This document provides guidance for academic staff on effective use of teaching aids. It discusses various visual aids like whiteboards, overhead projectors, and data projectors. For each aid, it covers advantages and disadvantages, preparation tips, and best practices. It also includes learning outcomes, why visual aids are useful, retention rates tied to different sensory modes, and tasks for participants to think about aids for their own lectures and provide feedback. The overall document aims to help academic staff incorporate visual elements into their teaching to enhance learning.

1. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 1
Effective Use of
Teaching Aids
Session 1
Basic Teaching Skills Course
for Recently-Appointed Academic Staff

2. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 2
TASK - Introductions
Stage One
Find a partner, preferably
someone you don’t know.
Find out a few things about
them, e.g.:
Who they are,
Which school/unit they work
in,
What they do.
Time for task - 5 minutes
Stage Two
Prepare a brief presentation to
introduce the person to the
group, and illustrate it with with
either:
flipchart, or
overhead transparencies.
Time for task - 10 minutes.
Stage Three
Make your presentation to the
whole group.

3. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 3
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Choose the most appropriate visual aid for your purpose
and context,
Use the black-/white-board effectively,
Make the most of the overhead projector,
Produce a basic presentation with MS Powerpoint,
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of other
media.

4. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 4
Why use teaching aids?
Teaching aids are useful to:
reinforce what you are saying,
ensure that your point is understood,
signal what is important/essential,
enable students to visualise or experience something
that is impractical to see or do in real life,
engage students’ other senses in the learning process,
facilitate different learning styles.

5. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 5
30% of what we SEE
We Learn and Retain:
10% of what we READ
20% of what we HEAR
50% of what we HEAR and SEE
Higher levels of retention can be achieved
through active involvement in learning.

6. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 6
WHITE-/BLACKBOARD
Advantages
No advanced preparation
required,
except when displaying a
complex table/chart/ diagram.
Technology is not dependent
on electricity or other possible
glitches.
Can be used by students for
problem-solving, etc.
Disadvantages
Time-consuming if you have a
lot to write.
Handwriting may be difficult to
read (legibility, size, glare,
etc.).
Turn your back on audience.
Cleaning the board (chalk
dust, permanent marker, etc.)
Can’t go back to something
you’ve erased.

7. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 7
WHITE-/BLACKBOARD
TIPS
Get to the lecture hall early to make sure that the board
has been cleaned.
Bring your own chalk/markers and eraser.
If you have problems with keeping your writing level,
draw horizontal lines in advance using a pencil and
metre stick.
Draw complex diagrams, charts, etc. in advance and
cover with a piece of newsprint until needed.

8. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 8
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Advantages
Allows you to prepare all your
slides in advance.
Particularly suited for complex
diagrams, charts and
illustrations.
Can build up information point-
by-point through the use of
overlays.
Don’t have to turn your back
on the audience.
Disadvantages
A blown bulb or power failure
can spoil all your hard work.
Image quality can also be a
problem.
Can be disorienting to
manipulate transparencies on
projector plate.

9. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 9
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Preparing Transparencies
By hand, or
Computer application (eg. MS PowerPoint, MS Word,
HTML documents)
Printing - colour or B/W
Printer (laser or inkjet), or
Photocopier

10. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 10
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Selecting Text
Avoid overcrowding
Avoid continuous prose
Bullet or numbered points preferred
KILLS
Keep It Legible, Lean and Simple

11. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 11
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Please observe the rules
prohibiting the
combustion of vegetable
material and the
exhalation of noxious
fumes in this auditorium.
NO SMOKING
Keep words to a minimum:

12. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 12
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
1st
Qtr. 2nd
Qtr. 3rd
Qtr. 4th
Qtr.
East 20.4 27.4 90.0 20.4
West 30.6 38.6 34.7 31.5
North 45.9 46.8 45.0 43.9
Tables are best avoided:

13. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 13
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
0
50
100
150
200
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
North
West
East
Use Charts/Graphs instead:

14. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 14
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Choosing a Font
Size - minimum 20pt
(5mm high)
Sans serif fonts preferred
Examples:
14 pt Tahoma
20 pt Tahoma
28 pt Tahoma
36 pt Tahoma
Times New Roman
Arial
Comic Sans

15. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 15
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Style Notes for Transparencies
Allow a margin of 5 cm (2”) all round.
Avoid TOO MUCH UPPERCASE TEXT
For emphasis, use bold or underlining instead of italics
Keep titles systematic and consistent
Justification - left or centred
Avoid light text on dark background.

16. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 16
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
During the Lecture
Keep used and unused
slides in separate piles.
Cover the slide with a
piece of cardboard and
slide it down to reveal
text as you go.
Use a pen on the OHP
glass rather than pointing
to the screen.
Beforehand
Get to the room early to
make sure the OHP is
working.
Check the aim and focus.
Walk to the back of the
room to see whether the
smallest print is readable.
Relax (if possible).

17. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 17
DATA PROJECTOR (portable)
How to connect your Laptop to a portable
data projector:
Attach one end of the data cable to the serial port of the
laptop.
Attach the other end to the RGB IN port of the data
projector.
Switch the data projector on followed by the laptop.
Press the 'Fn' and the appropriate function key to
display.

18. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 18
DATA PROJECTOR (fixed)
A FEW DAYS
BEFORE
Contact Education
Services Helpdesk to
have your account
authorised for log on.
NOTE: Available in certain classrooms
only

19. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 19
DATA PROJECTOR (fixed)
JUST BEFORE YOUR
LECTURE/TUTORIAL
Log on as normal.
Open PowerPoint (or other application) and access files
on your designated network drive, or
Open web browser, type in the URL and queue up what
you want to present.
Minimise window until you are ready to use.
For further information, see: http://odtl.dcu.ie/projects/web-tl/terminals.html

20. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 20
Other Media
FLIPCHART
When to USE:
if electricity is
unavailable,
to enable students
to illustrate group
reports,
to provide a
written record of
points made by
students.
TIPS
Check the room and
equipment beforehand.
Get your own pad of
newsprint.
Write out important pages in
advance.
Don’t put too much on a page.
Carry a collection of felt-tip
pens and check that they
haven’t dried out.
Bring along some Blutack.

21. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 21
Other Media
AUDIO TAPES or CDs
When to USE:
Particularly suited for
language learning, media
studies, English literature, etc.
Valuable when referring to
recorded historical events (e.g.
Martin Luther King’s “I have a
dream” speech).
Background music can also be
played before class starts and
during group activities.
TIPS
Check the room and
equipment beforehand.
Can it be heard from the back
of the room?
Find the right spot on the
tape/CD and queue it up in
advance.
Don’t play more than a few
minutes of audio at one time.
Break up longer clips into
segments, interspersed with
discussion or other activities.

22. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 22
Other Media
VIDEO TAPES or DVDs
When to USE:
Adds a dimension not
available through audio alone -
helps students to visualise.
Essential when illustrating
things that are impractical to
do in real life.
Particularly suited for
language learning, media
studies, engineering, etc.
Valuable when referring to
recorded historical events.
TIPS
Same as for CDs/audio tapes
Check equipment beforehand.
Can images be seen from the
back of the room?
Queue up the tape in advance.
Break viewing into short
segments, interspersed with
discussion or activities.

23. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 23
Making the most of the
DATA PROJECTOR
A brief introduction to
MS PowerPoint
Further information can be found on the CSD web-site:
http://www.dcu.ie/internal/csd/sms/webguides2000/power2k/power.htm

24. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 24
TASK: Choosing Media
Stage One
Work individually.
Think of a lecture/ tutorial you
will be giving. What media will
you use to support it?
Time for task - 2 minutes.
Stage Two
Form triads.
Share you plans with each
other. Why did you choose
specific media?
Time for task - 5 minutes.
Stage Three
Raise problems/issues in plenary session.

25. DCU
Office of the Dean of Teaching
and Learning 25
TASK: Stop - Start - Continue
Work individually.
Take out a piece of paper, and answer the following:
STOP - What would you like me to stop doing?
START - What would you like the facilitator to start doing?
CONTINUE - What would you like the facilitator to continue
doing?
Fold over and hand in on your way out.