Learners' Perceptions on the Value of PowerPoint in Lectures.

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AUTHOR Frey, Barbara A.; Birnbaum, David J.

TITLE

Learners' Perceptions on the Value of PowerPoint in Lectures.

PUB DATE 2002-01-31

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DESCRIPTORS

College Students; Computer Uses in Education; Educational

Technology; Higher Education; Instructional Development;

*Student Attitudes; *Student Reaction; *Student Surveys;

Teaching Methods; *Visual Aids

IDENTIFIERS

*Microsoft PowerPoint; *Presentations

ABSTRACT

Students of today, who have grown up with and become

accustomed to the visual stimulation of television, computers, and video

games, expect technology to be used effectively as part of their learning

experience. As a result, faculty are continuously challenged to hold the

attention of these learners from the high-tech generation. Through the

thoughtful use of computer presentation programs, faculty can create

professional-looking presentations to enhance student learning and achieve

course goals. The intent of this study was to assess student perceptions on

the value of PowerPoint presentations in lectures. One hundred sixty

undergraduate students at the University of Pittsburgh completed a 12-item

Likert scale survey and two open-ended questions regarding the use of

PowerPoint. Results from the survey are discussed, along with the professor's

goals for using PowerPoint. The majority of students agreed that PowerPoint

had a positive effect on lectures, especially in helping them to take notes

and to study for exams. They preferred PowerPoint lectures to traditional

lectures using a blackboard or whiteboard. They also perceived professors who

delivered PowerPoint as being more organized. Students did not believe that

making PowerPoint slides available before class was a strong motivator or

deterrent in attending class. A literature review and the student PowerPoint

survey are included. (AEF)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document.

Learners' Perceptions on the Value of Power Point in Lectures

By Barbara A. Frey, D.Ed.

Instructional Designer

The Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education

University of Pittsburgh

http://www.pittedut-ciddeweb/

David J. Birnbaum, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Chair

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

University of Pittsburgh

http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/-tales/

01/31/02

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Learners' Perceptions on the Value of Power Point in Lectures

Abstract

The intent of this study was to assess student perceptions on the value of Power Point

presentations in lectures. One hundred sixty undergraduate students at the University of

Pittsburgh completed a 12-item Likert scale survey and two opened-ended questions re-

garding the use of Power Point. Results from the survey are discussed, along with the

professor's goals for using Power Point. The majority of students agreed that Power Point

had a positive effect on lectures, especially in helping them to take notes and to study for

exams. They preferred Power Point lectures over traditional lectures using a blackboard

or whiteboard. They also perceived professors who delivered Power Point as being more

organized. Students did not believe that making Power Point slides available before class

was a strong motivator or deterrent in attending class. A literature review and the student

Power Point survey are included.

Students of today, who have grown up with and become accustomed to the visual stimu-

lation of television, computers, and video games, expect technology to be used effec-

tively as part of their learning experience. As a result, faculty are continuously challenged

to hold the attention of these learners from the high-tech generation. Through the

thoughtful use of computer presentation programs (such as Microsoft Power Point, Com-

pel, Aldus Persuasion, and Gold Disk Astound), faculty can create professional-looking

presentations to enhance student learning and achieve course goals.

This article summarizes our results of a student survey, in which we examined under-

graduate perceptions of the use of Power Point presentations to enhance the accessibility

of classroom lectures. The survey was administered to a large-enrollment course at the

University of Pittsburgh. In this particular course, the Power Point presentations were co-

ordinated with class lectures and posted on the course Web site prior to class, and stu-

dents had been advised to bring print-outs of the slides to class as a way of organizing

their notes. However, the survey instructions directed students to assess the Power Point

presentations used in all their academic courses. Our goal was to gain insight into the

practice of using presentation software in lecture courses.

Literature review

Literature evaluating the effectiveness of Power Point-assisted lecturing in higher educa-

tion is somewhat limited. Ample resources are available to guide instructors and course

developers in graphic design for computer generated presentation software, but guide-

lines to enhance the instructional value of the resulting presentations are lacking. A

search of literature on the instructional effectiveness of presentation software in the tradi-

tional classroom revealed relatively little. The following studies represent some of the

literature which we did find.

01/31/02

Szabo and Hastings (2000) performed three studies to investigate the efficacy of Power-

Point lecturing in undergraduate classrooms. Results showed that Power Point presenta-

tions should not be viewed as a replacement for the blackboard, but, rather, as an efficient

auxiliary medium. The difficulty of the lectures, rather than the efficacy of Power Point

lecturing, contributed to the grade differences among the three groups. However, it did

appear that Power Point lectures might benefit learner recall.

An experimental study from the United Kingdom reported by Lowry (1999) compared

exam scores for three cohorts of higher education students (n=130). Results revealed that

the two Power Point lecture groups achieved better grades than the traditional lecture co-

hort did. In addition, the students exposed to the Power Point lecturing had a positive atti-

tude toward the teaching method.

In another study of students' perceptions of Power Point, Atkins-Syres and others (1998)

surveyed 485 university students. They found the following results: (1) students had a

high regard for classes using Power Point as a lecture tool, (2) 69 percent of the students

perceived Power Point as a cognitive tool, and (3) the use of the technology significantly

increased the desire for Hispanic students and English-as-a-second-language students to

see the technology used in other classes.

Harknett and Cobane (1997) surveyed students regarding the efficacy of PovverPoint in

lecturing. Eighty percent of the students felt that Power Point lectures benefited their

learning. Some also felt that the visual emphasis in Power Point helped them recall the

lecture material during exams.

Methodology

In our study of student perceptions, we made several assumptions which are important to

note. First, we assumed that students know when they are learning (McKeachie). We also

assumed that attention is selective and fluctuating, and that attention to some part of a

statement is necessary if one is to remember the message (Coats & Smidchens).

Sample

In Fall 2001, 160 students or roughly 50% of the total 322-student enrollment for the

course Russian Fair Tales participated in this study. The survey was administered during

the first ten minutes of class during the last class meeting of the semester. The student

body was widely distributed across schools, majors, and year of study. Because the sur-

vey was administered only to students attending mandatory small discussion ("recita-

tion") sections of the course, we assume that students participating in the survey were

more interested in either the course material or their grades or both than those who were

not present on the day of the survey.

01/31/02 4

Instrument

The assessment instrument, Presentation Software Survey, was administered to a large-

enrollment undergraduate class. The 12-item Likert Scale survey examined student per-

ceptions of the following elements regarding Power Point presentations: (1) student atten-

tion to lecture, (2) classroom behavior during lecture, (3) preference for black-

board/whiteboard lecture, (4) value of handouts for note taking, (5) value of handouts for

studying, (6) organization of lecture, (7) slide format, (8) student recall of visual images,

(9) student motivation, (10) identification of key points, (11) student attitude, and (12)

student attendance. The 12 items were rated on a five-point scale from strongly disagree

to strongly agree, with a middle score of "neutral."

Two open-ended questions asked students (1) the reasons they would like to see (or not

see) Power Point presentations in future courses and (2) their suggestions for improving

Power Point presentations. Students completed the survey anonymously.

Survey Results

The majority of students had positive perceptions about the use of Power Point in lectures.

Sixty-nine percent of the students either strongly agreed (5) or agreed (4) that Power Point

presentations held their attention. Only 12 percent of the students preferred use of a

blackboard or whiteboard over Power Point during lectures. Seventy-nine percent of the

respondents perceived their professors who used Power Point as being more organized

during lectures.

The handouts students were able to print from the Power Point files were another benefit

of the presentations. Eighty percent of the learners strongly agreed (5) or agreed (4) that

the handouts helped them to take class notes. Furthermore, 91 percent of the students

strongly agreed (5) or agreed (4) that the handouts helped them study. In fact, using the

handouts to study had the highest mean score of 4.34. Finally, 85 percent of the students

reported that Power Point presentations emphasized key points.

The students reported that Power Point software presentation did not seem to have a major

effect on classroom behavior or student attendance. Only 19 percent of students strongly

agreed (5) or agreed (4) that Power Point presentations increased the likelihood of inap-

propriate classroom behavior, whereas 49 percent strongly disagreed (5) or disagreed (4)

with this. Only 15 percent of the respondents indicated that they were less likely to attend

class when Power Point presentations were posted on the Web.

As for the design of the Power Point slides, students had a slight preference for visual im-

ages rather than text-only content. Just 19 percent strongly agreed (5) or agreed (4) that

they preferred bullet-point, text slides over graphics; however, 56 percent strongly dis-

agreed (1) or disagree (2) with text over graphics. Interestingly, 34 percent of all respon-

dents were neutral on their preference, which may reflect our failure to present the ques-

tion in a way that connected the choice with the appropriateness of different media to

01/31/02

communicating different types of information. Seventy-two percent of indicated that vis-

ual images helped them to recall content during exams.

The mean responses for the survey questions are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: Survey Questions and Means

Survey Questions

Means

1. Power Point presentations hold my attention.

3.75

2. Power Point presentations increase the likelihood of inappropriate class-

room behavior.

2.59

3. I prefer traditional lectures using a blackboard or whiteboard to Power Point

presentations.

2.09

4. Power Point handouts help me to take better notes during classroom lec-

tures.

4.08

5. Handouts printed from Power Point presentations help me to study for

course exams.

4.34

6. Professors who use Power Point presentations are more organized during

their presentations.

4.08

7. I prefer bullet-point, text-only Power Point presentations over presentations

with audio, video, or graphics.

2.44

8. Visual images presented in Power Point presentation lectures help me to

recall content during exams.

3.84

9. I am less motivated to attend class when Power Point presentations are used

during the lecture.

2.54

10. Power Point presentations help to emphasize key points during lectures.

4.09

11. I have a positive attitude towards Power Point presentations. 3.97

12. I am less likely to attend class when the professor posts Power Point hand-

outs to the Web.

2.68

Fifty-one students responded to the first open-ended question on reasons to use (or not

use) Power Point presentations. The majority of students noted positive perceptions. The

following comments reflect their satisfaction:

I print out notes beforehand so I don't have to take as many notes and I can

pay attention to what the lecturer is saying. (8)

They are very helpful in reviewing for exams. (5)

They make the material more clear and organized to me. (2)

This was my only class that posted notes on the Web with Power Point. I

would really like to see it with other large classes because it is helpful.

As a LD [learning disabled] student I notice I do far better in classes that do

use Power Point.

They make it easier to keep up and tuned in. They really help with studying,

too.

I would like more Power Point because it is easier to follow the lecture and lis-

ten more closely.

I like Power Point because it allows to me to see the main points of the lecture

even if I have to miss class for some reason.

01/31/02

Only six of the 51 learner responses reflected negative perceptions. The following com-

ments summarize these negative comments:

I am less likely to remember something if I do not write it. (2)

Presentations are much more boring and hard to pay attention to.

Sometimes the instructor goes through the material much faster than if using a

blackboard.

Many professors do not allow proper time for absorption of the material when

they don't have to write out key points.

I don't like using all the paper/ink to print them out.

The second open-ended question asked students for suggestions for improving Power-

Point presentations. Fifteen students respond with the following types of suggestions:

Provide a little more detail. (4)

Don't use them. (2)

Make them available sooner on the Web. (2)

Make them easier to download and print. (2)

Mix them up a bit instead of just presenting lists.

Make more links in them.

Slow down just because it is on PowerPoint and on the Web does not mean

some students don't want to copy the notes down some people learn better

by writing.

Provide more description of pictures.

General Discussion

Higher education is experiencing a technological revolution that directs attention to the

ways we teach and the ways students learn. PowerPoint is often the first step for faculty

incorporating technological into their courses. This study attempted to analyze the value

of computer-generated presentations and how students perceive their impact.

Overall, it appeared that PowerPoint had a positive effect on lectures. Most students pre-

ferred PowerPoint presentations over the traditional blackboard or whiteboard. One of

primary benefits of PowerPoint presentations seemed to be student access to printable

copies of the slides. In some courses, students were able to download the files from the

Web, so that they could use these materials for studying, note taking, identifying key

points, and organizing course material. Furthermore, the majority of learners believed

that PowerPoint lectures helped to hold their attention. They did not believe that Power-

Point was a strong motivator or deterrent in attending class.

An important aspect of creating effective PowerPoint slides is designing presentations

that emphasize key points and provide supporting examples, including visual images.

Students depend on these presentations for organizing and processing course content. The

challenge seems to be in balancing the amount of lecture detail with the student benefit of

taking notes. When posting PowerPoint files to the Web prior to class, student attendance

may be a consideration in determining the amount of slide detail. There is also a balance

01/31/02 6

between the students' desire for visual images and their desire for small files that

download and print quickly. During the Power Point lecture, instructors should be aware

of their pace and monitor student note taking. There may be a tendency for instructors

who use Power Point to talk more quickly.

Professors' Perspective

The Russian Fairy Tales course had grown over the space of five years from of an initial

enrollment of fifty to over 300 at the time of the survey (and over 400 the following se-

mester). In an attempt to make the course accessible to a student body that has been in-

creasing rapidly both in overall quantity and in diversity of background and learning

style, the instructors quickly decided to introduce a web site (for supporting material) and

to supplement their lectures with transparencies and 35mm slides of relevant art (as well

as film clips and music). We moved from transparencies and slides to Power Point as a

way of integrating both types of projection within a single medium, and then began post-

ing the Power Point slides on the course web site in advance of the lectures and advising

the students to print them out and bring them to class as a way of organizing their own

notes.

The instructors speak quickly and did not want students to be distracted from listening to

substantive lecture material by trying to copy down such factual material as dates or long

Russian names. On the other hand, the instructors did not want to make the Power Point

slides a substitute for lecture; our goal was that the presentation would tell the students

what we were going to talk about, and would provide them with factual details, but it

would not tell them everything we were going to say. The on-line course description ex-

plains to the students that "[t]he Power Point slides are deliberately designed to be out-

lines, rather than detailed summaries of the lecture; they can help you follow the lecture,

organize your own notes, and review for quizzes and examinations, but they are not a

substitute for attending lecture and taking notes yourself."

Conclusion

This survey to assess student perceptions on the value of Power Point presentations is a

step towards understanding the instructional design of presentation software in college

and university lectures. Continued research is needed on successful strategies for using

presentation software to achieve course goals. In particular, strategies for organizing the

content through text, images, and multimedia would be helpful.

Attending lectures enhanced with presentation software still remains a relatively passive

instructional activity. Research on strategies that incorporate active learning into presen-

tations would be valuableespecially for large-enrollment courses. In addition to the tra-

ditional classroom application, Power Point is a growing instructional tool in online

courses. Successful strategies for using Power Point in online teaching environments also

warrant further investigation. With careful attention to the instructional purpose and de-

sign, presentation software programs such as Power Point can be a valuable tool in higher

education lectures.

01/31/02

Resources

Atkins-Sayre, W., Hopkins, S., Mohundro, S. & Sayre, W. (1998). Rewards and liabili-

ties of presentation software as an ancillary tool: Prison or paradise?

ERIC Document Reproduction Service; ED 430260.

Coats, W.D. & Smidchens, U. (1966). Audience recall as a function of speaker dyna-

mism. Journal of Educational Psychology, 57(4), 189-191.

Harknett, R.J. & Cobane, C.T. (1997). Introducing instructional technology to interna-

tional relations. Political Science & Politics, 30, 496-500.

Lowry, R.B. (1999). Electronic presentation of lectures

effect upon student perform-

ance. University Chemistry Education, 3(1), 18-21.

McKeachie, W.J. (1986). Teaching tips: A guidebook for the beginning college teacher.

Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Company.

Szabo, A. & Hastings, N. (2000). Using IT in the undergraduate classroom: should we

replace the blackboard with PowerPoint? Computers & Education, 35, 175-187.

01/31/02

Apprendix A

PRESENTATION SOFTWARE SURVEY

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE

Instructions: Microsoft Power Point is a software program which creates presentations

used by faculty to enhance their lectures. This study examines your perspectives as a

student and will assist faculty in enhancing the teaching/learning value of using Power-

Point. Thank you for your cooperation.

Think about all of the Power Point lectures that you have attended in your academic

coursework. On average, how would you evaluate these Power Point presentations?

Please respond by circling one of the five responses ranging from Strongly Disagree (SD)

to Strongly Agree (SA). If you neither agree nor disagree, circle "N" for neutral.

1. Power Point presentations hold my attention.

SD D N A SA

2. Power Point presentations increase the likelihood of inap-

propriate classroom behavior.

SD D N A SA

3. I prefer traditional lectures using a blackboard or white-

board to Power Point presentations.

SD D

N A SA

4. Power Point handouts help me to take better notes during

classroom lectures.

SD D

N A SA

5. Handouts printed from Power Point presentations help me

to study for course exams.

SD D N A

6. Professors who use Power Point presentations are more or-

ganized during their presentations.

SD D N A SA

7. I prefer bullet-point, text-only Power Point presentations

over presentations with audio, video, or graphics.

SD D N A SA

8. Visual images presented in Power Point presentation lec-

tures help me to recall content during exams.

SD D N

A SA

9. I am less motivated to attend class when Power Point pres-

entations are used during the lecture.

SD D N A SA

10. Power Point presentations help to emphasize key points

during lectures.

SD D N A SA

11. I have a positive attitude towards Power Point presenta-

tions.

SD D N A SA

12. I am less likely to attend class when the professor posts

SD D

N A SA

Power Point handouts to the Web.

Are there any other reasons you would like to see (or not see) Power Point presentations

in the future?

Do you have any suggestions for improving Power Point presentations?

1 0

01/31/02

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