Using Presentation Software in Large Lecture Classes

Abstract

Geology departments may have all or many of the resources necessary to utilize readily available instructional technology for teaching large numbers of students in introductory courses. Presentation software, such as Astound, provides instructors with the option of adding maps, figures, graphs, and animation to classroom demonstrations. Complex diagrams can be recreated, element by element, label by label, at a pace suitable to the instructor. This method has been used to teach an environmental geology course at the University of Akron and was enthusiastically received by the students. However, the method is initially time intensive, and it should be viewed as another instructional tool rather than a miracle cure for the ills of undergraduate education.