Annette wrote... This is a [VERY] long, but good article on the pros and cons of PowerPoint...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/chi-0301050396jan05.story Aubyn writes... Thanks for this. After reading it I spent a fruitful quarter hour scanning the TIPS archives on posts related to PowerPoint. I didn't get through all of them (there seemed to have been a lively thread almost 2 years ago, which I read all of, and then some a year further back that I did not get all the way through). The Trib article (long indeed) contained the following passage: "...Cochran, an instructional technology coordinator...says. 'It [PowerPoint] supports engaged learning. The research does show that when teaching is used in ways that make students participants in their own learning experience, it enhances the educational experience. It's a way of capitalizing on student interest." I don't have much of a burden to talk people out of or into the use of PP, but I am eager to pin folks down who suggest that there is any measurable learning or memory advantage to its use. The quote above is typical of those who insinuate such an advantage, somewhat like a medieval theologian arguing from analogy, without actually providing any evidence to support it. I have not been able to find much in the way of direct support for a learning advantage to PP presentation, and data I have collected in my own courses (and a dissertation recently completed by a colleague) have failed to support the hypothesis. This does not mean that people should stop using PP - there are lots of other reasons to use it besides increasing retention (I have a list of reasons for myself). And there is somewhat more data that suggests that students in general seem to prefer class sessions that make use of PP (even though their exam performance is not improved). However I do wish that the PP Discourse would either include specific references to support the putative advantage of PP, or stop asserting such a benefit. I sat through a workshop on how to be a more "active learning facilitator" 18 months ago, and the teacher (sorry, facilitator) began by explaining that he was relying heavily on PP because it was well known that people remember 2X as much information when it is presented that way. Only under what eventually became intense cross-examination did he eventually admit that he had no reference for such an assertion, and was only repeating what he had heard often stated at similar conferences and workshops by others. If anyone knows of evidence supporting a learning or retention benefit for PP, I would be very interested in getting the references. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
