Assertion-Evidence versus Traditional PowerPoint: An Investigation of the Impact of Slide Structure on Engineering Students’ Cognitive load, Motivation, and Performance

Abstract

Engineers are typically asked to create slides to present their technical presentations in conferences, classrooms, and meetings. Most slides used by engineers follow a traditional PowerPoint style of a topic-subtopic structure. Contrary to the traditional bulleted PowerPoint, the Assertion Evidence (AE) slide structure replaces default phrase headlines with a succinct sentence, containing the main idea of the slide. While prior research has demonstrated that the AE style of presentations is effective towards audience comprehension of the technical presentation material, there is limited research on the effectiveness of AE slides for the presenters’ comprehension. The main goal of this study was to examine the impact of slide structure (AE or Traditional PowerPoint) on engineering students’ cognitive load, presentation self-efficacy, motivation, and performance. In order to assess this research goal, an exploratory study was conducted with 108 engineering students at Kuwait University where a group of students were asked to design slides using Assertion Evidence style of presentations and another group were asked to design slides using Traditional PowerPoint template. The main findings from this study highlighted that participants in the Assertion Evidence group had a lower perceived cognitive workload than participants that designed slides using the Traditional PowerPoint template. However, slide structure did not impact participants’ motivation, self-efficacy, and understanding of the presentation material. The results from this research can be used to drive effective communication of technical engineering presentations.

Shaping The Way to Teach? Exploring the Adoption of Digital Multimodal Texts As Instructional Tools in EFL Teaching Practicum

“…First, PPTs are lauded for their capacity to boost comprehension through a combination of text and visual assistance, so making complicated concepts more digestible (Hidayanti & Widya, 2018). This multimedia approach aligns with research that suggests individuals tend to learn more effectively when words and pictures are presented simultaneously (Alzayed & Alzamel, 2022). Moreover, they make the learning process more practical, which benefits both teachers and students by speeding instruction and concretizing abstract concepts.…”

Getting to the (Power) Point: Unleashing the Impact of Assertion-Evidence Design in PowerPoint for Enhancing Students’ English Grammatical Competence and Retention

“…Numerous previous studies have explored the impact of Assertion-Evidence design on students' retention of English grammatical knowledge. For instance, Alzayed and Alzamel (2022) conducted research that demonstrated significantly higher test scores among students who were taught English grammar using Assertion-Evidence Design compared to a control group that followed traditional teaching methods. Similarly, Garner and Alley (2016) found that students instructed with Assertion-Evidence Design exhibited greater retention of grammatical concepts compared to those taught using traditional approaches.…”

“…The Assertion-Evidence Design (AED) is an instructional approach that involves presenting a clear and concise claim (assertion) supported by relevant evidence, such as examples, data, and research findings. This teaching method is grounded in cognitive theory, which posits that information is better retained when presented in a structured and logical manner (Alzayed & Alzamel, 2022). Cognitive theory focuses on the internal processes involved in memory and knowledge acquisition, and it originated in the 1930s with Jean Piaget's observations of psychological reactions within the behaviorist school (Alzayed & Alzamel, 2022).…”

“…This teaching method is grounded in cognitive theory, which posits that information is better retained when presented in a structured and logical manner (Alzayed & Alzamel, 2022). Cognitive theory focuses on the internal processes involved in memory and knowledge acquisition, and it originated in the 1930s with Jean Piaget's observations of psychological reactions within the behaviorist school (Alzayed & Alzamel, 2022). Piaget's cognitive theory emphasizes the influence of both internal and external factors on an individual's mental processes during learning (Alzayed & Alzamel, 2022).…”