Student
Projects using PowerPoint
By Brian Pankuch
Editor
Newsletter: Using Computers in Chemical
Education
http://www.eclipse.net/~pankuch/Newsletter/NewsHP/HPNewsCCE.html
I. My
experiences on professional leaves exposed me to courses that had a big
component of the final grade as a group project.
The form of the project depends on the course. Computer programming courses require a finished interactive
program (games were popular), engineering a interaction with local research
firms and a report, liberal arts type courses-written reports, and chemistry
courses a group presentation with their material on the Internet. (The latter is done in conjunction with Columbia College
whose students are specifically studying using video to enhance learning in
science)
My own
experience was positive working on projects, I felt I had the time and
incentive to explore and learn in an atmosphere where significant projects of
personal interest were expected and supported. Taking the new principles and ideas you are learning and
applying them to something you are personally interested in is an effective way
of learning. I found that students I interacted with felt they learned a lot.
For me it has been a natural evolution of
experimenting with student projects, incorporating PowerPoint, animations,
movies into my own lectures.
II.
At my home
institution I present the group project to students by asking if they would
like the next test as an open book test. Generally everyone is
positive, then I ask, would they like to take the exam home? Now a few students who have had
challenging take home tests start asking how hard it will be. I tell them they
can choose the topics to be explored and discussed, decide what questions they
want to answer, have classmates help answer the questions, use any help,
source, person, Internet, etc., as long as the sources are listed in a
bibliography. In other words if you
have to be tested it sounds like a good situation. I generally answer a few
questions and ask for the topic and who will be on the team in a week or so.
They choose the topic but check with me on
suitability. I usually find
theyÕve chosen a very broad topic that needs some focusing. Everyone is required
to hand in a group project, all have the option to give a class presentation. I
havenÕt made the class presentation mandatory because many of my students are
not yet fluent in English. The class presentation counts extra toward the final
grade. Those people who are
working for an A in the course are required to give a class presentation.
When I first started using projects few students
chose to give an oral report. In fact so few students were giving a class
presentation that I required people working for an A to give a report. This
last semester all except one group chose to give a class presentation. I believe this is partially due to the
students seeing how much fun I have creating and using multimedia in my
presentations.
IÕm interested in having a wide selection of topics,
but there must be a strong chemistry component.
III. My
students choose partners for the project, who are usually people in their study
group. We set up the study groups
the first week of class. They have some experience working
together, but a few opt to find someone else. Projects can be on a wide range
of topics, but must be chemistry related. Over the years IÕve found that groups
of 2-3 students work best together.
ItÕs easier to meet together, agree on topics, and apportion the work.
Students can use any source, usually it is a combination of internet, books,
magazines. Though on occasion
students have gone out seeking interviews with researchers.
IV.
Presentations
typically include models, graphics, live chemistry demos, documents used with
an Elmo, students started asking to use PowerPoint several years ago. This year every group but one gave a class
presentation and most used PowerPoint. It is getting time consuming since
students frequently have a poor sense of how long it will take to do their
presentation.
Some students really get into it and
give very interesting presentations, but there is a finite amount of time
available so I have to call time on them to allow others their fair time. We extend the time available since the
class seems willing to let their mates run until the next class is knocking on
the door.
I frequently get two different reports.
Students hand in the typed project and the PowerPoint lecture as two separate
packets- two approaches or reports. They are of course related, but students
frequently emphasize parts of the report they can illustrate with pictures,
animations and movies in the PowerPoint.
V. A
schedule helps the students organize themselves.
It is important to get started early enough
to do substantial work but after preliminary drops so you donÕt have to keep
reshuffling teams to account for lost members. Everything handed in must be
typed.
1.
A preliminary
statement of topic, members of the group, and whether they plan on giving a presentation
2.
A detailed list of
topics with a preliminary bibliography. Occasionally a student will actually
try to come up with a solution to a problem contacting local drug firms for
direct research info.
3.
A specific due date
for project and presentation.
I have tried more 'milestones' it is not
obvious it helps, but it surely creates more busywork.
VI.
An alternative
method is putting projects online
and using a browser as a presentation medium. This method is easy to
follow student progress, and milestones are a lot easier to check. Assuming of course that students are
making progress. It has been my
experience that students require a lot more help in putting a project up on the
Internet than putting together a PowerPoint presentation.
VII.
Some of the
topics this last year:
Environmental hazards, fuel cells,
buckyballs and medicine, alternative E,
testing for glucose in diabetics, energy sources, swimming pool care, vitamins and supplements
for health, nanotechnology, chemistry of camping, explosives, energy transfer
in molecules, designing molecules, H bomb, health uses of Nuclear energy.