Developing Effective Classroom Presentations

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Effective instruction begins with solid planning. The first priority
in classroom presentations, or instruction, is to develop a curriculum
which adequately covers the topic at hand. This requires educational
quality informational resources. Most scholastic organizations have
approved texts and sources. It is best to utilize these sources as
most national and regional testing is developed from approved sources
such as these. Using texts also provides an initial framework for the
curricula, as the order of lessons is normally determined by the
chapter order within the texts. The initial curriculum is a basic
outline of topics, not a detailed information guide. This gives the
students a timeline for the class, the main subject areas to be
covered and assignments which will be due at given times. The rest of
the instructional plans will come out of this framework.

The next level of planning is the individual lesson plans. For each
session listed in the curricula, a lesson plan is developed. This
takes the basic topic listed in the curriculum and fleshes it out to
cover the subject matter in greater detail. Specifically, each of the
main topics for that session should be addressed, with enough
supporting detail to give a clear understanding of the subject matter.
A good rule of thumb when determining whether the detail is adequate,
inadequate or excessive is to run it by a novice on the subject matter
and see whether or not it appears clear to them at the end of the
section. One of the common mistakes made in instruction is trying to
gauge information clarity as an expert, when the students will not
have that level of understanding in most cases. This makes the use of
test subjects, at the presumed level of knowledge of the students, a
valuable tool to ensure understanding of the subject matter. If this
is not an available resource for the instructor, the alternative would
be to assume that none of the supporting information is known to the
students unless it has been previously covered in the class or a known
prerequisite to it. This may lead to oversaturation, or covering too
much information, which is why it is preferable to use a test subject.
The use of a chapter outline to layout the main points by topic
heading, filled in with details from the paragraphs contained within
each heading or subheading generally works well. These points should
be summarized, not complete sentences. A firm understanding of the
subject matter, plus practice on the lesson plans allows for a greater
degree of summarization; less familiarity necessitates greater
detail.

When this point in the planning process is reached, the instructor
will want to determine the methods of instruction or presentation to
be used to supplement or replace lectures. This would include videos,
demonstrations, PowerPoint presentations, graphs, charts, guest
speakers and student lead presentations, as well as assignments to
augment instruction. These are listed within the lesson plans at the
point in which they will be utilized. This ensures smooth transition
and continuity for both the instructor and the students. It also
ensures that the required supplies and equipment are available.
Material needs should be clearly thought out and listed so that
arrangements can be made ahead of time, should that be required. Never
underestimate the importance of planning and forethought, the best
laid plans do not work if the resources are not available when needed.
The greater the lead time given the less likely it is that problems
will arise. Be proactive.
When the planning phase is over, it is time to deliver. Control of the
room is a necessity for effective teaching. The methods for this can
be vastly different depending on the age of students, setting,
position of authority of the instructor and interest level in the
subject matter. Since that subject could be addressed in a full course
and still lack enough detail, I will not cover it in depth here.
Certain factors which contribute to control of the room will be
addressed, however. First is demonstrating a competency in the
subject. If the students believe that the presenter lacks credibility
he/she will have difficulty maintaining control. Don't rely solely on
notes; be able to answer questions adequately from your knowledge
base. It is also key to present in an assertive manner. Presenters who
seem uncomfortable or agitated do not hold the attention or respect of
the audience effectively. The ability to project their voice is also
crucial to instruction. IF an instructor can not be heard clearly, he/
she cannot teach effectively. Fortunately there are products today
which allow any presenter to be heard, from wireless microphones and
speakers to PA systems and professional sound systems. Depending on
the presenter's needs these can be set up to work with computer
presentations, videos and audio units as well as microphones. They may
also be scaled for small classroom settings to large venues. Once
again, it is crucial to plan for the needs of the instructor and the
class to be sure that adequate resources are available.

The final section to be addressed is gauging effectiveness. Often,
surveys are used at the ends of semesters or classes to determine the
success or failure of methods used. This is highly subjective and may
not provide accurate feedback. Testing scores can often provide
effective evaluation, as they demonstrate the actual cognition of the
students in relation to the subject matter. This, however, has risks
as well. If the tests are poorly correlated to the lesson plans, then
they will show poorly. This should be avoided by careful planning and
development in the sections covered previously. Furthermore, each
subject should be looked at on its own merits, not in comparison to
other subjects. A high test average in a rudimentary class is not as
significant as a high test average in advanced subject matter. Often
lower scores may be expected as the difficulty of the subject and
detail density of subject matters increases. If possible, entrance
testing, or benchmarking, followed by exit testing is the optimal
effectiveness gauge, as it provides a baseline for knowledge prior to
the class and a demonstration of the knowledge gained through
participation in the class.

The use of these strategies should allow for increased effectiveness
in classroom settings. In summary planning is crucial to success, but
it must be followed up by good execution and metrics to determine
effectiveness. Where plans fall short of expectations or needs,
adjustments should be made and the process re-entered until an optimal
instructional program has been found.


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<br>
Scott Schwartz - SDS Consulting Group - Greenwich, CT - 203-979-9822 -
<a target="_new" href="http://ctoutsourceservices.com">http://
www.ctoutsourceservices.com</a><br>
Full service independent consultant. Services offered include
Curricula Design, training program facilitation, presentation design,
marketing campaigns, database design, document design, system designs
and strategic planning at costs that small businesses can afford.
Local source for small business outsourcing.