A picture is worth a thousand words (at least): Effective use of visuals in the classroom

Much attention has been devoted to improving teaching pedagogy in the economics classroom; yet, one area that is generally lagging in academia is the effective use of visuals, particularly in presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint. Evidence from both cognitive and brain science has suggested that the all-too-common approach of placing a concise set of notes onto slides does not improve student retention of subject matter; in fact, such text-intensive slides instead may pose a distraction and restrict learning outcomes. This paper presents empirical evidence that the use of multimedia imagery in the form of pictures, video, and custom animation is more complementary to spoken lectures than merely words on a screen. Furthermore, this paper provides a guide to basic design techniques that any instructor can incorporate into existing media slides to improve their visual imagery. A focus on simplicity and time-saving techniques will provide reassurance to instructors who might argue such tasks are not feasible due to time constraints. We show, on the contrary, that simple design techniques are easy to implement, simple to maintain, and provide students and instructors with a more effective and enjoyable learning experience in the classroom.