Logan Freeman

Professor Ruth Benander

English 2089

22 September 2022

Literature Review

The topic I will be researching is the idea of helping a community of high school students in IT classes grow the important skill of creating proper slideshow or Powerpoint presentations. From my interview and prior experience, I am aware of many pitfalls students may have when they are creating these presentations. Although, there is certainly a lot I can learn and improve on myself by performing some research. My goal of this literature review is to find specific sources in order to develop a better understanding of my topic. This process will effectively lead to a better overall project when it comes to that time.

SOURCES AND EVALUATION

When searching for sources, I input specific search terms into the search engine known as Google Scholar. I also confirmed that these sources met the standard I needed for this Literacy Review.

Source 1. Beginning with my first research point, I discovered an article titled Using Cognitive Load Theory to improve the use of slideshow presentations and support a more efficient learning process. While combing through research articles, this piece stood out to me as potentially very useful in my ambition for this course. The article I will be focusing on was written by Dom Shibli, in association with the Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCertHE) programme at the University of Hertfordshire. Upon further inspection, this article provides particularly useful and dense information that acompasses some of my main goals. The statement that starts off the abstract is as follows, “Improving slideshow presentations can have positive effects on the learning process. Simple adjustments to the design of slides can focus the learner’s attention and reduce the demand on the learner to process the information,” (1). As I have noticed in my own experience with this format of presentations, putting focus on how your slideshow is developed is important. With proper rules and design decisions, of which this article goes into, one may produce a much more successful degree of learning. This article specifically focuses on an interesting aspect, as “information can be lost due to distraction or being presented in a way that is not sympathetic to how the mind works, ” (1). The overall idea of this research article was to connect how we think humans learn to the prestations format of slideshow. Selecting from the most interesting pieces of information, one example they give is the idea of how the mind works. In Figure 1: A simple model of the mind, a chart is used to describe how we believe memory in the mind operates. This chart starts with the beginning point of information in the brain, which is the environment. Information is collected through our senses and delivered to working memory, which acts as the “site of awareness and thinking,” (1). The working memory is connected to the long-term memory, which serves as semi-permanent storage for information from the environment. Notably, there is a distinction between the working memory and long-term memory. Ultimately though, information in the working or long-term memory can be forgotten. Therefore when making slideshows, we can harness this idea and work to prevent the process of forgetting. This connects to the idea of Cognitive Load Theory, which is basically the amount of mental processing someone has to do in order to learn something. This article then defines three particular examples of how cognitive load can take effect, called Intrinsic, Extraneous, and Germane. The idea taken from this example is that “To encourage the storage of information in the long-term memory a teacher/lecturer must consider how they can manage the intrinsic load and reduce the extraneous load,” (1). As well as this, in figure 2 they define the equation “cognitive overload = task demand / available resources”. This is certainly an interesting way to look at this idea of cognitive overload. As the more a work task requires demand and processing, the more you are limited by your available resources. Then the article then goes into some examples of producing a good slideshow. The first being that “Too much writing is another example of excessive extraneous cognitive load in a slide,” (1). As well as this, “Many slideshows are littered with these irrelevant images which are used with the good intention of engaging the learner. But it is important to select images that are appropriate to the group being taught and remove irrelevant information,” (1). Personally, I have seen this all of the time, as many students end up using irrelevant images since they are told to use images in general. Too, often they do not realize how much more effective a presentation may be with relevant images where needed. The article then goes into more interesting theories that are involved in producing better slideshows. Finally though, it concludes with these recommendations, “1. Keep the amount of text on a slide to a minimum. 2. Think carefully about the images used and ask yourself if they support the development of a concept. 3. Ensure that every detail on the slide can be read by the audience. 4. Use animations to reveal text or images one at a time to focus attention,” (1). Overall, this article provides a multitude of interesting data and concepts that should be used in order to create more engaging and effective slideshows.

Source 2. While searching through sources I could use to improve my goal, I came across one titled, Learning using the google slides mobile application and its impact on attitude, motivation and achievement for industrial design subjects in the tve. This journal was written by Ahmad, M.F., Hamzah, N., Wan Hassan, W.A.S. & Rohanai, R.H., in association with the Faculty of Technical and Vocational education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. Their work particularly pertains to the software Google Slides, which is what I plan to explore while teaching my community of students. Although this article focuses on how Google Slides is used in non face-to-face teaching situations, I believe the information is relevant in displaying the effectiveness of Google Slides. In this research, “A total of 39 students were selected as the study sample… Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, i.e. mean and standard deviation to see the influence of learning using google slides mobile application on the level of attitude, motivation, and student achievement,” (2). When considering my goal for change in this course, I feel as though this may be valuable information to know. As the article states, “The teaching and learning process can be improved in quality and diversified delivery and acceptance through several techniques such as computer and software assistance,” (2). With today’s amount of development in technology, there are a multitude of software that may aid in the process of teaching. This was a starting point in my goal for this course, to define the usefulness of slideshow presentations as a format, particularly in teaching others. Alternatively though, this format is successful in better portraying one's thoughts and ideas. They claim that “The results of the study found that the level of students' attitude towards the use of Google Slides for Industrial Design subjects as a whole was at a high level,” (2). An example of the study was table four which was meant to represent the Levels of Student Attitudes in the Use of Google Slides. As the article states, “‘Industrial Design contains activities that can encourage students to think critically and creatively’ with 23 students answered strongly agree (65.7%) and 12 students answered yes (34.3%). This finding is in line with the study of [15] stated that the handling of the Teaching and Learning process (T&L) requires educators who have creative and innovative power to cultivate interest in learning among students… the lowest mean score value… ‘I always pay attention during Industrial Design learning’ with 11 students answered strongly agree (31.4%), 18 students answered agree (51.4%) and 6 students answered disagree (7.1%),” (2). These results for table four show that the course of Industrial Design, which operates using Google Slides, is effective in promoting critical and engaging learning. Following this, there are similar examples that cover the motivation and achievement of students using Google Slides. Both then conclude that the application of Google slides produces a response level that is high. Though overall the article concludes with, “Therefore, readiness for the use of Google Slides mobile application is very important for lecturers and students to be able to master… Attitudes, motivations and student achievement in the use of Google Slides are at a high level,” (2). There is a lot to take from this journal, though it provides data that suggests the effectiveness of Google Slides as in application in terms of presenting and relaying information

Sources 3&4. Next, when researching for articles pertaining to my goal for this course, I came across the article simply titled PowerPoint Is Evil. This immediately caught my attention, although this article was written by Edward Tufte for Wired back in 2003. Interestingly, this source may act as a historical reference in the timeline of the adoption of slideshow or Powerpoint presentations. Beginning with the article in question, its author identifies the origin of slideshow presentations. As stated in the article, “the format has become ubiquitous under PowerPoint, which was created in 1984 and later acquired by Microsoft,” (3). Followed by this definition, the idea of the Powerpoint format is put under a very critical view. Stating that Powerpoints “may help speakers outline their talks, but convenience for the speaker can be punishing to both content and audience,” (3). This can certainly be true, as this highlights the fact that some situations simply are not ideal for the format of a slideshow. A quote that shows this is, “When information is stacked in time, it is difficult to understand context and evaluate relationships. Visual reasoning usually works more effectively when relevant information is shown side by side,” (3). As when making a slideshow you are limited to one slide at a time, with the proper word count, you can’t necessarily implement much information on each individual slide. This may be a situation where information is not best presented like this, and other methods of presenting could be used instead. Slideshows aren’t a solution for all presentations, but often data can be adapted to work in its format. The article then provides some examples of faulty slide design, of course with the capabilities in 2003. This demonstrates the fact that cludered and incoherent slides are not effective ways to create slides. Which leads into the absolute best takeaway from this retrospective, “But rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a substitute for it. Such misuse ignores the most important rule of speaking: Respect your audience,” (3). This quote makes the necessity of using a slideshow as a tool and not as the entire presentation piece clear. It also defines the other major rule, to keep your audience in mind at all times when giving a slideshow presentation. Otherwise, you are not reaching your full potential and probably only focusing on getting a good grade. At the end of this article, there was a reference to the previous story titled Learning to Love PowerPoint, which offers a second historical viewpoint. One particular piece of opinion the author gives is that, “Having never used the program before, I found it limiting, inflexible, and biased, like most software. On top of that, PowerPoint makes hilariously bad-looking visuals. But that's a small price to pay for ease and utility,” (4). This is simply a bit of a historical report of how slideshows used to look and operate. As well as, “Although I began by making fun of the medium, I soon realized I could actually create things that were beautiful. I could bend the program to my own whim and use it as an artistic agent,” (4). This idea represents one of my favorite parts of the formats of slideshows as a whole, the visual part. With slideshows, the visual aspect can be harnessed as a tool to engage the audience's retention of information to a whole other level. Apparently even back in 2003. Both of these articles can be used as historical information though. This kind of data’s real application is a time capsule, to compare how much this format has improved more than 18 years later. Even then, most of the information still holds up, and can be applied to modern day situations.

Source 5. The article simply titled Learning oral presentation skills, caught my attention as proper presentation skills is one half the information I plan to teach. This was written by Richard J. Haber, MD, Lorelei A. Lingard, PhD in 2001, although I believe it still presents interesting data. When using slideshows to give presentations, it is best to present information regarding the topic while using slides as a tool. This dense research piece included “Twelve third-year medical students during their internal medicine clerkship and 14 teachers… One-hundred sixty hours of ethnographic observation, including 73 oral presentations on rounds. Discourse-based interviews of 8 students and 10 teachers,” (5). This study has a focus on students and professors who are physicians and how they communicate with oral presentations. Although, the overall data in this research is still valid to the goal I wish to achieve in this course. When considering the idea of how presentation skills are developed, this article claims it has a lot to do with the idea of rhetoric. They state that this concept is “social science which studies communication in terms of context and explores the action of language on knowledge, attitudes, and values,” (5). When applying rhetoric to a situation involving oral presentations, you must remain aware of the content’s context in your delivery. When considering the main results of this study, it concludes with the main idea that “students and teachers had different perceptions of the purpose of oral presentations,” (5). They determined that teachers tended to be more contextual with the information they presented, while students were more contextual. This can apply to my project because the idea represents a solution in order to better present information and thoughts. According to this research, presenting it may be best to develop and consider the context of the information you are giving. One main quote I took away from this article was, “Students learn oral presentation by trial and error rather than through teaching of an explicit rhetorical model. This may delay development of effective communication skills and result in acquisition of unintended professional values. Teaching and learning of oral presentation skills may be improved by emphasizing that context determines content and by making explicit the tacit rules of presentation,” (5). From past experiences, this is often what I have picked up, as no student is really ever taught the proper way to create slideshows. They operate through trial and error, whereas teaching proper techniques may lead to a better understanding overall. This concept is why I believe my goal for this course holds value in terms of creating change in a community. Though overall, source 1 identifies ways to create better slideshows, this source gives methods of improving oral communications, which is the other half of the problem. I believe the information put forth in this source can certainly aid me in developing a better way of giving and teaching oral communication.

Source 6. When looking for sources, I needed something that connected slideshows and education, of which I found, Patterns of PowerPoint Use in Higher Education: a Comparison between the Natural, Medical, and Social Sciences. This study “was completed by 106 faculty members from different disciplines. The results suggest the existence of different patterns in the use of PowerPoint,” (6). This research article presents a multitude of dense information discussing the place of slideshows in education. Although this article focuses on how slideshows are used in specific kinds of studies, I believe the information gathered is useful to my goal in this course. Within figure 1 of this article, they present a chart which lists the percentage of compared to different activities involved in learning, studying, reflection, memory, and examples. With each activity there are four various methods/senses used in learning, Textual, Visual, Auxiliary, and Mixed. These four are then weighted on their effectiveness in each learning activity. In particular the study reports “PowerPoint as follows: to illustrate the contents of the course (66.7%), to help students study for exams (15.7%), to reflect critically on content (11.8%), and to memorize key concepts (5.9%). The respondents reported using mainly visual (48.0%) and textual (23.5%) slides and. to a lesser extent, combined (14.7%) or auxiliary (13.7%) slides,” (6). This may give better context to uses of powerpoints and how various learning activities are affected by its use. Although this demonstrates that the format of slideshows is not best in every scenario, other methods may be better. This is something important that must be considered when wanting to use a specific format in terms of sharing or teaching information. An important quote from the conclusion is, “While we know that the text-image combination seems to be better for critical learning, it is not very clear if this combination works equally well in all contexts,” (6). This solidifies the idea that slideshow presentations are not the ultimate formation in all situations, though it has a strong place in some. This article holds a wealth of information, some of which applies to my goal, though what I have mentioned displays the importance of knowing slideshows as a format.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the research I was able to conduct has certainly allowed me to understand the material for my goal to a better degree. These six sources I acquired represented and gave different informative information regarding my ambition for this course. Source 1 discussed the importance of improving slideshows by applying what we know about the mind. This provided a multitude of information that can certainly be used in the future to achieve my goal for this project. Source 2 provided evidence to back up the effectiveness of the software Google Slides in terms of presenting and relaying information though the format of slideshows. This article helps validate my plan to use Google Slides, which is already strongly established, to teach my community how to create proper slideshows. Source 3 & 4 acted as a historical reference that gave a perspective from the past, as well as relevant information regarding slideshows. Although some aspects of slideshows may have changed, I can use the majority of the information to produce a better project. Source 5 presented many potential solutions for better oral communication and how that skill is developed and may be improved. This article can help me with the main half of slideshow presentations, which is the presentation itself. Source 6 made an interesting connection about the use of slideshows in the context of education. Among other ideas, it suggested the importance of knowing the pros and cons of slideshow presentations as a format. Overall, I am satisfied with the amount of sources I found and the information presented within them. Upon further review and integration, I will certainly be able to use these sources to improve my goal for this course.

Works Cited

1. Shibli, Dom. Using Cognitive Load Theory to Improve the Use of Slideshow Presentations and Support a More Efficient Learning Process. University of Hertfordshire, 2019, https://www.herts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/246691/BLiP-Spring-2019-Final-Published.pdf#page=50.

2. F., Ahmad M., et al. Learning Using the Google Slides Mobile Application and Its Impact on ... Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 11 Nov. 2020, https://jusst.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LEARNING-USING-THE-GOOGLE-SLIDES-MOBILE-APPLICATION-mAND-ITS-IMPACT-ON-ATTITUDE-MOTIVATION-AND-ACHIEVEMENT-FOR-INDUSTRIAL-DESIGN-SUBJECTS-IN-THE-TVE.pdf.

3. Tufte, Edward. “PowerPoint Is Evil.” Wired, Conde Nast, 1 Sept. 2003, https://www.wired.com/2003/09/ppt2/.

4. Staff, WIRED. “Learning to Love Powerpoint.” Wired, Conde Nast, 1 Sept. 2003, https://www.wired.com/2003/09/ppt1/.

5. Haber, R.J., Lingard, L.A. Learning oral presentation skills. J GEN INTERN MED 16, 308–314 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.00233.x

6. Chávez Herting, D., Cladellas Pros, R. & Castelló Tarrida, A. Patterns of PowerPoint Use in Higher Education: a Comparison between the Natural, Medical, and Social Sciences. Innov High Educ 45, 65–80 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-019-09488-4