Using PowerPoint in Class

After reading this  and this over at Prawfs, I thought I would share my thoughts on using PowerPoint in class. Overall, I think PowerPoint is a useful tool that can make the class more engaging and interactive.

Right now, I use PowerPoint in my classes for five purposes:

• To help structure the class. I start each class with a review slide that lists the cases we covered in the previous class.  I usually make a few comments to summarize some of the key issues.  The next slide is always a slide with the agenda for the day.  My third slide typically has a list of the major course topics with the topic for the day highlighted.  I do this to remind the students how the cases for the day tie in to the overall course.  My fourth slide usually starts our discussion of the cases.
• To provide a visual reference point for each case. For each case we cover in class, I have a slide with the case name in the title and a picture in the body of the slide. (I usually pull the pictures from Wikipedia or google images.)  I think the pictures help the students remember the case by giving them a visual frame of reference.  For a major dissent or concurrence, I will typically have a new slide with that Justice’s picture.  In the notes section of the slide (which the students do not see), I have the questions that I plan to ask the class and the answers I hope to elicit.  I read these before each class as part of my prep.
• To facilitate the use of hypotheticals. Although I like to ask hypotheticals that tweak the facts of a case, I also like to give the students longer hypotheticals to apply the rules in new contexts.  When doing this, I like to use Socrative, an online polling platform, to have students answer in real time.  If the poll is close, I typically tell them to talk about it in small groups, and then I poll again.  The process engages everyone (rather than just the one student I cold call to go over it) and lets me know if they are getting it or if I should spend more time on something.  
• To help convey background information, such as cases I did not assign or the historical context of the cases.
• To present flowcharts, diagrams, and other visuals.

In the past, when I was less Socratic, I gave the students more information on the PowerPoint slides. As we discussed each case, I had questions appear through the animation function.  I would often have some text appear after the question as a way to summarize things and make sure everyone had the basics.  I no longer do this because I now think that having too much text on the screen makes students think that they don’t need to take notes or think through things as much themselves. 

I would be very interested to hear what others are doing or find effective in the comments.  I am also happy to share Con Law and Criminal Procedure slides with any law professor who is interested.  Just email me at jschmitt1@udayton.edu.

Comments

[Anthony Gaughan]

Great post, Jeff. I too think that Powerpoint and other visual aids are very useful in the classroom, and it's quite helpful to hear how other professors use them.

[Anthony Gaughan]

Jeff, do you also have the students read and mark up the relevant text in their casebook during class?

In the Prawfsblawg post that you link to, Howard Wasserman explains that one reason why he doesn't use Powerpoint is because he wants the students "to learn to read and highlight or underline or mark-up the text as they go, by having the text right in front of them and being able to work with it."

I do the exact same thing as Howard does, but I also simultaneously put the relevant text on a projector screen.

I use the projector screen to make sure everyone is on the same page (literally and metaphorically!), but for the same reason as Howard, I also want the students to have the text right in front of them during class, so that they mark up their hard copy and really engage with it (and also of course to encourage them to do the same when they are reading for class). I find that presenting the text of the Federal Rule or statute simultaneously in two forms--on the classroom projector screen and in the students' rulebooks or casebooks--really helps students analyze each word and see nuances they might otherwise miss.

[Jeff]

Anthony, I don't do much statutory analysis in class these days, but I did put the rules on the screen when I taught PR and Civ Pro years ago. Howard suggests that putting the text on the screen will discourage students from making notes in their books, but I don't think this is a cause for concern. In my experience, as long as you put a minimal amount of material on the slides, using PowerPoint does not detract from students taking their own notes. However, I think Howard would have a point if your slides dissect the text of the rules, especially if you make the slides available to the students. In that case, I think the slides remove the incentive for the students to try to to do the work on their own. As I said in the post, I have to admit that I have made that mistake in the past.