Making Better PowerPoint Presentations. We have all experienced the pain of a bad PowerPoint presentation. And even though we promise ourselves never to make the same mistakes, we can still fall prey to common design pitfalls. The good news is that your PowerPoint presentation doesn’t have to be ordinary. By keeping in mind a few guidelines, your classroom presentations can stand above the crowd!
“It is easy to dismiss design – to relegate it to mere ornament, the prettifying of places and objects to disguise their banality. But that is a serious misunderstanding of what design is and why it matters.”Daniel Pink Baddeley and Hitch’s model of working memory. One framework that can be useful when making design decisions about your PowerPoint slide design is Baddeley and Hitch’s model of working memory. As illustrated in the diagram above, the Central Executive coordinates the work of three systems by organizing the information we hear, see, and store into working memory.
The Phonological Loop deals with any auditory information. Short-Term Memory and Working Memory - Types of Memory. Short-term memory acts as a kind of “scratch-pad” for temporary recall of the information which is being processed at any point in time, and has been refered to as "the brain's Post-it note". It can be thought of as the ability to remember and process information at the same time.
It holds a small amount of information (typically around 7 items or even less) in mind in an active, readily-available state for a short period of time (typically from 10 to 15 seconds, or sometimes up to a minute). For example, in order to understand this sentence, the beginning of the sentence needs to be held in mind while the rest is read, a task which is carried out by the short-term memory. Other common examples of short-term memory in action are the holding on to a piece of information temporarily in order to complete a task (e.g.
The central executive part of the prefrontal cortex at the front of the brain appears to play a fundamental role in short-term and working memory. Happy Students Learn Better! Foster Positive Emotions in Every Course You Make. Happy Students Learn Better! Foster Positive Emotions in Every Course You Make “First there is emotion; after that comes cognition,” said Frank Thissen, a Multimedia Didactics and Intercultural Communication professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Stuttgart, Germany. In the midst of a large research on the role of emotions in eLearning, Professor Thissen further explained that while negative emotions tend to make us clearly remember data including the minutest detail, positive emotions tend to help us remember more complex things. And this is what we’ve been trying to communicate for a long time: effective eLearning design should evoke positive emotions. If learners feel safe, happy, and fullfilled, they will actually enjoy learning.
Don Norman, founder of Nielsen Norman Group, said it more eloquently. He further explained the importance of positive emotions in eLearning: “It's only in the last couple of years, that people have studied the positive emotions. Confidence 1. 2. 3. Principle 11. Complex Learning Is Enhanced by Challenge and Inhibited by Threat. FINAL.wmv. Microsoft Word - Working_paper 77_globadvantage.doc - working_paper-77_globadvantage.pdf. Emotional_intelligence.pdf. Doctor Disruption » Principles of Design #38 – Recognition Over Recall. Tip of the tongue Our ability to recognise things that we have previously experienced is much better than our ability to recall the same things from memory. Recognition is much easier because recognition provides cues which helps us sort through our vast memory and find the most relevant information.
We all find multiple choice questions easier than short answer questions, because the list of possible answers makes it easier and quicker to find the right one, as we can narrow down options very efficiently unlike short answer questions which leave a much greater range of possibilities for us to search. Our recognition memory is also much easier to build than recall, as mere exposure to an object creates the ability to recognise, even without any information on the origin, context or relevance of the memory.
Lend a helping hand. Memory Recall/Retrieval - Memory Processes. Recall or retrieval of memory refers to the subsequent re-accessing of events or information from the past, which have been previously encoded and stored in the brain. In common parlance, it is known as remembering. During recall, the brain "replays" a pattern of neural activity that was originally generated in response to a particular event, echoing the brain's perception of the real event. In fact, there is no real solid distinction between the act of remembering and the act of thinking. These replays are not quite identical to the original, though - otherwise we would not know the difference between the genuine experience and the memory - but are mixed with an awareness of the current situation.
One corollary of this is that memories are not frozen in time, and new information and suggestions may become incorporated into old memories over time. Thus, remembering can be thought of as an act of creative reimagination. The efficiency of human memory recall is astounding. Using Brain Research to Design Better eLearning Courses: 7 Tips for Success. Using Brain Research to Design Better eLearning Courses: 7 Tips for Success The brain is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve by obtaining new knowledge and skills, even before birth. Unfortunately, retaining information can be challenging, simply because instructors and course designers do not always use methods that facilitate remembering.
The following seven points look at key principles from neuroscience research paired with tips that will allow course creators to achieve effective eLearning development. 1) Favor Recognition Over Recall There are two different types of memory: recognition and recall. Recommended reads: 2) Balance Emotion and Cognition As the brain is both rational and emotional, it is important for course designers to create a balance between the two elements for effective eLearning development. 3) Help Learners to Avoid Stress and Fear When Learning Recommended Resources: 4) Keep The Working Memory in Mind Use a combination of visual and auditory techniques.