Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Joel Rodgers, TATP Humanities Trainer
David Chan, TATP Sciences Trainer

PowerPoint and other slideware have become ubiquitous in post-secondary classrooms, and these new technologies have attracted both critics and defenders. This workshop will locate this debate around slideware presentations within the broader question of how to use visual aids effectively in our teaching. What are the benefits and limits of slideware as a pedagogical tool? What are some alternatives to PowerPoint? Would a handout or chalkboard demonstration be more effective? If we choose to use slideware, what are some principles for designing effective slides? In this workshop, participants will develop a research-based framework for incorporating visual aids into their teaching. They will then apply these principles of multimedia learning to a new or existing visual aid during the workshop. Participants are encouraged to come with a visual aid that they would like to develop (e.g. two to three slides from a slideware presentation, a chalkboard diagram, or a handout). Alternatively, participants may create a new visual aid based on something they foresee teaching in the future.