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7 Law Tchr. 1 (1999-2000)

handle is hein.journals/lawteaer7 and id is 1 raw text is: TUE LAW GONZAGA UNIVERSITY Institute for Law School Teaching Fall 1999 Adventures in PowerPoint Teach with punched-up visual aids and see the difference By Alison Sulentic One day last semester, a student who had witnessed my struggle to get the PowerPoint projector, laptop computer, and remote control unit to work at the same time gently observed, You re pretty new to computers, aren t you? Yet just a few moments earlier, I had been congratulating myself as a pathfinder forging hardily into a new technological frontier. These different perspectives illustrate the gap between the experience of many law students, who were born to the computer age, and that of their professors, who until recently found an electric typewriter to be an excellent example of technological wizardry. Using PowerPoint can be an adventure, especially if terms like Java turn your students thoughts to computers, while you contemplate beverages. Last semester, I decided to use PowerPoint slides in my three-credit Sales course. I decided to do so for several reasons. First, Sales is a course that requires constant in- class attention to statutory language. A visual aid, such as PowerPoint, enables the class to examine the statutory language on a common visual field, rather than look exclusively at individual Code books (a practice, by the way, that I had no intention of discouraging and indeed hoped to actively encourage). Second, I prefer to teach Sales through the detailed analysis of hypotheticals. I planned to project the basic elements of the hypotheticals on the PowerPoint screen in order to help my students (and me) remember the basic fact patterns I set out. In addition, the PowerPoint projector would enable me to highlight changes in the hypothetical fact patterns as the class progressed, something that I thought would be helpful. Finally, I hoped that PowerPoint would help me add a little pizzaz to what can be a hypertechnical subject. Now, a few months later and a semester wiser, I have emerged from my first adventure with PowerPoint with an increased enthusiasm for the medium. I also have a few words to share with those who might be considering the pros and cons of using this new technology in the classroom. PowerPoint and Class Participation Many professors fear, with good reason, that the use of PowerPoint will dull class participation. Students who are equipped with PowerPoint printouts will simply gaze at the screen and forego note-taking, thinking, legal analysis, etc. This is a realistic concern, and professors who opt to use PowerPoint must consider both their expectations of class participation and the means they use to stimulate class discussion. Class participation is a necessary component of any course that utilizes the problem method. The point, after all, is to get the students to do the problems. I found that the effect that PowerPoint had on class discussion depended on the way that I structured the slides. If I presented a slide that flashed the solution to a problem on the screen, students had little incentive to discuss the problem. On the other hand, if I used the slides to state the facts of a hypothetical or to project a portion of the statute, I found that I could continue to question the students in much the same manner that I would have employed had I been working without visual aids. Using PowerPoint may indeed cause a professor to subordinate the desire for classroom spontaneity to the need for advance preparation of a slideshow that follows a particular lesson plan. My own approach to a class like Sales is very methodical, and I keep a tight rein on the class s progress in order to cover all of the necessary doctrinal material. This approach slotted in easily with the kind of preparation necessary for a successful PowerPoint class. In other classes, where I am interested in probing a subject in a more open-ended manner or in soliciting student input concerning the direction the class is taking, I would find it harder to prepare and use PowerPoint slides effectively. While it is possible to back up or go forward in the slide Continued on page 2

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