Psychology (Berta Finkelstein)
In my psychology classes, students have the freedom to select from a variety of projects. Several of them have opted to use powerpoint and webpages as presentation vehicles. For these projects students have to both write a report about a particular project and create a presentation. Both parts of these projects are placed on the Internet. The report is submitted as part of a discussion forum and the presentation is on the WEB. Fellow students are given the web address and can view the work from home. These projects have provided students with both an opportunity to research a particular content area as well as to learn a method of electronically presenting information. They seem to be quite impressed with their own work when it can be viewed on the WEB by others. The greatest problem with using presentation methods is that there is a tendency to either use too much text or too little. The use of power point presentations to convey information is a skill. Students tend to think that it they create an outline of their research for a presentation that they have presented all of their findings. I have found that the best way to use this strategy is to require a written report of the project that is then followed by the electronic presentation. The flip side of this problem is the student who writes a report and then places the entire report in the power point presentation. There has to be a clear set of guidelines for this type of project so that students know what is expected of them.
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