The use and abuse of PowerPoint in Teaching and Learning in the Life Sciences: A Personal Overview

Abstract

AbstractThe use of PowerPoint for teaching presentations has considerable potential for encouraging more professional presentations. This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages associated with its use in a teaching and learning context and suggests some guidelines and pedagogical strategies that need to be considered where it is to be used. It summarises some of the key principles of presentation that are frequently ignored and suggests some of the approaches that need to be incorporated into good practice in Life Science teaching and learning. Its use is often limited to an information transmission mode and this paper emphasises that this is a very restricted pedagogical use of a very powerful and flexible teaching and learning support tool.