LearningStylesandPowerPointAnewandexcitingapproach

by ole Lauridsen, Aarhus school of business, university of Aarhus, denmark

Contents

Power Point in practice 1

Learning Styles 5

Whichelements? 7

Analyticversusglobalinformationprocessing 7

Sensorymodalitiesandstructure 8

The PowerPoint presentation 10

Analyticandglobalinformationprocessing 11

Tipsandtricks 13

Sensorymodalities 13

Design of presentation and slides 14

Fonts(fontandfontsize) 15

Colors 15

Colorsandattention 16

Morecolortipsandtricks 18

PowerPoint as exercise materials 20

Learning styles and PowerPoint: A new and exciting approach

About why PowerPoint is better - in fact, much better – than

blackboardandchalkortransparencies.Andabouthowtodesign

anduseaPowerPointpresentationinthebestwaypossible.

Ole Lauridsen, Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus, Denmark

��

PowerPointisapresentationprogramthatoffersawealthofopportunities.

Butapresentationisneverbetterthanthepersonwhohasdesignedit.Andmostpeoplehave

seenmemorableexamplesofhowitshouldNOTbedone.

Thegoodnewsisthatitisactuallynotdifficulttoputtogetherapresentationsothatitworks,

thatis,sothattheaudienceactuallylearnssomething.

Thereisasetofsimplerulestobefollowed.AndthoserulesarebasedonLearningStyles.

OnthefollowingpagesyouwillfindthebasicideasoftheLearningStylesModeldevelopedby

twoUSresearchers,Dr.RitaDunnandDr.KennethDunn.Afterthatfollowsthegroundrules

fordesigningasuccessfulPowerPointpresentation.

PowerPointinpractice

LearningStyles(LS)canbedefinedasthewayeachpersonbeginsto

• Concentrateonnewanddifficultinformation;

• Processthisinformation;

• Internalizeandretainthisinformationand

• Usethisinformation.

AllofitissomethingthatwewouldliketoachievewithourPowerPointpresentations.

Inotherwords,wecanbenefitfromtakingLearningStylesintoconsiderationwhenwedesignour

presentations,butwhatdowemeanbyLearningStyles?

TheDunn&DunnLearningStylesModeloperateswith20elementsthatarefundamentaltoour

learning.Themodel isalignedwiththe learningsystemsof thebrain,and itcomprisesallage

groups.Ithasbeenthoroughlyresearchedandhasalreadyprovenitsstrength.

Youcanlearnmoreatwww.learningstyles.netandalsofindlinkstoLStestsforallagegroups.

LearningStyles

��

WhiCh eLements?WecannotgointodetailwiththeDunn&DunnLearningStylesModelhere.Insteadwewillfocus

ontheelementsthatareespeciallyimportantwhenwearetodesignPowerPointpresentations,that

is,theelementsthatwecanincludedirectlyinthedesignofthepresentationandinthepresenta-

tionitself.

Obviouslyitisnotpossibletoproducepresentationsthataccommodateeachindividualperson’sLS

profileindetail.However,byfollowingtheguidelinesbelow,wecanreachaverywideaudience.

Themostimportantelementsinthisconnectionare

• Analyticversusglobalinformationprocessing

• Sensorymodalities

• Needforstructure

AnALytiC versus gLobAL informAtion ProCessing Somepeoplelearnbestwhentheyhavenewanddifficultinformationpresentedstepbystepina

logicalsequence;theyarecalledanalytics.

Others(mostpeople)learnbestwhentheyhavenewanddifficultinformationpresentedinlarge

chunkswhichtheycantheninvestigatefurtherthemselves;theyarecalledglobals.

Finally,thereisasmallgroupofpeoplewhodonotpreferonewayratherthantheother;theycan

approachnewanddifficultinformationbothanalyticallyandglobally.

��

sensory modALitiesTheDunn&Dunnmodelcomprisesfoursensorymodalities:

• the auditive: Youlearnbylistening.

• the visual: Youlearnbyseeingtext(reading)orbyseeingrealormentalpictures.

• the tactual: Youlearnbyusingyourhandsandfeet.

• the kinesthetic: Youlearnbyusingyourwholebodyand/

orbyinvolvingyourselfasaperson.

struCtureWithrespecttothestructureofnewanddifficultinformation,somepeopleneedsupport;they

prefertohaveafirmstructureprovidedforthem.

Othersprefertocreatethatstructurethemselves;theyrejecthavingastructurecreatedforthem.

��

How to integrate Learning Styles in the PowerPoint presentation

It is importanttorememberthatanyPowerPointpresentationconsistsofthreeelements,andthat

theseelementsshouldbeconsideredawholethatcannotbedivided:

• Theslidesonthescreen

• Thehandout,i.e.theprintedversionoftheslides

(Choose:File>Print.Choose‘Handouts’intheprintdialogbox).

• Thelivepresentation

Inconnectionwiththeslidesandthehandout,wemustconsiderlayout,andinconnectionwiththe

livepresentation,wemustconsiderourperformance.

Butfirstofall,andwithoutanyconnectiontoLearningStyles,

• do not ever just read the text written on the slide. if you do that, the presentation will

be what we call “a snoozer”.

• you should use the text on the slide as a springboard for what you say.

ThePowerPointpresentation

1110

AnALytiC And gLobAL informAtion ProCessing Bothwaysofprocessinginformationareaccommodatedintheininterchangebetweentheslideson

thescreenandthehandout:

The analytic learner

• Apresentationinwhichinformationispresentedstepbystepbenefitstheanalyticlearner.

• Therefore,youshouldusebulletpointsandanimations,e.g.‘Flyin’withdirection‘Fromleft’;

asageneralrule,donotusedifferentanimationsinthesameslide.

• Teachtheanalyticlearnerhowtousethehandouttocreateanoverviewoftheinformation

thathasbeenpresentedattheendofthelivepresentation.

• Pauseforacoupleofsecondsbeforeyoumoveontothenextslideinyourpresentation;it

givestheanalyticlearnerachancetocollecthis/herthoughts.

The global learner

• Thegloballearnershouldlearnhowtocreateanoverviewoftheinformationtobepresented

byskimmingthoughthehandoutbeforethepresentationbegins;thens/heisabletocon-

centrateonthescreenslides.

• Theglobal learner likescolorsandpicturesthatsupporthis/her learning.Thismustbeex-

ploited,cf.p.16onwards

tiPs And triCKs – informAtion ProCesssingWeoftenneedtousetextthatexplainsorsupplementspicturesandgraphsthroughtheadditionof

labels,layersandanimation,etc.inapresentation.

Globalsnevergettiredoffunformsandlotsofcolors,butfortheanalyticlearnerthisisahassle.

Whenwedesignpresentationsthataretoappealtobothtypesoflearners,weneedtotakethisinto

considerationandstriketherightbalancebetweentoomuchandtoolittleoftheseeffects.

Neitherglobalsnoranalyticscanabsorbanuninterruptedstreamofinformation.Youshouldtherefore

pausefor10-20secondsaftereveryseventhslide.Remembertotellyouraudiencethattherewillbe

suchpausesor‘time-outs’inyourpresentation.

sensory modALitiesthe auditory modalityistakenintoconsiderationbywhatthepresentersaysandhistoneofvoice.You

shouldalwaysbemindfulofyourpaceandtoneofvoice.Keepaneyeonthereactionsofyouraudience.

the visual modalityistakenintoconsiderationbythepresentationonthescreenaswellasthehand-

out.Itgoesforbothofthesethatyoushouldworkconscientiouslywiththelayout,cf.p.14onwards.

the tactual and the kinesthetic modalitiesaretakenintoconsiderationbythehandout.Touching

thehandout,maybeevenprintingitoutthemselves,anddefinitelymovingitaroundonthetable,

leafingthroughit,writinginit,etc.areimportantactivitiesforbothtypesoflearners.Thekinesthetic

learnerswilldosomorethanwillthetactual;eventhoughthewholebodyisnotinvolved,theywill

stillbenefitfromit.

1�1�

Amount of information in each slide

Itisimportanttokeeptheamountofinformationoneachslidetoaminimum.Itismuchbetterto

havemoreslidesthanafewillegibleones.Wehaveallseenoverfilledslides,andtheyarejustasim-

possibletoreadandprocessasareoverfilledtransparencies.

Follow the rule of 7±2

Ourworkingmemoryprocessesinformationstepbystepandcanneverhandlemorethan5-9infor-

mationunitsatthetime.Inotherwords,7istheaveragethatweshoulduseasourguideline;ifwe

providelessthat5informationunits,wedonotexploitthepotentialofthememorytoasufficientde-

gree,andifweexceed9units,itbecomestoomuchforthememorytoprocess–thusthe7±2rule.

‘Informationunit’isobviouslyanambiguousconcept.Itislinkedtothelearner’sexistingknowledge

andthewaywepresentthematerial.Forthosewhohaveneverseenacomputerbefore,theconcept

ofamouseisveryintriguing,andtheymustprocessmanybitsofinformationinordertounderstand

it.Forthosewhousecomputersonadailybasis,theconceptofamouseisoneandonlyoneinfor-

mationunit.

Colorsandpicturesarealso information.Thepicturemustthereforeberelatedtotheverbalcon-

tentsothatitdoesnotchallengetheworkingmemoryunnecessarily,anditisimportanttolimitthe

numberofcolorsinoneslide,cf.p.21.

Designandpresentationofslides

1�1�

fonts And font siZes

• Usefontsize24asaminimum(asinthisexample).

Whenweusethisfontsize,itiseasytoadheretothe7±2rule.Theresimplyisnotspaceformore

than5bullets,andthatisperfect.

Usesansseriffontslike

• Verdana • Arial

• Franklin Gothic Book

orsimilarfonts.

Avoidfontslike

• TIMES NEW ROMAN

• Bernard Condensed

Sansseriffontsaremostsuitableforslidesbecausethescreensolutionismuchlessthanitison

paper.Fontswithserifsor‘feet’arethereforemoredifficulttoreadonthescreen.

CoLor And AttentionInthecourseof40-45minutes(atypicalclasssession), theattentionoftheaudiencemaybede-

scribedinthreephases

• Inthefirstfewminutes,theattentionincreasessignificantlyandremainsatahighlevelfor

10-12minutes.

• Afterthefirst15minutes,theattentionplungesandremainsataverylowlevel.

• Afteryetanother15minutes,attentionincreasesagain,butitdoesnotreachthehighlevelof

thefirstphase.

Thismaybeillustratedasfollows:

1�1�

0-15 min. 15-30 min. 30-45min.

CoLorsColorsarevery importantelements in thePowerPointpresenta-

tions,butyoucannotjustdecidewhichcolorstouseatrandom.

Colorsmaybeusedtoinfluenceyouraudience–andtoattractthe

attentionofyouraudience.

Wedistinguishbetweencool,tepid(middle)andwarmcolors.

• Thecoolcolors(blue, violet)owerthebloodpressure,therespiratoryfrequencyandthepulse.

• Theycreateandenhancecalmness.

• Thewarmcolors(yellow, (red-orange))increasethebloodpressure,

therespiratoryfrequencyandthepulse.

• Theycauseacertainlevelofstress.

• Withthestress,thelevelofthehormonenoradrenalinincreasesinthebrain,andnoradrenalin

increasesourattentionandourlearning.

• Thetepidcolors(green,(pink)areinthemiddle.

• Theycreatesomecalmness,butatthesametimetheyalsoincreaseattention.

1�1�

The three types of colors and the three attention phases

Itisagoodideatousethecool,warmandtepidcolorsasbackgroundcolorsonthescreen:From

blueand/orvioletviayellowand/ororangetoredand/orgreen.Youcanthenchangetheback-

groundcolorinaccordancewiththethreephasesofattention.

Alternatively,youcanuseaneutral(whiteorgrey)backgroundandinsertgraphics,i.e.pictures,

symbols,WordArt,etc.intheappropriatecolor.

Obviously,graphicsoftenhavemanycolors,alsocolorsthatarenotonourlisthere.However,if

onlycolorsareusedconsistently,muchhasbeenachieved.

Maksimalopmæksomhed

Minimalopmæksomhed

Stigendeopmæksomhed

�1�0

more CoLor tiPs And triCKs

The perceptual order

• Redisintheforeground.

• Yellowisinthemiddle;thesamegoesforgreen.

• Blueisinthebackground.

More tips and trick – more colors

Manycolorsareconfusingandmaketheeyesjump.Theuseofmanycolorstirestheaudienceand

shouldbeavoided.

Rememberthatcolorsarealsoinformationunits,andifweusetoomanycolors,weendupexceed-

ingthe7±2limit.

Rememberalsothatthecolorblueishardtoseeonawhitebackground.

Hereyouseehowdi f f icu l t i t i s toseethetext andthe l inebelow

Materials for the global learner

• Basicprinciples

– FUC(FUnandColor)

–ManyglobalspreferafontlikeComic Sans MS.

• Usebulletpoints,butavoidanimationasmuchaspossible.Globalswantlargechunksofinfor-

mationinonego.

• Ifyoudouseanimations,youmaychoosetousedifferentkindsofanimation(choose‘Ran-

domeffects’).

Anexampleofexercisesforanalyticsandglobalsmaybefoundat

http://www.sprog.asb.dk/OL/STARTPAKKE/Hjaelpemidler%20tysk.htm

under”øvelseisætningsanalyse”.

����

Sofarwehavelookedatpresentationsthatarerunbythepresenter.ButthePowerPointpresenta-

tionsmayalsobeusedtoproducematerialforthelearnertouseindependently.Hereweshould

alsofollowasetofguidelinesthatbuildsonthosethathavealreadybeenpresented.However,

whenusedforexercisematerials,PowerPointfunctionsdifferentlybecausethereisnopresenterand

nohandout.

Materials for the analytic learner

• Basicprinciples

–P2W(ParttoWhole)

–KISS(KeepItSimple,Stupid!).

• Avoidusingcoloredtext;useblacktext.

• Ifyouwantvariation,useagreyshadeforthetext.

• Usebulletpointsandanimationfortheindividualbulletsorchunksoftext;use‘Flyin’with

direction‘Fromleft’.

• Withinformationintables,itmaybeagoodideatolettheinformationontherighthandside

flyinfromtheright.

• Othertypesofanimationshouldbeavoided.

PowerPointasexercisematerials