On 9 Jun 00, at 10:19, Miguel Roig wrote:
> However, I wonder about the educational usefulness of this practice.
> I have heard some anecdotal evidence (perhaps here in TIPS) that
> making such slides freely available encourages absentism and
> discourages studying textbook readings. Is anyone aware of any such
> evidence? After all, as some students might say, "why bother come to
> class when you can always get the lectures on the web".
My reply to this, as it is worded, is: "there is no reason." IF, in fact,
a person reading your powerpoints has the same learning
experience as someone sitting in class, why make them sit there?
Your answer to that question will take us where we need to go. If
you say "no because there is additional info not in the notes", then
sharing the notes is not a problem. If your notes serve the same
purpose as a lecture outline or a study guide, there is no difference
except the form in which they are distributed. If you say "no
because they are missing the experience of the class discussion",
then you need to ask how someone can do so well in your course
while missing a part of the course you take to be essential. One
approach here would be to include test items or papers on topics
that were brought up in the discussion.
I would also suggest taking a fresh look at your powerpoint notes. If
that was all you had to go on, would you be able to do well in the
class? If so, your powerpoints may be too cluttered with detail to
be effective and they should be available only outside of class. In
class presentations should probably be written in outline form and
fleshed out in class.
I have noticed that, in general, students do not do well in courses
they do not attend. I am not drawing a causal conclusion from this
(sometimes doing poorly in class precedes the poor attendance)
but there is a relationship. Even without powerpoint distribution,
students can get notes from those who were there and those notes
will, in most cases, be more detailed than my powerpoint.
Students who depend on getting notes from others to keep up in a
class they do not attend will generally not do well. If they do well
without attending class, we shouldn't require their attendance; we
should rethink how it is that someone can do well without coming
to class.
Rick
Dr. Rick Froman
Psychology Department
Box 3055
John Brown University
Siloam Springs, AR 72761
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.jbu.edu/sbs/psych
Office: (501)524-7295
Fax: (501)524-9548
