EFFECTIVENESS OF MICROSOFT POWERPOINT IN STUDENT LEARNING

Acknowledgement

The researcher would like to extend her deepest depth of gratitude, to those who, in one way of other, have helped in the realization of this piece of work particularly to:

1. Mrs. Mercedita Palacio, for letting her borrow particular books;
2. Mrs. Milagros Vister, for her patience, understanding and for the wisdom she had shared for the conceptualization up to the completion of the paper
3. Her dearest friends- for the support they provided and for their valuable time and effort.

Her family for their endless moral support;

And above all to our Almighty Father, for all his blessings and graces that enabled her to make this work possible.

 

Dedication

This was made possible because of those who kept faith with her, guided her and provided her privilege to what she is now.

This piece of work is lovingly dedicated to my loving parents Mr. Marjo P. Domingo and Ms. Virginia S. Manibog, for their love and care;

My brothers and sisters, for they are the reasons of her sacrifices; Jomar, and Jaysa

My classmates and group mates for accompanying and for the moral support they gave in conducting this study;

And to all the people who gave their concern for accomplishing this study;

Above all to our Almighty Father who has the power for giving me enough strength, good health and for always being there for spiritual guidance.

 

 

 

Outline

1. Introduction

 

1. Significance of the Study

 

1. Effects of using the Microsoft PowerPoint in teaching

 

1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Microsoft Power Point

 

1. Advantages

 

1. Disadvantages

 

 

1. Conclusion

Bibliography

 

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the uses of PowerPoint (a form of multimedia) presentations in classroom instruction have significantly increased globally without examination of their effects on student learning and attitudes.

In this study, we test whether using PowerPoint in an accounting course enhances student short-term memory, long-term memory, and attitudes toward class presentation and the instructor. We conducted an experiment, which includes a treatment-control design, in a classroom setting throughout a semester. In one section of an accounting principles II( Managerial Accounting) course, PowerPoint was used as the delivery system, while the second section was taught using a traditional delivery system. The results show that PowerPoint presentation may improve student attitudes toward the instructor and class presentation. The results do not provide conclusive evidence that PowerPoint presentations improve short-term or long-term memory. The latter results are consistent with other media comparison studies that show the medium alone does not influence learning.

 

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

 

Thompson et al. (1992) categorize five types of media research in educational technology, including evaluation research, media comparison studies, intra-medium studies, aptitude-treatment interaction studies, and alternative research designs (see Thompson et al. (1992) for a detailed discussion). Because the current study compares the effects of two instructional delivery media (PowerPoint and conventional instruction) on learning and attitude, it is classified as a media comparison study.

The goal of such studies is to determine if one medium has a greater effect on learning than another (Thompson et al., 1992). The present study is also classified as an aptitude-treatment interaction study because it examines the interaction between preferred representation styles and the medium’s characteristics on learning.

 

1.  EFFECTS OF USING POWERPOINT IN TEACHING

The evidence that PowerPoint presentations influence learning is largely anecdotal. Bryant and Hunton (2000) state that the degree of improved learning is a function of a complex set of interactions among learner and medium attributes. Mason and Hlynka (1998) state that PowerPoint helps structure the content and processing of a lesson or lecture. Aiding note-taking (and thus facilitating study) is another purported advantage of using PowerPoint (Cook, 1998). Parks (1999) reports that students liked the lecture outline and graphs on the screen, and that the PowerPoint presentation had a positive influence on students.

Harrison (1999) argues that PowerPoint enhances instruction and motivates students to learn. If this is true, the bigger question is, does a PowerPoint help student learn? PowerPoint presentations in corporate graphics, animation, and color (imagery). Human information processing theories focus on how the human memory system gathers, transforms, compacts, elaborates, encodes, retrieves, and uses information. Sensory registers, short-term memory, and long-term memory are the three major storage structures of the human brain. The sensory system registers stimuli and holds them for a brief period until they are recognized or lost. Short-term memory, with its limited capacity, receives information from sensory registers. It holds information longer than the sensory registers through a rehearsal process, recycling the information again and again. Long-term memory is a permanent store of human knowledge, and receives information from both sensory registers and the short-term memory system (Moore et al., 1996). Research has shown that attention plays an important role in determining when and how information is further processed from sensory registers to short and long-term memory. If information is not attended to, it is quickly lost in the sensory stimulus stage of processing. Reynolds and Baker (1987)find that presenting materials on a computer increased attention and learning, and learning increased as attention increased. Human information processing theories can shed light on how PowerPoint features (graphics, animations, etc.) may influence learning. One of the theories is Paivio’s dual coding theory of memory cognition (Paivio 1986). This theory suggests that imagery and verbal systems are two subsystems of information processing. According to dual coding theory, the imagery system processes information about nonverbal objects, including images for shapes, pictures, models, animation, color, and sound.

While dual coding theory has implications for both short- and long-term memory encoding, according to Paivio (1990),“…the structural representations of dual coding theory relate to relatively 56 Nouri and Shahid stable long-term memory information corresponding to perceptually identifiable objects and activities, both verbal and nonverbal” (p. 54). The general model of information processing assumes that encoding results in a memory trace, and that information can been coded at are presentational, referential, or associative level (Paivio 1990). Information encoded at a representational level generates a short term memory trace, while information encoded at the referential level elicits both referentially- related verbal and nonverbal memory traces of a longer term nature. Associatively encoded information results in memory traces that include information about multiple verbal or nonverbal items (Paivio 1990). It is referential encoding that is most relevant for this study.

 

The graphical nature of the PowerPoint presentation arouses students’ imagery systems, which become more activated when information (e.g., instructional materials) is presented in non-verbal forms. PowerPoint presentations should arouse the imagery system and could contribute to comprehension, and improve short and long-term memory. Since, in a PowerPoint presentation, topics are presented in a hierarchical fashion with graphics, color, and animation, students could “use a mental image of that outline to study, to retrieve the information on a test, to organize their answer for an essay question, and to perform other educational tasks (Clark and Paivio, 1991. p. 176).”Rose (2001) also notes that presentation of learning materials in graphical form is beneficial for students. Many studies have empirically tested dual coding theory (see Paivio, 1986 for review of dual coding theory). For example, relying on dual coding theory, Mayer and Anderson (1991) compare the effect of presentations using words with picture with those using words-before-picture, on learning. They predicted that the words-with picture group would outperform the words-before-picture group because of referential connections between imagery and verbal representations. The results of their study support the prediction. Peek (1987) finds that when pictures and text are presented together, information retention is improved. Other studies have shown that color is a factor in memory representation. For example, Hanna and Remington (1996) find that color, as a stimulus, is a part of memory representation. Allen (1990) submits that colors are encoded as a verbal representation as well as in the perceptual mode in the form of a visual image. In a review of literature on the use of color in teaching, Dwyer and Lamberski (1983) conclude that when color is central to the ideas and concepts being presented and the students pay attention, the use of color improves learning. In the present study, students in the traditional group (without PowerPoint) received only a text-based, black-and-white presentation (overhead transparencies), while students in the treatment group (with PowerPoint) received graphics, color, and animation in instructional delivery. Therefore, we expect that students receiving PowerPoint presentation will outperform the traditional group because students in this class will have more opportunities to make referential connections between imagery and verbal representation than in the traditional presentation.Butler and Mautz (1996).

 

The current paper extends the work of Butler and Mautz (1996). These researchers examined whether multimedia presentations improve short-term recall of accounting systems materials, as well as the effects of multimedia on student attitudes toward the presentation and presenter. Sixty subjects were randomly assigned to one of two sections receiving different presentation media: traditional and multimedia.

 

The traditional group received a thirty-minute presentation with conventional text-based, black-and-white visual aids (which resembled overhead transparencies), while the multimedia group received the same thirty-minute presentation but with a multimedia display that incorporated graphics, animation, sound and color. Past media studies have been criticized largely for the lack of experimental rigor and control. Butler and Mautz’s (1996) study is note worthy for its attempt to provide as strong internal validity as possible by tightly controlling extraneous influences. Among other controls, the experiment took place within the laboratory; the same instructor taught both groups; the material was delivered to both groups via computer; students did not have any prior knowledge of the subject matter; and delivery of the material was scripted anded to be identical. Using the Individual Differences Questionnaire (IDQ) (Paivio and Harshman, 1983; Harshman and Paivio, 1987), Butler and Mautz (1996) tested the hypothesis of whether students’ preferred means of representing information interacted with the effects of multimedia presentation.

 

 

1. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF POWERPOINT

THE ADVANTAGES OF USING POWERPOINT

• PowerPoint encourages and supports teaching learning process by facilitating the material presentation. The template provided is designed to default to good presentation criteria such as the number of lines of information in each slide and appropriate font sizes. The use of the default templates can improve the clarity and the arrangement of a presentation. It helps the teacher avoid the common use of excessive text often found on OHV (Over Head Projector).
• PowerPoint is able to perform a variety of manipulations, such as editing text before printing it out, and the teacher can add new slides for adding new materials.
• PowerPoint is an application program of presentation that is found in Microsoft Office. It means that we did not need to buy new software, because it has been included in Microsoft Office program.
• This program is also advantages in the sense that the icons used are very simple because they are similar with those in the Microsoft Word. In this way, the users can create an instruction of language without studying this program previously.
• PowerPoint is also fun to be applied and fun to watch. It is not hard to learn in one hour. It allows the users to reflect on a lesson and correct any changes, and they can create the perfect lessons and are being able to print them out.
• Using PowerPoint improve the students’ learning motivation, increasing authentic materials for study, encouraging interaction between the teacher and the students.

 

THE DISADVANTAGES OF USING POWERPOINT

There are several risky factors associated with the using of PowerPoint, among others are:

• Equipment failure

The component system sometimes does not work as expected. The main failure in projector is rare but possible. The solution here is to have alternative activities, for example good preparation.

• File Corruption

This damage caused by magnetic or physical damage so that the presentation will not run. To overcome this problem, CD (compact disk) which is unaffected by magnetic field can be used.

• Incompatible Media

Incompatible media means the incompatible the system available. The best solution is to be aware of the systems to use our own laptop.

• The most common abuses

The most common abuses in PowerPoint use for teaching and learning include visually poor or boring slide. Too many texts on the slide do not support good reading text, other abuses for example, inappropriate use of multimedia options, for example too much animation or over use of slide transitions. Further, many teachers do not have enough basic knowledge in applying PowerPoint in teaching learning. In addition, PowerPoint cannot handle unexpected situations because PowerPoint is unable to handle the students’ questions immediately as the teachers do.

 

 

1. CONCLUSION

 

In summary, the results suggest that educational technology such as PowerPoint improves students’ attitudes toward the instructor and course presentation. In addition, the results suggest that PowerPoint presentations may improve short-term memory depending on the topic under discussion and the students’ preferred representation style. Additional research with a larger sample might provide more conclusive evidence of the use of PowerPoint on short-term memory. No significant effect of PowerPoint presentations was found on long-term memory. These results are consistent with other studies that show media alone do not influence learning (Thompson et al. 1992; Clark 1983; 1994).

My conclusions and findings are subject to several limitations. First, a significant limitation is the internal validity of the study. The experiment was conducted over a semester, and as a result, other factors beyond the control of the experimenter may have affected the results. Second, the quasi-experimental design (including non-random assignment) employed in the study may be subject to differences between the two sections that are fundamental to the groups but of which the experimenter is unaware. These threats were mitigated by the careful choice and inclusion of covariates in the analysis. Third, the same instructor taught both sections in back-to-back classes. This raises the possibility of instructor fatigue as an issue that biases against the null hypothesis. Fourth, the results should be applied cautiously to other settings since the demographics of students in this study may differ from students in other institutions. Future studies can examine whether the same results emerge under different settings. Fifth, the findings also may have been affected by the way PowerPoint slides were constructed and organized. That is, poor PowerPoint slides could affect learning and satisfaction. This study used the PowerPoint slides that came with the textbook. Future research can examine whether different types of PowerPoint slides (poorly-designed vs. well-designed) affect students’ learning and attitudes. Finally, the results of this study must be interpreted cautiously, given the low model Rs and alpha benchmarks. More research would be required to establish stronger claims as to the effect of PowerPoint on memory and presenter/presentation effects.

 

References:

Ainsworth, P., D. Deines, C. X. Larson, and R. D. Plumlee. 1999.

Introduction to Accounting: An Integrated Approach (Volume 2). (New York, Mcgraw Hill/Irwin).

Allen, C. K. 1990. Encoding of Colors in Short-Term Memory.

Perceptual and Motor Skills, (Vol.71) 211-215.

Bartsch, R. A., and K.M. Cobern. 2003. Effectiveness of PowerPoint Presentation in Lectures.

Computers & Education (Vol. 41) 77-86.

Bryant, S. M., and J.E.Hunton. 2000. The Use of Technology in the Delivery of Instruction: Implications for Accounting Educators and Education Researchers. Issues in Accounting Education( Vol. 15, No. 1) 129-162.

Bushong, S.1998. Utilization of PowerPoint Presentation Software in Library Instruction of Subject-Specific Reference Sources. Unpublished master’s research paper, Kent State University.

Butler, J. B., and R. D. Mautz, Jr. 1996. Multimedia Presentations and Learning: A Laboratory Experiment.Issues in Accounting Education (Vol. 11, No.2) 259-280.

Clark, J. M., and A. Paivio. 1991. Dual Coding Theory and Education. Educational Psychology Review(Vol. 3, No. 3) 149-210.

Nouri and Shahid Clark, R. E. 1983. Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media. Review of Educational Research(Vol. 53, No. 4) 445-459