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Kansas State University

HANDOUTS

 

Handouts can be effective aids to instruction or a waste of paper. Those that lead to frustration may cause some students to transfer their distaste of the handout material to the instructor and may increase boredom and disinterest. Those that are well done will enhance student learning.

Good Handouts Should Be:

    1. Pertinent to the students.
    2. Short and to the point.
    3. Legible, properly spaced and well-duplicated.
    4. Punched for easy use in notebooks.
    5. Dated and referenced to the source, when appropriate.

You might consider color coding handouts for student convenience.

If handouts are not needed during the class presentation or discussion, you will be wise to hold them until the end of class.

Effective Handouts -- A Few Examples:

    1. A paragraph of controversial material placed on each desk at the beginning of class to be used as a focus of discussion.
    2. An outline of the lecture distributed at the beginning of class with space provided to encourage organized note-taking.
    3. A quiz, covering the major points of the day's class, that is distributed, completed, and kept by the students.
    4. A kit of materials distributed with instructions for conducting an experiment outside of class.
    5. The highlights of a presentation given out at the end of class to assure that the main points are received exactly as presented.