Designing effective teaching slides

Teachers often create slides for their lessons, but did you know that how you design and teach with those slides can have a major impact on how well students learn? Here are some tips for designing slides based on learning principles from cognitive science. 

1. Limit the amount of text 

When learners see text-heavy slides and try to listen to the teacher speaking those slides, it’s like trying to listen to two people speaking at once, which is impossible. Learners end up splitting their attention between the two tasks, and learning is much less efficient. Even if the words on the slides are the same words the teacher is speaking to, learners can read them much faster than the teacher can say them, and the attention-switching remains. If  you are speaking to the slides during your lesson, use a maximum of one key word or short phrase. 

2. Add images 

While the brain can process and encode only one audio track at one time (as we saw with tip No. 1), it can encode a visual track at the same time as an audio track, and the learning therefore becomes much more powerful. This is called dual coding, and the research shows that learners understand and retain far more when visuals accompany words. Be aware of copyright. Use websites that offer free high-quality stock images, such as unsplash.com. 

3. Use a consistent design 

Organizing digital learning materials in a consistent fashion helps the learner focus on the teaching and be less distracted by the way material is spatially arranged. Consider having the key word or phrase as well as your visual in a consistent location to help students focus on the idea. From time to time, if there happens to be one key idea you really want to spark students’ attention, this is the place to change up that slide organization, then return to the standard organization. 

4. Avoid distractions 

With a plethora of funny memes,  animated GIFs or videos readily available, it can become tempting to insert these into teaching slides in an effort to keep students’ attention. However, this may work too well, and it may be those distractions that students remember. As Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath states in Stop Talking, Start Influencing (available at the ATA library), we remember what we pay attention to.

Two caveats

• The image should complement what is being said or read. 
• If a complex chart or diagram is needed, highlight one portion at
  a time to guide attention.