Investigation of university students’ attitude toward the use of powerpoint according to some variables

Abstract

In this study it is aimed to investigate whether university students' attitudes toward the use of PowerPoint as a supporting teaching tool in the lectures change according to variables such as gender, academic units attended. For this purpose, the sample consisted of total 653 students who enrolled, Faculty of Education (N=287), Faculty of Engineering (N=125), School of Economics and Administrative Sciences (N=92) and Vocational School (N=149) in Bayburt University. Data was collected using "attitude toward the use of PowerPoint" scale. Additionally, students' opinions of the use of PowerPoint as a supporting teaching tool was collected from their responses to a questions form developed by researchers, then written documents analyzed to reveal their opinions with respect to the use of PowerPoint. The data obtained was statistically analyzed (ANOVA). It was found that there is no any statistically meaningful difference in the participants' attitude toward the use of PowerPoint in respect to gender, but there was significant difference in the participants' attitude toward the use of PowerPoint according to academic units attended. Recently, the findings were discussed in terms of the use of PowerPoint as a supporting tool in the lectures and its importance.

The Impact of Powerpoint Use on Teacher Sense of Efficacy

“…as a supporting and supplementary tool for lectures, as opposed to overhead transparencies, or a simple lecture (see (Szabo and Hastings, 2000;Bartsch and Cobern, 2003;Hassner, 2005;James et al, 2006;Schrad, 2010;Kahraman et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2012)). Since a PowerPoint presentation can include multimedia features (audio, video, hyperlinks, graphs, charts, images, animation, etc.)…”

“…It facilitates the orderly, coherent structuring of a lecture (Susskind, 2008) it reinforces what is being imparted, it clarifies difficult to grasp issues, it helps to illustrate better key concepts, it consolidates understanding and it supports different learning styles, catering for both the visual and the auditory learner. Its advocates claim it boosts retention (Hassner, 2005) it promotes interest and motivation (James et al, 2006;Parette et al, 2009;Kahraman et al, 2011) and aids in strengthening the teaching effect. Numerous studies on students" perceptions (as cited in (Szabo and Hastings, 2000;Apperson et al, 2008;Susskind, 2008;Kahraman et al, 2011;Hill et al, 2012)) indicate that learners believe that PowerPoint facilitates learning, it makes classes more organized, clear and interesting and they even like professors better, having an overall more favorable attitude toward their education.…”

“…Its advocates claim it boosts retention (Hassner, 2005) it promotes interest and motivation (James et al, 2006;Parette et al, 2009;Kahraman et al, 2011) and aids in strengthening the teaching effect. Numerous studies on students" perceptions (as cited in (Szabo and Hastings, 2000;Apperson et al, 2008;Susskind, 2008;Kahraman et al, 2011;Hill et al, 2012)) indicate that learners believe that PowerPoint facilitates learning, it makes classes more organized, clear and interesting and they even like professors better, having an overall more favorable attitude toward their education. Yet, the use of PowerPoint did not necessarily improve their academic performance or proved to facilitate their learning according to empirical evidence from conducted studies (e.g.…”

“…if reading over crammed slides with excessive bullet use), and its effects cancelled (Hassner, 2005;Harden, 2008;Gunderman and Mccammack, 2010;Cho and Lee, 2013). Attention has been drawn first of all to the unrelated graphics incorporated in the slides of a presentation which have been shown to have a negative, distractive effect on the learning outcomes as they confuse and mislead the students (Bartsch and Cobern, 2003;Kahraman et al, 2011); citing other studies as well). Its critics also argue that the transition from slide to slide promotes only linear thinking (Kinchin, 2006;Kinchin and Cabot, 2007;Peters and Beeson, 2010) and does not encourage critical skills since by using bullets for example, students make the erroneous assumption that the list of points presented is exhaustive (Peters and Beeson, 2010).…”

“…Its critics also argue that the transition from slide to slide promotes only linear thinking (Kinchin, 2006;Kinchin and Cabot, 2007;Peters and Beeson, 2010) and does not encourage critical skills since by using bullets for example, students make the erroneous assumption that the list of points presented is exhaustive (Peters and Beeson, 2010). Moreover, it is said to foster student passivity and disengagement (Kinchin, 2006;Kinchin and Cabot, 2007;Gier and Kreiner, 2009;Kahraman et al, 2011;Hill et al, 2012), and leads to a decline in interaction and attendance (James et al, 2006;Gier and Kreiner, 2009). Recently, the alternative software program Prezi among other presentation software programs has come into focus as offering an interactive style of nonlinear shows (Hill et al, 2012) and allowing more informed choices.…”