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PowerPoint in action: Dr. John Murphy dodging death
John Murphy, Joe C. Thompson Centennial Professor In
Advertising, Ph.D.
Department of Advertising
Class: Intro to advertising/Integ brand communication
How Dr. Murphy dodges death by PowerPoint:
- Excellent flow and control of the lecture
Students’ attention is focused and never divided between him and the materials or between the materials presented on the right and left screens. - Uses PowerPoint as an organizer
Presents short key concepts; questions presented using text only. PowerPoint design is a dark blue background with white text (high contrast for better visibility) - Integrates a variety of supporting text and media during lecture
Most supporting graphics/examples projected from slides on the right screen. Supporting materials always changing, which increases student engagement.
Using PowerPoint in the classroom: Q & A with Dr. Murphy
Q: Do you print out the handouts for students and give them to them each class? Or do you provide the handouts on a Web site for students to download and print out?
A: About 3-4 of the class lectures are outlined in the handout packet that the students buy at the beginning of the semester for $2.50 at the Union copy center. I do not provide many handouts on the class Web site. I feel strongly that this would encourage students to skip class. An outline or a set of my PowerPoint slides is not a proper substitute for being in class as the concepts, etc. are discussed.
Q: Do you post your PowerPoint slides to a Web site?
A: No.
Q: How long does it take you to find and prepare all the media and materials you use for one class?
A: Tough to answer this one. I am constantly updating and changing my materials – slides and PowerPoint plus materials that are used in the 50-minute labs that go with the course.
Q: How do you feel about posting lots of materials used during lecture (and other resources) to a Web site for students? In other words, do you feel that if you provide materials to students before a lecture they won't be motivated to attend class?
A: I think this would be a mistake. No doubt that this encourages students to miss class. For the same reason, I never allowed note-taking services to operate in my classes. If a student misses a class they are responsible for finding another student's notes to copy. (I will help them locate a good note-taker if they say they don't know anyone in the class.)