were better and none of my
fears were realized. And finally, when I asked the class about
PowerPoint, everyone said that they enjoyed it, found it useful,
and didn't spend much time fussing with the technology.
Last updated
on 1/26/99; 2:16:11 PM
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