One problem with doing a direct comparison between PowerPoint and a regular lecture is that it is very difficult to do a direct comparison between two forms of media because they have different strengths and weaknesses. One of my research interests is comparing online to face to face instruction. Of the studies that have been published so far in this area, a number of the researchers don't take into account the difficulties inherent in a direct comparison. For example, one researcher did a project (and it was actually published) doing a comparison between a face to face class in economics and an "online" class. The online class involved basically posting course material online and posting streaming video of all of the class lectures. The researcher, who was also the teacher involved, believed that streaming video would provide the online students with the "benefit" of his lectures. If any student ever attempted to watch the lectures in streaming video, I can only guess he or she was showing strong delta patterns after a few minutes. Streaming video of a lecture is not equivalent to a lecture. But there are interactive activities that can be done online that could never be done in class and, therefore, would not even be imagined by the professor until he or she started teaching online.
You might object that, even if the media are not comparable, we should still be able to compare the performance of the students in the two classes to see who does better. That is true but the problem is that you might be comparing a good use of lecture to a bad use of PowerPoint or vice versa. New media provide new features that will be ignored in an attempt to make the two types appear comparable for research purposes (making the only difference between the two that one is orally presented and the other is orally presented with PowerPoint). Each form finds its own niche in the ability of the professor to use its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. In my research, I am attempting to use both forms, face to face and online, to their full effect. And, in fact, there is a large online component in my face to face class. I am interested in getting to the bottom line of the difference between the two formats. What advantages does the face to face format have and can an online course be developed that will overcome that advantage? As psychologists, we know that the experience each one of us has in a classroom is constructed inside each of our own heads. Is it possible to provide the raw sensation material in an online format that will allow students to have an equivalent learning experience at a distance? To bring this back to the original question: if we are going to do research directly comparing the use of PowerPoint to traditional lecture, we need to allow both forms to fully play to their strengths. We need to get away from simplistic comparisons showing that if you directly translate your lecture into PowerPoint, surprise, there will be no benefit to using PowerPoint. On the other hand, if you allow the additional opportunities afforded by PowerPoint to transform your lecture, you will be at the starting point for a more useful comparison of the two formats. Rick -----Original Message----- From: Aubyn Fulton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 1:26 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: The Benefits of PowerPoint 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] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
