Effective Use of

Teaching Aids

Session 1
Basic Teaching Skills Course
for Recently-Appointed Academic Staff

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TASK - Introductions
Stage One

Stage Two

Find a partner, preferably

someone you dont know.
Find out a few things about
them, e.g.:

Prepare a brief presentation

to introduce the person to
the group, and illustrate it
with with either:

Who they are,

Which school/unit they
work in,
What they do.

Time for task - 10 minutes.

Time for task - 5 minutes

flipchart, or
overhead transparencies.

Stage Three
Make your presentation to
the whole group.

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Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Choose the most appropriate visual aid for your purpose
and context,
Use the black-/white-board effectively,
Make the most of the overhead projector,
Produce a basic presentation with MS Powerpoint,
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of other
media.

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Why use teaching aids?

Teaching aids are useful to:
reinforce what you are saying,
ensure that your point is understood,
signal what is important/essential,
enable students to visualise or experience
something that is impractical to see or do in real
life,
engage students other senses in the learning
process,
facilitate different learning styles.

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We Learn and Retain:

10% of what we READ

20% of what we HEAR
30% of what we SEE
50% of what we HEAR and
SEE
Higher levels of retention can be achieved
through active involvement in learning.
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WHITE-/BLACKBOARD
Advantages

Disadvantages

No advanced preparation
required,
except when displaying a
complex table/chart/
diagram.
Technology is not
dependent on electricity or
other possible glitches.
Can be used by students
for problem-solving, etc.

Time-consuming if you have

a lot to write.
Handwriting may be difficult
to read (legibility, size,
glare, etc.).
Turn your back on audience.
Cleaning the board (chalk
dust, permanent marker,
etc.)
Cant go back to something
youve erased.

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WHITE-/BLACKBOARD
TIPS
Get to the lecture hall early to make sure that the
board has been cleaned.
Bring your own chalk/markers and eraser.
If you have problems with keeping your writing
level, draw horizontal lines in advance using a
pencil and metre stick.
Draw complex diagrams, charts, etc. in advance
and cover with a piece of newsprint until needed.
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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Advantages

Disadvantages

Allows you to prepare all

your slides in advance.
Particularly suited for
complex diagrams, charts
and illustrations.
Can build up information
point-by-point through the
use of overlays.
Dont have to turn your
back on the audience.

A blown bulb or power

failure can spoil all your
hard work.
Image quality can also be
a problem.
Can be disorienting to
manipulate transparencies
on projector plate.

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Preparing Transparencies
By hand, or
Computer application (eg. MS PowerPoint, MS
Word, HTML documents)
Printing - colour or B/W
Printer (laser or inkjet), or
Photocopier

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Selecting Text

Avoid overcrowding
Avoid continuous prose
Bullet or numbered points preferred
KILLS
Keep It Legible, Lean and Simple

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Keep words to a minimum:
Please observe the
rules prohibiting the
combustion of
vegetable material
and the exhalation of
noxious fumes in this
auditorium.

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NO SMOKING

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Tables are best avoided:

East
West
North

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1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr.

20.4
27.4
90.0
20.4
30.6
38.6
34.7
31.5
45.9
46.8
45.0
43.9

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Use Charts/Graphs instead:
200
150

North

100

West
East

50
0
1st Qtr

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2nd Qtr

3rd Qtr

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4th Qtr

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Choosing a Font

Examples:

Size - minimum 20pt

(5mm high)

14 pt Tahoma

20 pt Tahoma

28 pt Tahoma

36 pt Tahoma
Sans serif fonts
preferred
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Times New Roman

Arial
Comic Sans

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Style Notes for Transparencies
Allow a margin of 5 cm (2) all round.
Avoid TOO MUCH UPPERCASE TEXT
For emphasis, use bold or underlining instead of
italics
Keep titles systematic and consistent
Justification - left or centred
Avoid light text on dark background.

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OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Beforehand

During the Lecture

Get to the room early to

make sure the OHP is
working.
Check the aim and
focus.
Walk to the back of the
room to see whether the
smallest print is
readable.
Relax (if possible).

Keep used and unused

slides in separate piles.
Cover the slide with a
piece of cardboard and
slide it down to reveal
text as you go.
Use a pen on the OHP
glass rather than
pointing to the screen.

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DATA PROJECTOR

(portable)

How to connect your Laptop to a

portable data projector:
Attach one end of the data cable to the serial port
of the laptop.
Attach the other end to the RGB IN port of the
data projector.
Switch the data projector on followed by the
laptop.
Press the 'Fn' and the appropriate function key to
display.

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DATA PROJECTOR

(fixed)

NOTE: Available in certain classrooms

only
A FEW DAYS
BEFORE
Contact Education
Services Helpdesk to
have your account
authorised for log on.

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DATA PROJECTOR

(fixed)

JUST BEFORE YOUR LECTURE/TUTORIAL

Log on as normal.
Open PowerPoint (or other application) and
access files on your designated network drive, or
Open web browser, type in the URL and queue up
what you want to present.
Minimise window until you are ready to use.
For further information, see: http://odtl.dcu.ie/projects/web-tl/terminals.html

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Other Media
FLIPCHART
When to USE:

TIPS

if electricity is
unavailable,
to enable
students to
illustrate group
reports,
to provide a
written record of
points made by
students.

Check the room and

equipment beforehand.
Get your own pad of
newsprint.
Write out important pages in
advance.
Dont put too much on a
page.
Carry a collection of felt-tip
pens and check that they
havent dried out.
Bring along some Blutack.

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Other Media
AUDIO TAPES or CDs
When to USE:

TIPS

Particularly suited for

language learning, media
studies, English literature,
etc.
Valuable when referring to
recorded historical events
(e.g. Martin Luther Kings I
have a dream speech).
Background music can also
be played before class
starts and during group
activities.

Check the room and

equipment beforehand.
Can it be heard from the
back of the room?
Find the right spot on the
tape/CD and queue it up in
advance.
Dont play more than a few
minutes of audio at one time.
Break up longer clips into
segments, interspersed with
discussion or other activities.

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Other Media
VIDEO TAPES or DVDs
When to USE:

TIPS

Adds a dimension not

available through audio
alone - helps students to
visualise.
Essential when illustrating
things that are impractical to
do in real life.
Particularly suited for
language learning, media
studies, engineering, etc.
Valuable when referring to
recorded historical events.

Same as for CDs/audio tapes

Check equipment
beforehand.
Can images be seen from
the back of the room?
Queue up the tape in
advance.
Break viewing into short
segments, interspersed
with discussion or
activities.

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Making the most of the

DATA PROJECTOR
A brief introduction to
MS PowerPoint
Further information can be found on the CSD web-site:
http://www.dcu.ie/internal/csd/sms/webguides2000/power2k/po
wer.htm

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TASK: Choosing Media

Stage One

Stage Two

Work individually.
Think of a lecture/ tutorial
you will be giving. What
media will you use to
support it?
Time for task - 2 minutes.

Form triads.
Share you plans with each
other. Why did you choose
specific media?
Time for task - 5 minutes.

Stage Three
Raise problems/issues in plenary
session.

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TASK: Stop - Start - Continue

Work individually.
Take out a piece of paper, and answer the
following:
STOP - What would you like me to stop doing?
START - What would you like the facilitator to start
doing?
CONTINUE - What would you like the facilitator to
continue doing?

Fold over and hand in on your way out.

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