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The (im)Proper Use of Powerpoint
Ron Hoy Cornell University
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In your classroom powerpoint presentations do you…
• Read from your slide? • Conduct a “forced march” w/o checking for
understanding? • Use PowerPoint as your sole means of
instruction? • Have students make their own classroom PP
presentations without modeling components of a good presentation?
• Ask your students to comment on your PP style on their evaluations?
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In your classroom powerpoint presentations do you…
• Read from your slide? • Conduct a “forced march” w/o checking for
understanding? • Use PowerPoint as your sole means of
instruction? • Have students make their own classroom PP
presentations without modeling components of a good presentation?
• Ask your students to comment on your PP style on their evaluations?
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OUTLINE
• Common practices in PP – Dos and don’ts – Critics and advocates (refs)
• Cognitive Issues and PP • PP, active learning, and learning
for the long term
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Avoid Science/Nature-style figures (multiple panels)
• Break down multiple figures into single panels, shown sequentially
• Re-label the figures appropriately • BUT… who has the time to remake
slides from scanned figures? – Besides, they bear the watermark of
authority…
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(From: R. Anholt--”Dazzle ‘em With Style”
Too Complex
Break complex figure into 3 slides
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Simplicity of Presentation
• Don’t use distracting PP slide templates • Simplicity and minimalism is
conservative, tasteful, and… • does not add to cognitive load • Stick to one format--uniformly simple • Go very easy on animations and avoid
showy or dramatic ones
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Books on Powerpoint • S.M. Kosslyn: “Clear and to the point” Oxford, 2007 • R. Anholt: “Dazzle ‘em with Style” Elsevier, 2006 • E. Tufte: “The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint”
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpointS.
• D. Norman “In defense of powerpoint” http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/in_defense_of_p.html
• C. Atkinson: “Beyond Bullet Points” Microsoft, 2005 • G. Reynolds: “Presentation Zen” New Riders, 2008 • Cherie Kerr: “Death by Powerpoint,” 2001
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More Sources
• National Research Council, “How People Learn,” National Academy Press, 2000
• Tufte, Edward “PowerPoint is Evil”. www.wired.com. Accessed November 6, 2006.
• Roklin, Tom “PowerPoint is not Evil”. http://www.ntlf.com/html/sf/notevil.htm. Accessed November 6, 2006
• Caughlin, Janet PowerPoint Workshop for Teachers. Tom Snyder Productions, 2002.
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Strengths of PowerPoint
• Color • Legible • Visual Aid • Handouts with Notes • Animations • Can Post on the Internet • Integrates well with other programs
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Main Weakness of PP
Unless teachers integrate thinking and engaging activities, it is a high tech
lecture that will put their class to sleep.
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Cognitive Issues and PP: Memory • Three kinds of memory
– Sensory memory: short lasting (few sec) buffer for working memory
– Working memory: purposeful &I conscious info processing (lasts few to 30 sec?), in hippocampus?, has limited capacity
– Long term memory: where knowledge is stored, in networks/schemas; two-way flow with working memory.
Think about working memory when making your PP slides
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Cognitive Issues and Powerpoint: Cognitive Load
• Cognitive load is related to amount of effort related to learn new knowledge – Learning is a constructive process built on
what the student already knows – Effort is related to the dialog between working
memory and long-term memory • A rule of thumb: “Rule of Five”
– Exceed five--->cognitive/WM overload – Reduce Cog load, get rid of distractors &
extraneous info from your slides
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For Example
• Extraneous loading – Diagrams plus written text, read aloud don’t
reinforce, they distract/compete for attention. – If students are also taking notes, they are
switching their attention from screen to their notes.
– Helpful hint: offload part of the cognitive task to written notes or better, a printed pdf of the PP (“outsourcing” part of the cognitive load)
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Cognitive benefits of clicker-checks
• Instant feedback for student comprehension
• Assess students’ preconceptions about the subject (prejudices, biases, misconceptions, attitudes, opinions)
• Participation in complete anonymity
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Some advantages of clickers
• Spot-check for comprehension of just-presented material
• Tests for attention to previously assigned reading assignment
• Provides a change-of-pace in the lecture • Opportunity to lead into a brief class
discussion