Instructors often use Microsoft PowerPoint lectures and handouts as support tools to provide students with the main concepts of the lectures. Some instructors and researchers believe that PowerPoint encourages student passivity. We conducted 2 studies to determine whether the use of content-based questions (CBQs) would enhance learning when…

We evaluated the effectiveness of the use of an electronic personal response system (or "clickers") during an introductory psychology lecture on perceptual constancy. We graphed and projected student responses to questions during the lecture onto a large-screen display in Microsoft PowerPoint. The distributions of answers corresponded…

Illustrates computer-based classroom demonstrations in perception and cognition that require no computer programming and can be delivered with standard lecture presentation software. Examples include apparent motion, anorthoscopic perception, illusory conjunctions, and the capacity of early visual memory. (CMK)

Compares teaching observational research using a lecture format to using a software program called Courseware for Observational Research (COR). Finds that the COR-instructed class obtained a mean score of 78% on the examination, earned higher grades on the research reports, and rated the usefulness of conducting research more highly than the…

Asserts that current software makes it easy for instructors to integrate visual displays into their lectures. Reviews the benefits of using visual displays, provides a taxonomy of visual displays, and proposes principles for constructing each type of display. Includes reproductions of related computer graphic screens. (MJP)