Engineering students opinions on the use of PowerPoint presentations in a lecture environment
Aidan O’Dwyer,
School of Electrical Engineering Systems, DIT Kevin St., Dublin 8.
E-mail:
Paper type: Practitioner paper.
Abstract:
There is increasing emphasis placed on the electronic delivery of lecture material, typically by means of PowerPoint presentations. This is driven by investment in the required IT equipment, the use of online environments and the reduction, in engineering, in class contact hours. Despite these driving factors, the educational benefits of using PowerPoint in lectures has not been analysed in detail in the engineering education literature; many authors in this literature are content with providing tips for effective PowerPoint presentations, avoiding ‘death by PowerPoint’ (e.g. Winn, 2003; Felder and Brent, 2005). In particular, surveys of engineering student perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of a lecturing approach that uses PowerPoint for a substantial part of the lecture material, compared to a more traditional lecturing approach using a blackboard or an overhead projector, are absent. There exists some analysis in the wider educational literature of the perceptions of (typically) liberal arts students obtained using structured surveys (Szabo and Hastings, 2000; Susskind, 2005; Apperson et al., 2006, 2008).
The research question addressed in this contribution is whether the use of PowerPoint presentations (and associated on-line material), in a lecture environment, improves the educational experience for engineering students, as reported by the students themselves. The data collection tool used is a questionnaire, influenced by the work of the latter authors above. Presentation and analysis of the questionnaire data from the groups are summarised. In conclusion, on average, students value PowerPoint based lectures both as a means of better understanding the material and for the medium’s structural and organisational advantages. In particular, visual elements are favoured in the presentations, reflecting the strongly visual learning style of engineering students. Students also strongly favour the PowerPoint lectures being available online and that a paper copy of the PowerPoint presentation be distributed at the lecture.
Keywords: Media in engineering education; improving classroom teaching; pedagogical issues
1. Introduction
As mentioned in the abstract, the data collection tool used is a questionnaire. The questionnaire, available from the author, uses a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 corresponding to ‘strongly disagree’ and 5 corresponding to ‘strongly agree’. The questionnaire is constructed with alternating positive and negative questions to avoid directional bias. Clearly, in answering the questionnaire, students cannot directly compare their experiences of PowerPoint based lectures versus a more traditional approach for the same lecture material; however, many of the other modules that the students take involve a traditional teaching style, so that students would be familiar with the terms used in the questionnaire.
The engineering student groups surveyed from 2007-9 were Level 7, Year 1 (n = 52), Level 8, Years 3 and 4 (n = 20) and Level 9 (n = 18); responses were obtained from 47% of the total student cohort. PowerPoint presentations were predominantly used in the lecture or laboratory environment, as appropriate; students were provided with a paper copy of the presentation prior to the material being covered, and the presentation itself was also simultaneously placed on-line. Approximately 33% of the instruction time of the Level 7 groups, 50% of the instruction time for the Level 8 groups and 75% of the lecture time of the Level 9 groups were devoted to lecturing through PowerPoint.
2. Student feedback from the questionnaire
The mean values of the collective response to the survey questions are reported. Of course, numerical values should be regarded as indications of student opinion, as data from questionnaires has inherent limitations (Race, 2007).
Thinking about lectures delivered using PowerPoint slides compared to lectures delivered by writing on the blackboard or using overhead projector slides, I find thatPowerPoint based lectures:
are more attention capturing / 3.76are more interesting / 3.79
are easier to follow / 3.91
are visually clearer / 3.81
better emphasise the important points / 3.84
mean that taking notes is easier / 3.28
maintain my focus and interest in the lecture material for a longer time / 3.40
mean that there is more motivation for me to come to lectures / 3.57
are better structured and prepared / 4.06
mean that I learn more in the lectures / 3.60
mean that the lecturer stays more focused on the lecture material / 4.06
are easier to understand / 4.08
allows the lecturer to better balance lecture and discussion (or problem solving) / 3.85
mean I find I use a textbook less / 3.85
mean I felt worse when I missed the lecture / 2.27
mean I enjoyed the class more / 3.43
mean that my notes are more organised / 4.03
Thinking about the PowerPoint lectures in this subject, I:
find it helpful for the lecturer to use the PowerPoint slides as a basis for the lecture / 4.10generally find visual elements helpful / 4.31
prefer when important terms are completely written out / 3.90
like that a paper copy is also available of the PowerPoint slides / 4.51
am satisfied with the print size on the paper copy of the slides / 3.93
generally prefer slides that provide the full text of the lecture material / 3.76
find it helpful for the lecturer to read the PowerPoint slides as they are presented / 3.73
would prefer if the information is revealed line by line on the slide / 3.00
like it if the lecturer uses electronic sounds / 2.75
feel that the use of PowerPoint slides inhibits discussion in the lecture / 2.79
would like the lecturer to vary the size and shape of the text used / 2.89
wish PowerPoint slides were used for lecturing in all subjects / 3.64
would like the lecturer to use a consistent colour scheme / 3.12
find it helpful if each slide is revealed all at once, even if it is ahead of the lecture / 3.07
find it easier for my mind to wander when I have a copy of the presentation / 3.13
find it boring when the lecturer says the same things the PowerPoint slides say / 2.92
prefer slides that contain pictures, charts or graphs only / 3.12
feel the lecturer should only give an outline of the lecture on the PowerPoint slides / 2.93
am less likely to attend class when I have a copy of the presentation / 2.48
wish the lecturer would spend less time using PowerPoint slides / 2.22
3. Conclusions and further work
In general, students value PowerPoint based lectures as a means of better understanding the material, suggesting that PowerPoint based lectures are more interesting and facilitate greater learning (than a more traditional approach), though unscripted comments from some students reveal some uncertainty and dissatisfaction with a predominately PowerPoint based lecturing approach. Additionally, students value the structural and organisational advantages of PowerPoint presentations. In particular, visual elements are favoured in the presentations, reflecting the strongly visual learning style of engineering students. In further analysis, the author has found broad agreement, with some difference in emphasis, between students on the programmes surveyed; for example, Level 9 students are less likely to report that their lectures notes are more organised when PowerPoint is used, perhaps because these postgraduate students have developed organisational skills to a higher extent than the undergraduate students surveyed.
Such advantages are also reported by Szabo and Hastings (2000), for example, who conclude that a majority of (humanities) students believe that PowerPoint based lecturing is more attention capturing, interesting, visually clear and is better at emphasising important topics than the traditional method of lecturing. These authors suggest that these advantages reflect the flexible features of PowerPoint, the better structuring and preparing of PowerPoint lectures (at least in these studies) and perhaps the novelty of the experience (which, if true, would mean that the advantages of the method could be expected to fade with time).
The benefits for student learning are the most important issue in assessing electronic lecturing, according to Szabo and Hastings (2000). Though the majority of students felt that PowerPoint lectures were beneficial for their learning, it would be interesting, in further work, to compare examination and other assessment results of students exposed to both teaching styles, though other variables would have to be considered (e.g. the academic ability of the students, changes in the examination paper).
REFERENCES
Apperson, J.M., Laws, E.L. and Scepansky, J.A. (2006). ‘The impact of presentation graphics on students’ experiences in the classroom’. Computers and Education, 47:116-126.
Apperson, J.M. Laws, E.L. and Scepansky, J.A. (2008). ‘An assessment of student preferences for PowerPoint presentation structure in undergraduate courses’. Computers and Education, 50 (1):148-153.
Felder, R.M. and Brent, R. (2005). ‘Death by PowerPoint’. Chemical Engineering Education, 39 (1):28-29.
Race, P. (2007). The lecturers toolkit, London: Routledge.
Susskind, J.E. (2005). ‘PowerPoint’s power in the classroom: enhancing students’ self-efficacy and attitudes’. Computers and Education, 45:203-215.
Szabo, A. and Hastings, N. (2000). ‘Using IT in the undergraduate classroom; should we replace the blackboard with PowerPoint?’. Computers and Education, 35:175-187.
Winn, J. (2003).‘Avoiding death by PowerPoint’. Journal of Professional issues in Engineering Education and Practice, July:115-118.