Goal 2 Student performance

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Goal 2Student performance

• Does student perception equal reality?

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Three types of presentations

• Before we can answer that, lets agree on some
  common definitions.
• There are three types of teacher-created
  multimedia presentations used in most
  classrooms
• Transparencies
• Basic PowerPoint, which only includes text
  information
• Expanded PowerPoint, which includes pictures,
  sounds, movies, transitions, builds, etc.

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Ready for a shock?

• There is no significant difference in scores on
  quizzes that come from transparencies and basic
  PowerPoint lectures.
• Students do 10 worse on quizzes that come from
  expanded PowerPoint lectures (the ones overly
  loaded with bells and whistles).

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Wait, theres more!

• Does adding pictures to your presentations
  significantly improve students learning of the
  material?
• NOPE!
• Current research shows . . .

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Interference 15 yards

• Having related pictures in your PowerPoint
  presentation is neither beneficial nor harmful to
  the students learning of the material.
• Unrelated pictures in a presentation, however,
  have a negative effect on students learning of
  the material.
• A picture may be worth a thousand words, but when
  you use an unrelated picture those thousand words
  drown out what you are trying to say.

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For example

• PowerPoint 1.0 was actually derived from a
  product called Presenter that was developed by
  Forethought Inc. in early 1987.
• Microsoft purchased Presenter in August of 1987
  for 14 million.

Image source albinoblacksheep.com
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Notice the interference?

• That picture, while humorous, had nothing to do
  with the real content of the slide.
• But, Id be willing to bet that an hour from now
  youll remember the Howard Dean kitten picture
  but completely forget how much Microsoft paid for
  PowerPoint in 1987.
• The slide entertains, but fails to teach. Why?
  Well

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Mayers Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

• Students place relevant words into auditory
  working memory and relevant images into visual
  working memory.
• Students then organize information separately in
  auditory and visual memory and finally integrate
  these representations with prior knowledge.

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The problem with pictures

• The on-screen text in PowerPoint is processed in
  visual memory because it is seen, viewed with the
  eyes.
• Relevant pictures do not help because they are
  also stored in visual memory along with the
  textno new information is added over a different
  channel.

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Are pictures necessary?

• Pictures are not as important as you may think.
• Students are usually able to understand the facts
  without the help of a picture.
• Besides, the facts are whats going to be on your
  test, not the pictures.
• Howeverand this is an important pointwhen the
  material is more complicated or the students do
  not know much about the information, pictures may
  be beneficial.

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Your Students

• In your classroom, you may have students who need
  something to grab their attention.
• A well designed slide with a supporting
  illustration may be the attention grabber they
  need.
• Just make sure that the extra does not distract
  from the key information on the slide.

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In short, use pictures to teach, not to decorate
or entertain.
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Striking a happy medium

• If you really want to use pictures in your
  presentations, make sure the pictures are highly
  relevant.
• When in doubt, leave it out.
• Better still, put all testable content on
  text-only slides and then be creative with your
  filler slides.
• That way the presentation will look pretty, but
  the real content wont be lost due to visual
  interference.

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And dont forget

• Enhancing a PowerPoint presentation with even
  relevant pictures takes, on average, 50 more
  time than creating a basic (text-only) PowerPoint
  presentation.
• This extra effort yields no measurable gain in
  student learning.
• But it sure does look pretty.

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The Good News

• In our POWER TAs, we have spent that 50 more
  time to locate relevant and supportive
  illustrations
• which grab your students attention
• but do not distract from the content of the
  lesson.
• For example, the following is a teaching aid from
  Individual and Family Life

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Friendship Circle
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and now the improved version
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FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE
Me
Close Friends
Casual Friends
Acquaintances
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Original teaching aid of case studies. . . . .
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Decision-Making Case Studies
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New and improved case studies
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Decision-Making Case Studies

• Ten-year-old Amelia adores her sixteen-year-old
  sister Amy. She wants to do everything that Amy
  does. When Amy got her ears pierced at age
  fourteen, Amelia begged to get her ears pierced
  too. Not until youre a teenager, said her
  mother. Each time the family goes to the mall,
  Amelia begs tog et her ears pierced, but her
  mother always says, Not until youre a teenager.

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Decision-Making Case Studies

• Last Sunday, Amy and Amelia were walking the mall
  while they waited for their mother to get her
  hair done. As Amy and Amelia walked past the shop
  that specialized in ear piercing, Amelia turned
  to Amy and began to plead, Can I get my ears
  pierced today? Please, please, please. Amy
  thought a minute, grabbed Amelias hand, and
  pulled her into the shop. Lets do it, she
  said. As Amy signed the consent form, writing her
  age as eighteen, she had second thoughts.

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Decision-Making Case Studies

• Teraj had always dreamed of attending college. In
  fact, his family, who strongly believed in
  education, had set up a college fund for each of
  their children. During his junior year in high
  school, Teraj and a friend began talking about
  moving to California following graduation and
  getting jobs in the movie industry. The friends
  worked together over the summer at a lumber yard
  and volunteered at the local community theater
  working as stage hands, building and painting
  sets, and helping in the box office.

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Decision-Making Case Studies

• As Teraj entered his senior year, his family got
  excited as he sent in college applications. When
  two of the better-known universities accepted him
  for the fall semester, the family was overjoyed.
  Teraj, however, still planned to move to
  California for at least two years before going to
  college. He just hadnt found the right time to
  tell his folks.

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Decision-Making Case Studies

• Komiko had been working at Bennys Burgers for
  three months. She loved the team of people she
  worked with and especially liked the older night
  manager Jim. although Bennys was always crowded,
  the owner recently informed the employees that
  some changes might have to be made because
  Bennys profits were declining.

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Decision-Making Case Studies

• One Saturday night, following the close of
  Bennys, Komiko and Jim were the last two
  employees to leave. As Komiko put her apron in
  the hamper, she glanced into Jims office and
  not6iced that he was bent over his desk. Good
  night, she said. As Jim jerked his head around
  to look at her, Komiko observed what appeared to
  be drug paraphernalia on the desk. Komiko waved
  to Jim and ran through the back door to her car.

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Decision-Making Case Studies

• As Komiko drove home, she was still in shock at
  what she had seen. Jim was such a nice man but
  seemed very nervous and grouchy lately, and the
  business was losing money. Komiko thought about
  calling the owner and telling her about Jim but
  decided not to say anything for awhile.