Using Powerpoint to facilitate CATs

Powerpoint is a wonderful modern technological add on, but it often serves to emphasize the gap between the instructor and the student. In fact, it enhances the power of the instructor because information can be presented in multimedia forms, not just verbally, or textually.

Powerpoint however can be used to allow teachers to listen to what students have to say about a particular subject. Traditionally, it is the instructor's thinking that is most visible in the classroom. In what ways can Powerpoint be used to surface student thinking and allow their thoughts to be more visible?

This of course is a call to shift from teacher centeredness. It is an invitation for students to engage in dialogue and for instructors to begin to listen.

There are several ways of doing this, but one of the ways is to do a CATs exercise using Powerpoint. Here is an example of how it can be done from the Center for Teaching and Learning Services, University of Minnesota. Four CATs are featured here: i) Focused listing, ii) Classroom Opinion Polls, iii) Minute Paper (though here they have an adaptation - the Two Minute Paper) and iv) Muddiest Point.

These would be quick and ready to use ways of assessing student learning to see what they know or don't know, and to help the instructor determine what sort of actions need to be taken to help students acquire the knowledge, skills, competencies, and other graduate outcomes they want to see in place.