Teaching Academic Subjects with Audio-Visual Effects
Hadi Esfahani (Associate Professor of Economics, UIUC)
Professor Hadi Esfahani is passionate about the use of multimedia to enhance student learning and he makes great use of PowerPoint as a platform to deliver multimedia content during his lectures. Since Prof. Esfahani teaches without a TA, he has no one to assist him with the creation or maintenance of his multimedia teaching materials. This self-reliance makes him an excellent resource for teachers across campus. Prof. Esfahani acknowledges that student attention spans seem to be shorter these days. While he does not believe we should cater to this trend, Prof. Esfahani does believe it is important for educators to adjust to it and do things to engage the attention of this generation of students. He places particular emphasis on the goals of making class fun as well as allowing students to learn more in less time.
Going along with helping students be more efficient learners, Prof. Esfahani also makes his class notes, graphs, equations and useful multimedia available to students via his Illinois Compass course site. With all this course content online, Prof. Esfahani does not see any decrease in class attendance. Rather, students come to class because they know that he does things to accentuate their learning while also keeping things fun. Students come to expect that they will have a good time in class and will not have to study as much on their own to learn the material. A major part of engaging his students involves the use of "quick quizzes" during each class, which students instantly recognize and quickly respond to since they are each accompanied by a musical cue.
Prof. Esfahani has noticed that there is also variability in terms of what inputs excite students, so he tries to reflect that diversity in his teaching. He usually starts every lesson with a sound effect and graphic or cartoon to place students in the mood. When a supply or demand curve shifts in one of his economics graphs, he attaches a distinctive sound to these changes. He showed the audience how he subtly introduces animation into visual multimedia. When charting how inflation and other economic indicators changed over time, he had the line graph spread gradually outwards rather than appear all at once. A more eye-catching technique was his use of a computerized flashlight tool that shines a spotlight over a particular area of the graph to which he wants to direct the audience's attention. This was truly impressive as audience members were asking Prof. Esfahani how he did that exactly! Finally, Prof. Esfahani was not shy about using multimedia as it relates to popular culture. He referenced the famous line from Gone with the Wind in regards to why one should care about inflation and played a rap tune relating to inflation and the affordability of gasoline.
Prof. Esfahani admits one can easily get carried away with multimedia, and further acknowledges the concern as to whether instructors should be expected to be entertainers. However, in Prof. Esfahani's mind, there is nothing wrong with education being fun. He likened his use of multimedia to adding a little bit of spice to one's dinner. Hadi's success with his innovative approach should at least give one some food for thought!
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