FINDING herself without her trusty transparencies one day, Dr Lorraine Walsh reverted to more traditional lecturing. Her students preferred it, so she decided to find out why.
She says lecturers are more conscious of their own performance than students’ when using OHP materials. Transparencies are impressive, but confuse students, she told the British Educational Research Association conference.
Faced with slides, they read and copy rather than think, resulting in notes but not much learning. Dr Walsh, of the University of Dundee, recommends: use the OHP selectively; display points for discussion; use handouts for information; let the students write on transparencies for group work.
“Don’t be afraid of silence in lectures as it equals space for students,” she concludes.
