May 1995 — Features
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Students Assess Computer-Aided Classroom Presentations
Dr. Martha C. Sammons, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio This paper describes the results of a pilot program conducted in the College of Liberal Arts at Wright State University during the 1993/4 school year in which students judged their instructors. The overall purpose of this project was to motivate faculty to improve teaching and learning through use of technology-based classroom presentation tools. Student assessment information is highly useful to schools considering purchasing presentation equipment. Their comments also provide useful suggestions for faculty designing computer-aided presentations. Project Overview The specific goals of this project were to: Assess faculty interest and needs; Improve the teaching and motivation of all faculty in the College of Liberal Arts; Enable faculty to try using new technologies in the classroom; Challenge faculty to find ways to integrate technology into the curriculum; Encourage faculty teaching common subject matter to develop common educational resource material; Investigate strategies to motivate and reward faculty for improving teaching presentations; Investigate strategies to integrate new with traditional teaching methods; Improve student note-taking and learning by improving the quality and availability of classroom resources (text, graphics, video, and audio); Assess the effectiveness of this program on improving student performance; Determine which new technologies are appropriate to individual teaching styles and academic disciplines; Investigate approaches to reduce human and technical barriers to implementing technology in the classroom; Investigate new computer-enhanced audio-visual technologies and continue to explore emerging products; Allow more classrooms to be equipped for presentations using new technologies; Find a way to equip classrooms with portable, cost-effective and easy-to-use equipment; and finally, to Seek ways to create a "democratic" environment for our combining of technology/educational resources. As a reward for participation and use of the computer in the classroom, faculty would be given portable notebook computers plus related equipment, software and training. Participants & Equipment Liberal Arts faculty were encouraged to submit proposals that described their familiarity with, and access to, computers. They also were asked to describe ways they would use a computer both on and off campus, as well as detail how it could be used in current courses.1-3611
