Teaching and Technology: Tricks and Tips Using the Digital Image Archive for BIOPSYCHOLOGY: If you do not already have a copy of the Digital Image Archive for BIOPSYCHOLOGY, you can request one free of charge from you local Allyn and Bacon representative. This CD-ROM contains many of the images used in the BIOPSYCHOLOGY textbook, in formats for both Mac and PC users. It also contains a PowerPoint viewer that allows you to present these illustrations in slide format to enhance your lectures. If you are as artistically challenged as I am, everyone in your classroom will appreciate the ability to illustrate the key points in your lectures using the same great artwork that is illustrates the BIOPSYCHOLOGY textbook. There are several ways to use the Digital Image Archive. The simplest approach, and also the most inexpensive, is to make up your own slide presentations using the PowerPoint viewer that is packaged with the Digital Image Archive. Alternatively, you can use your own favorite presentation software package to select and then project the illustrations from the Digital Image Archive, as long as they can read the either the .BMP or .PICT formats that the illustrations are provided in. In either case, make sure you are familiar with the PowerPoint viewer or other software package that you will be using before you enter the classroom. Note that the PowerPoint viewer provided with the Digital Image Archive does NOT allow you to edit the images in the archive. To do this, you will need the full version of PowerPoint or some other image editing software. When you are familiar with the PowerPoint software, you should also check out the projection system you will be using in your classroom. In particular, check out the intensity of the projection system prior to class time, using your Digital Image Archive slides. Some projection systems provide a very washed-out image in the normal ambient lighting of a classroom. This will render many of the Digital Image Archive illustrations useless unless you dim the room lights...in which case most students will be unable to take notes during this part of your presentation! If you are using a computer-based approach to present illustrations from the Digital Image Archive, you should probably also use a laser pointer to highlight the images without sticking your arm or a pen in the way (unless you are really good at shadow puppets!). If you are lucky enough to be using a presentation package that allows easy on-screen annotation (e.g., adding text) or alteration (e.g., free-hand drawing) of the illustrations from the Digital Image Archive, make sure that you know how to use these capabilities before trying it in the classroom. A second method for utilizing the Digital Image Archive illustrations in your lectures, and one that I prefer, is to print the images onto overheads that can be used in class. This method is more expensive, as you have to pay for the overhead and printing costs; it is also more time-consuming. However, it has several advantages over a computer-based presentation scheme. First, on most campuses overhead projectors are more commonplace than computer-based presentation systems; if your classroom does not already have an overhead projector, it is usually easy to request that one be made available on a regular basis. This consistent scheduling is not always possible with computer-based presentation systems; because of their gee-whiz factor, these often have waiting lists for their usage. Second, the fact that overheads are quite common means that breakdowns are less problematic; if your projector is on the fritz, a replacement is usually available in the next classroom. Third, you are less likely to have problems with poor illumination using an overhead projector; this equipment is old enough that cheesy projectors have long ago been identified and replaced. And fourth, you can write directly onto overheads...embellishing the already excellent artwork with your own words and witticisms, or with comments from your students. Note that it is possible to do this type of annotation with many computer-based presentation systems...however, I suspect that most of us are at institutions where this capability is more theoretical than commonplace! Tips for Editing and Printing Images from the Digital Image Archive: Editing and printing images from the Digital Image Archive can be easily done with any number of software packages, a computer, and a color printer. The most inexpensive way to print your own overheads employs software that probably already exists on your computer. I will show my bias for the PC platform here and mention the "Paint" program that is packaged with MS-Windows. Be aware that these programs have limited capabilities; you can do a much better job of editing and printing images with an inexpensive aftermarket image editing program. There are many such programs available; for example, I have used Jasc Software's Paintshop Pro. This software is currently available in both a 16-bit version and a more powerful 32-bit version. Both versions can be downloaded from the manufacturer at: http://www.jasc.com/ From this page, select the "Download Section" icon. Once you have downloaded the software, you can use it free of charge for 30 days. After this time, you must either purchase the software for a small fee or erase it from your hard disk. Once you have an image editing package, you should print a sample image from the Digital Image Archive to determine the characteristics of the finished image. Is the default size of the image large enough? If not, use the scaling features of the image editing software to enlarge the image to your satisfaction. I usually like to leave room on each overhead for my handwritten comments, as classroom discussion inevitably requires some embellishment of the figures. Are the image colors rich and vibrant, or washed out? If the colors are not what you would like, use the hue and saturation controls to enhance the image's colors before you print. With a little experimentation you can determine which setting will work best for most images and then use these as your default settings; this will save you time when printing large batches of overheads. If you want to add or delete text to an illustration from the Digital Image Archive, it is a simple matter with an image editing program. For example, I often add the complete figure number (e.g., Fig 5.21) to an illustration, so that students will know which illustration I am referring to in class. This approach allows the students to turn to the appropriate figure in their texts without me having to mention it. It also allows students to add any embellishments and comments that come up in our classroom discussions to the figure itself, which aids their subsequent review of the material before an exam. If you annotate your overheads with their figure numbers, make sure that you use the figure numbers from the fourth edition of BIOPSYCHOLOGY and not the figure numbers as listed in the Digital Image Archive. The Digital Image Archive is coded to the third edition of BIOPSYCHOLOGY; consequently, the image numbers listed on the CD and in the 4th edition of the text differ in many of the chapters. Prior to an exam, you can use an image editing program to erase the text labels (but not the arrows) from a Digital Image Archive image. You can then fill in the blank spots that were created when the text was erased using the fill capabilities of the software; this to provides an even background color for the figure. Finally, add text to the figure so that each arrow is associated with a single letter or number (i.e., a, b, c or 1,2,3). In the exam, you can then ask students to identify the structures in the figure, or attach functions to the structures that are highlighted. This approach to identification/function type questions eliminates the problem of students complaining that they have never seen a test figure before (though to be honest, I always throw in some new ones, too!). One problem with presenting the illustrations from the Digital Image Archive on overheads that you have printed yourself is that the overheads and ink can be expensive. In addition, it takes a considerable amount of time to edit and print a series of the archive images. Consequently, it is to your advantage to use your overheads as many times as possible once they are printed. For this reason, buy some plain acetate pages and top-sheet each of your newly-printed Digital Image Archive overheads before you use them (if you are using an inkjet printer, try to leave at least 1 hr for the ink to dry). Top-sheeting each overhead allows you to use normal, water-soluble overhead pens to scribble on the images with impunity. After class, the topsheets can be washed off so that the overheads can be reused at a later date. I usually try to leave my annotations on the overheads until after the material has been tested; that way, both my students and I have a record of what was said about each figure in class in case there are any disagreements after an exam! It will not take long to accumulate a considerable number of overheads. To organize them, you can leave them associated with the appropriate set of lecture notes in a 3-ring binder or series of folders. However, I have found that I use these images in many of the courses that I teach, and sometimes in different lectures from the same course. For this reason, I organize my overheads in a 3-ring binder according to their subject material (e.g., Gross Neuroanatomy; The Action Potential; Sleep; Feeding), independent of any single lecture. When I have cleaned an overhead, I replace it in the appropriate section of the binder so that I know exactly where it is the next time I need it. ab_webmaster@abacon.com ©1999 Allyn & Bacon A Pearson Education Company Legal Notice