using powerpoint in teaching

How can I use PowerPoint to TEACH?

a presentation byMoustapha Y. Mneimneh

Summer 2005

In this Presentation

We’re going to look at how you can use PowerPoint to teach.

Our goals

• Look at the process we all go through as we learn PowerPoint.

• Investigate student perception of PowerPoint in the classroom.

• See if student performance supports that perception.

• Talk about PowerPoint and student note-taking.

• Learn a little bit about PowerPoint usability.

PowerPoint is a tool that can be used well or poorly.

Our PowerPoint evolution

Simple presentations, ones in which the message is more important than the medium.

Our PowerPoint evolution

Focus shifts from the message to “gilding the lily.”

– Content takes a back seat to the new goal of entertaining the audience.

– We spend HOURS looking for the right sounds, pictures, or backgrounds to beautify our presentations.

Why?

•PowerPoint’s bells and whistles are downright appealing .

•We (mistakenly) assume that if our presentations look better, so they must be better teaching tools.

Keep in Mind

• The primary goal of any classroom PowerPoint presentation isn’t to entertain but rather to teach.

• And there is a HUGE difference between a business PowerPoint presentation and a classroom PowerPoint presentation.

The problem with PowerPoint

PowerPoint’s fancy backgrounds, animations, builds, transitions, etc. a businessperson can– Impress you.– Close the sale.– Obscure the facts.

Advertisement

So, what ARE the possibilities?

HORRIBLE PowerPoint presentations, ones that actually impede or inhibit learning. For

example…

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What’s the point?

• Powerpointless

• The point I am trying to make is this: The fancier the PowerPoint presentation, the less valuable the ideas being presented. (Lovelace, 2001)

Student perception

What do your students feel about you using PowerPoint to

teach?

Student perception

• Even with the endless steam of bad PowerPoint presentations we inflict on our students, students still prefer PowerPoint presentations to presentations from transparencies (Cassady, 1998; Perry & Perry, 1998; Susskind & Gurien, 1999; West, 1977) or even from a blackboard or whiteboard. (Frey & Birnbaum, 2002)

• Why?

Student perception

• Students believe PowerPoint has a positive effect on lectures, especially in helping them take notes and study for exams. (Frey & Birnbaum, 2002)

• Students perceive professors who deliver PowerPoint lectures as being more organized. (Frey & Birnbaum, 2002)

Student performance

Does student perception equal reality?

Three types of presentations

According to Bartsch & Cobern (2003), there are three types of teacher-created “multimedia” presentations used in most classrooms: – Transparencies– Basic PowerPoint, which only includes

text information– Expanded PowerPoint, which includes

pictures, sounds, movies, transitions, builds, etc.

Ready for a shock?

• There is no significant difference in scores on quizzes that come from transparencies and basic PowerPoint lectures. (Bartsch & Cobern, 2003)

• Students do 10% worse on quizzes that come from expanded PowerPoint lectures. (Bartsch & Cobern, 2003)

Wait, there’s more!

• Does adding pictures to your presentations have a positive effect on students’ enjoyment or learning of the material?

• NOPE! (Bartsch & Cobern, 2003)

Interference

• Having related pictures in your PowerPoint presentation is neither beneficial nor harmful to the students’ enjoyment or learning of the material. (Bartsch & Cobern , 2003)

• Unrelated pictures in a presentation, however, have a negative effect on students’ enjoyment and the learning of the material. (Bartsch & Cobern , 2003)

For example

• PowerPoint 1.0 was actually derived from a product called “Presenter” that was developed by Forethought Inc. in early 1987.

• Microsoft purchased Presenter in August of 1987 for $14 million.

Image source: albinoblacksheep.com

Notice the interference?

• That picture, while humorous, had nothing to do with the real content of the slide.

• But, I’d be willing to bet that an hour from now you’ll remember the “Howard Dean kitten” picture but completely forget how much Microsoft paid for PowerPoint in 1987.

• The slide entertains, but fails to teach. Why? Well…

Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

• Students place • relevant words into auditory working

memory and• relevant images into visual working

memory. (Mayer, 2001)

• Students then organize information separately in auditory and visual memory and finally integrate these representations with prior knowledge. (Mayer , 2001)

The problem with pictures

• The on-screen text in PowerPoint is processed in visual memory because it is seen, viewed with the eyes. (Bartsch & Cobern , 2003)

• Relevant pictures do not help because they are also stored in visual memory along with the text—no new information is added over a different channel. (Bartsch & Cobern , 2003)

In short, only use pictures to teach, not to decorate or

entertain.

PowerPoint and student notes

Do your students need help?

• Do your students need help taking notes?

• In a word, YES! (Potts, 1993)

Notes and student performance

Giving students your notes

The problem is that students remember a greater proportion of the information in their own notes than in provided notes. (Kiewra, Potts, 1993)

Solving the Notes Problem

What is a skeletal outline?

Example

Enough about content and note-taking. Let’s talk about

design.

Which font should you use?

Subjective test results

Is it easy to read?

Is it easy to read?

Is it easy to read?

Is it easy to read?1.56

1.81

2.27

3.11

Serif v. sans-serif

• On paper, people prefer reading serif fonts—fonts with a “tail” (like Times New Roman.)

• On screens, however, prefer sans-serif fonts—fonts without a tail (like Verdana).

Friends don’t let friends use comic sans!

The contrast problem

• Many of PowerPoint’s built-in templates use light text (like a white or yellow) on a dark background (like blue or red).

• The problem is that when light text is placed on a dark background, the text may seem to “glow” (or “halate”), making the text harder to read. (AT&T, 1989)

•Ambient light also tends to wash out PowerPoint presentations with dark backgrounds, totally throwing the contrast (and legibility) out of whack.

That’s all, folks!

Our key points

• Don’t detract: Stay away from PowerPoint’s bells and whistles like builds, transitions, animations, and sound effects.– The bells and whistles are for selling, not for

teaching.– If you absolutely have to use PowerPoint’s

frills, only add them to slides that contain non-testable content.

• Only use pictures to teach, not to decorate or entertain.

Our key points

To maximize student performance on fact-based tests,

– Have your students take notes during your presentation and then give your students a copy of your presentation (and lecture notes) afterward.

– OR give your students a skeletal outline before your presentation (with lots of white space), have your students take notes during your presentation, and then give your students a copy of your presentation (and lecture notes) afterward.

Our key points

• Because of diminishing attention spans, front-load the first 10 minutes of your presentation.

• Use a sans-serif screen display font like Verdana for your on-screen presentation, and use a serif print display font like Times New Roman for your handouts.

• Use dark text on a light background.

References

The references that follow are formatted for printing, not for

on-screen display.

References• AT&T. (1989) Open Look: graphical user interface application style guidelines. New York: Sun Microsystems.• Bartsch, R. A., & Cobern, K. M. (2003). Effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations in lectures. Computers & Education, 41, 77-86. • Bernard, M. (2003) Criteria for optimal web design (designing for usability). http://psychology.wichita.edu/optimalweb/text.htm• Cassady, J. C. (1998). Student and instructor perceptions of the efficacy of computer-aided lectures in undergraduate university

courses. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 19, 175–189.• Connare, Vincent. Why Comic Sans? http://www.connare.com/comic.htm• Frey, B., & Birnbaum, D. J. (2002). Learners’ Perceptions of the Value of PowerPoint in Lectures. ERIC Document Reproduction

Service: ED467192• Hartley, J., and Davies, I. K. (1986) Note-taking: A critical review. Programmed Learning and Educational Technology, 15, 207.• Hoffman, Robert. (2004) Text Readability. http://edtechfm.sdsu.edu/bhoffman/type/font/intro.htm• Kiewra, K.A. (1985). Providing the instructor's notes: An effective addition to student notetaking. Educational Psychologist, 20,

33-39.• Lovelace, Herbert W. (2001) The Medium Is More Than The Message. Information Week, July 16, 2001. (Online)• Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning, p. 53. New York: Cambridge University Press.• Nielsen, Jakob. (1997). Be Succinct! (Writing for the Web). Alertbox, March 15, 1997. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html• Perry, T., & Perry, L. A. (1998). University students’ attitudes towards multimedia presentations. British Journal of Educational

Technology, 29, 375–377.• Potts, Bonnie. (1993). Improving the quality of student notes. ERIC Document Reproduction Service: ED366645.• Russell, I.J., Caris, T.N., Harris, G.D., & Hendricson, W.D. (1983). Effects of three types of lecture notes on medical student

achievement. Journal of Medical Education, 58, 627-636.• Susskind, J., & Gurien, R. A. (1999, June). Do computer-generated presentations influence psychology students’ learning and

motivation to succeed? Poster session presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Society, Denver, CO. • West, R. L. (1997). Multimedia presentations in large classes: a field experiment. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the

American Psychological Society, Washington, DC.