“I used anywhere from 30 to 50 slides per class when I first started teaching and would give students print versions of the slides, but it didn’t take long for attendance to come down,” he said. “Before Thanksgiving break one year, only 10 students showed up for our final unit on human genetics. I knew I had to do something.”

Bailey said students cannot seem to decide what is important from a PowerPoint presentation and think everything posted is golden.

“It’s convenient to use PowerPoint slides for large lecture classes, but students get caught up in trying to write everything down and spend their time writing instead of listening,” he said.

It can be useful, however.

“We just need to remember that less is more. Slides should contain the most useful information. I try not showing more than 10 slides per class. I believe active, not passive, learning is the most beneficial,” Bailey said. “By active learning, I mean group interaction, where we all can get a better understanding of what the issues are and solve them.”

The write way

Kitty Payne, assistant professor of Human Environmental Studies, teaches HDF 100: Human Development through the Lifespan. With 320 students in her University Program course, Payne said she uses overheads in her class lectures.

“I use many overheads to assist with note-taking, and know from brain research that writing out notes is an aid to memory for many students,” she said.

Ada sophomore Brett McMahon said he does not like when PowerPoint slides are used in his classes.

“I like when teachers physically write on the board what they feel we need to know. PowerPoint presentations don’t make classes harder, just confusing. I never know what to write down and how much,” he said. “I like when professors use other methods like YouTube videos to get their point across.”

Similarly, Yale freshman Erika Schrand said knowing what to copy is easier when professors write directly on the board.

“Sometimes teachers put too much information on the slides and I can’t sort what is important from all the other excess information,” she said.

Convenience

Debra Linton, assistant professor of biology, does not think PowerPoint affects learning abilities either way, but the presentation does.

“PowerPoint is just a tool, not a teaching technique or design. As a tool, it can be used well or used poorly. I have heard students complain about PowerPoint usage, but I would predict that it was the design of the lesson, not the mode of presentation,” Linton said. “When used well, PowerPoint is an elegant way to present images and diagrams, highlight key concepts or terms in text forms, and integrate animations and video.”

For Linton, PowerPoint is a great organizational tool that utilizes the same functions as overheads, visualizers and VCR and DVD players.

“Being able to use the computer-based presentation programs gives you all the ability to do everything in one tool and makes the process and class presentation more seamless,” she said.