Running head: LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES

The Effects of Lecture Slides on Short-Term Recall Ali a !ar"ert $%%%&&'(( Rachel #eldric" $%%%&)*'&

Acadia Uni+ersit, -s,ch '%'%LC$ !arch ($. '%$$

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES A/stract The relationshi0 /et1een a+aila/ilit, of lecture slides and learning has /een studied e2tensi+el, to date3 The conclusions that ha+e /een made ha+e /een contradictor,3 The lac" of consistenc, in results indicates that further research is re4uired3 All 0artici0ants in this stud, 1ere undergraduate students enrolled at Acadia Uni+ersit,3 -artici0ants listened to a 0resentation accom0anied /, a -o1er-oint and 1ere in one of three conditions: control condition 1ith no slide handouts 0ro+ided. e20erimental grou0 one 1ith handouts 0ro+ided as students enter the room to +ie1 the lecture. or e20eriment grou0 t1o 1ith handouts 0ro+ided as students e2it the lecture3 5ne 1ee" after attending the lecture all 0artici0ants 1ere as"ed to com0lete a 0ost0resentation 4ui 3 It 1as antici0ated that the mean grade recei+ed /, those in the t1o e20erimental conditions 1ould differ significantl, from the mean grade of those in the control condition3 6o1e+er. no significant differences /et1een an, grou0s 1ere found3 Keywords: -o1er-oint. learning. slide handout. slidesho1. short-term recall

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LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES The Effects of Lecture Slides on Short-Term Recall Uni+ersit, 0rofessors often need to decide 1hat resources the, should 0ro+ide to their students in addition to lectures3 If the, use -o1er-oint 0resentations. the, must decide 1hether to ma"e the slides a+aila/le to students3 This can often cause a dilemma. /ecause man,

0rofessors /elie+e that 0osting slides 1ill hinder learning and e2am 0erformance3 It is not onl, a matter of 1hether slides are 0osted or not7 the timing of slide 0osting is also an issue 8i3e3. /efore or after the lecture93 To date. a num/er of studies ha+e /een done on the effects of 0osting lecture slides. /ut no solid conclusions ha+e /een reached3 :utler and ;affe 8'%%<9 0erformed a stud, testing recall of material /eing 0resented 1ith no +isual aid. and 1ith te2t-onl, lecture slides3 A 0ost-instruction 4ui 1as gi+en t1o da,s after the lecture 1as deli+ered3 The results of this test re+ealed that there 1as no significant difference /et1een the scores of those 1ho 1ere gi+en lecture slides and those 1ho 1ere not3 Another 0ostinstruction 4ui 1as gi+en four 1ee"s after the material 1as 0resented and the results indicated that the 0resence of lecture slides actuall, had a negati+e effect on the scores3 Gra/e and Christo0herson 8'%%=9 conducted research to e2amine the use of online resources and its relationshi0 to attendance and G-A3 The online resources a+aila/le to the students 1ere e2tensi+e. including lecture outlines 0osted 0rior to the lecture. as 1ell as /oth audio recordings and com0lete notes 0osted after the lecture3 An online 0rogram 1as used that automaticall, recorded 1hen each student first accessed each a+aila/le resource3 It 1as found that. on a+erage. <$> of students used the lecture outlines. $&> used the com0lete notes. and onl, (> used the audio lectures3 Gra/e and Christo0herson found a 0ositi+e relationshi0 /et1een online note use and e2am 0erformance3 This result suggests that the resources a+aila/le had a 0ositi+e influence on students? encoding of the material3

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES :o1man 8'%%&9 conducted a related stud, 1here attendance and G-A 1ere measured in relation to the a+aila/ilit, of online lecture outlines3 6o1e+er. in contrast to the 0re+ious stud,.

the students? use of the online resources 1as not recorded7 it 1as /ased on t1o conditions 1here lecture outlines 1ere either 0ro+ided or not 0ro+ided 8:o1man. '%%&93 A total of four classes 1ere used. all 1ith the same 0rofessor3 T1o too" 0lace in the s0ring semester of '%%* and students 1ere not 0ro+ided 1ith lecture slides3 The second t1o classes too" 0lace in the s0ring of '%%< and did 0ro+ide lecture slides to the students 8:o1man. '%%&93 The content in the courses 1as "e0t consistent3 :o1man found no significant relationshi0 /et1een 0ro+iding slides and e2am 0erformance3 The results of this stud, contradict those of Gra/e and Christo0herson 8'%%=93 6o1e+er. the results 1ere in congruence 1ith the results of a stud, 0erformed /, :a// and Ross 8'%%&93 :a// and Ross 8'%%&9 conducted a stud, 1here online lecture material 1as 0ro+ided3 In one condition. material 1as 0ro+ided /efore class. and in the other condition. it 1as 0ro+ided after the class3 The effect of the timing of the 0osted slides on attendance. 0artici0ation. and e2am 0erformance 1as of interest 8:a// A Ross. '%%&93 :a// and Ross e2amined four classes in total. all taught /, the same 0rofessor. 1here there 1ere t1o different classes and each 1as re0eated 1ith an identical curriculum3 This e20eriment 1as done o+er one ,ear. 1ith t1o classes in each of the fall and 1inter semesters3 The goal 1as to sho1 that the timing of slide 0osting affected attendance. 0artici0ation. and e2am scores3 :a// and Ross concluded that )&> of students 1ho had slides a+aila/le /efore lectures do1nloaded them 0rior to the lecture. and $=> do1nloaded them at some 0oint after the lecture3 As for the class 1ho onl, had access to the slides after class. )@> do1nloaded the slides at some 0oint3 No significant difference 1as found in e2am 0erformance /et1een the classes 0ro+ided 1ith lecture slides /efore the lecture and

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES those 0ro+ided 1ith slides after the lecture3 The most recent stud, e2amining this to0ic tested access to handouts of lecture slides 8!arsh A Sin". '%$%9 and the /enefits of recei+ing these handouts at different 0oints in time3 It

1as found that there are certain /enefits associated 1ith ha+ing access to the handouts during the lecture3 5ne of the ad+antages is that students are a/le to ta"e fe1er notes. and de+ote more of their attention to the actual lecture3 :eing 0ro+ided 1ith handouts 1as also associated 1ith higher scores on the final e2am3 In addition. students also re0orted ha+ing to s0end less time to 0re0are for the final3 5+erall. it 1as found that ha+ing handouts of lecture slides during the 0resentation encouraged efficient encoding of material3 These results contradict man, of the other findings 8:a// A Ross. '%%&7 :o1man. '%%&7 :utler A ;affe. '%%<9. /ut su00ort the findings of Gra/e and Christo0herson 8'%%=93 -ast research has resulted in mi2ed conclusions regarding the effect of lecture slide a+aila/ilit, on e2am 0erformance. therefore it is im0ortant to readdress this issue3 The 0resent stud, had three conditions3 In the first e20erimental condition. handouts of the lecture slides 1ere 0ro+ided as the students entered the room. in the second e20erimental condition the, 1ere 0ro+ided after the lecture as the students left the room. and in the control condition no lecture slides 1ere 0ro+ided3 All three lectures 1ere identical3 5ne 1ee" after attending the lecture. students too" an e2am testing their "no1ledge of the information deli+ered in the 0resentation. resem/ling :utler and ;affe?s 8'%%<9 t1o-da, 0ost-instruction 4ui 3 The most recent stud, indicates that the 0resence of lecture slide handouts significantl, affects retention of 0resented material3 In addition. the maBorit, of all studies e2amined found some significant difference 1hen lecture slide handouts 1ere 0ro+ided3 It 1as 0redicted that the mean grade recei+ed /, those in the t1o e20erimental conditions 1ould differ significantl, from the mean grade of those

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES in the control condition3 Method Participants During the lecture 0ortion of the stud,. a total of () +olunteers 0artici0ated 8'( male. $@ female. estimated age range: $= C '' ,ears93 All 0artici0ants 1ere students enrolled at Acadia Uni+ersit,3 Random assignment could not /e used3 Instead. e-mails 1ere sent to all students attending Acadia Uni+ersit,. listing the times for three lecture slots3 -artici0ants 1ere as"ed to re0l, to the e-mail 1ith a time slot the, 1ere a/le to ta"e 0art in3 Additionall,. an, 0artici0ants that sho1ed u0 at the time of the lecture 1ithout 0re+iousl, res0onding 1ere a/le to 0artici0ate in the stud,3 The control condition included fi+e 0artici0ants 8four male. one female93 The first e20erimental condition included $' 0artici0ants 8eight male. four female93 The second e20erimental condition contained '% su/Bects 8$$ male. nine female93 U0on com0leting the

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lecture. coo"ies and donuts 1ere made a+aila/le for consum0tion3 During the 4ui 0ortion of the stud,. '* of the 0re+ious () 0artici0ants returned 8$< males. nine females. Mage D $&3$'93 U0on com0leting the 4ui . su/Bects 1ere 0ro+ided 1ith 0i a and soft drin"s3 Indi+iduals that 0artici0ated in this stud, 1ere +olunteers recruited through cam0us-1ide emails3 Materials -rior to the lecture 0ortion of the stud,. consent forms 1ere gi+en to all 0artici0ants to sign and date 8see A00endi2 A93 U0on com0letion of the 4ui 0ortion. 0artici0ants 1ere gi+en a de/riefing form to 0ro+ide them 1ith further information regarding the stud, 8see A00endi2 :93 During the lecture 0ortion of the stud,. a la0to0. and an LED 0roBector 1ere used to 0resent an electronic -o1er-oint 0resentation to the 0artici0ants3 The -o1er-oint used 1as nine slides in length and featured information a/out the cuttlefish3 In each of the e20erimental conditions.

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES 0rinted handouts of the lecture slides 1ere 0ro+ided at the s0ecified 0oint 8see A00endi2 C93 A $%-item multi0le choice 4ui on the 0resentation material 1as gi+en to 0artici0ants one 1ee" after the lecture 8see A00endi2 D93 This 4ui 1as graded out of $% 0ossi/le mar"s using a 0redetermined ans1er "e, 8see A00endi2 E93 Each 4uestion had four 0ossi/le ans1ers3 Procedure

As 0artici0ants entered the room on the date of the lecture. the, 1ere gi+en consent forms to fill out3 Three identical lectures 1ere gi+en /, the same researcher to ensure consistenc,3 All su/Bects 1ere 0ro+ided 1ith a 1riting utensil and 0ermitted to ta"e notes during the lectures3 Although this reduced the internal +alidit,. it increased the e2ternal +alidit, considera/l,3 The first lecture 1as the control grou0. 1hich contained fi+e students3 After com0leting the consent form. the control grou0 chose seats and listened to the 0resentation3 The lecture 1as a00ro2imatel, $% minutes in length3 The, 1ere then 0ro+ided 1ith coo"ies and donuts3 No handouts of lecture slides 1ere 0ro+ided3 -artici0ants 1ere as"ed to return one 1ee" later to com0lete a 0ost-lecture 4ui 3 U0on com0leting of the 4ui . those 1ho returned 1ere 0ro+ided 1ith de/riefing forms. as 1ell as 0i a and soft drin"s3 In the first e20erimental grou0 0artici0ants 1ere handed /oth consent forms and the slide handouts as the, entered the room3 This grou0 contained $' students3 After all +olunteers com0leted the consent form. the lecture 1as gi+en /, the same researcher that 0resented the lecture to the control grou03 After the lecture 1as com0lete. the students 1ere gi+en their edi/le incenti+es and 1ere 0ermitted to "ee0 the -o1er-oint slide handouts3 -artici0ants 1ere as"ed to return one 1ee" later to com0lete a 0ost-lecture 4ui 3 The, 1ere not 0ermitted to /ring the -o1er-oint handouts 1ith them3 As 1ith the control grou0. the, 1ere then gi+en de/riefing forms. as 1ell as 0i a and soft drin"s3

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES The 0artici0ants in e20erimental grou0 t1o 1ere handed a consent form as the, entered the room3 This grou0 contained '% students3 After all 0artici0ants had com0leted the consent form. the lecture 1as gi+en again /, the same researcher3 After the lecture 1as com0lete. 0artici0ants 1ere 0resented 1ith -o1er-oint slide handouts of the 0resentation3 The, also recei+ed the edi/le incenti+es3 -artici0ants 1ere as"ed to return one 1ee" later to com0lete a

0ost-lecture 4ui 3 The, 1ere not 0ermitted to /ring the -o1er-oint handouts 1ith them3 As 1ith the other conditions. the, 1ere gi+en de/riefing forms. as 1ell as 0i a and soft drin"s3 Each test and lecture 1as held in the same location3 All conditions com0leted the 0ostlecture 4ui at the same time3 Results Since it is 0ossi/le to o/tain a true score of ero on the 0ost-instruction 4ui . the data is ratio3 :ecause there are three conditions using a /et1een su/Bects design. a one-1a, anal,sis of +ariance 8AN5EA9 1as 0erformed3 The results of the anal,sis sho1ed no significant difference among the means. F 8'. ''9 D %3)@. p F 3%*3 The ra1 mean scores indicated that the control grou0 scored the highest 8Mcontrol D )3@%9. e20erimental condition one had the second highest scores 8Me20erimental one D <3@@9. and the second e20erimental condition had the lo1est scores 8Me20erimental t1o D *3&$9 8see Gigure $93 :ecause no significant result 1as o/tained. no 0ost-hoc testing 1as re4uired3

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES

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Gigure $3 :ar gra0h dis0la,ing the mean 4ui scores of the three conditions Discussion U0on com0leting a statistical anal,sis of the data. it can /e concluded that our h,0othesis is not su00orted3 A one-1a, AN5EA 1as 0erformed and resulted in an G +alue that 1as not significant3 It is not clear from the 0resent findings 1hether or not the 0resence of lecture slides affects short-term recall3 Although much research has /een 0erformed. no solid theories ha+e /een esta/lished as of ,et3 This is li"el, due to the fact that research on this to0ic has had such mi2ed results3 These findings do not su00ort the non-directional h,0othesis that significant differences 1ould emerge /et1een the conditions3 The results of the 0resent stud, contradict the results of the studies conducted /, Gra/e and Christo0herson 8'%%=9. !arsh and Sin" 8'%$%9. and one of the tests conducted /, :utler and ;affe 8'%%<93 The first t1o studies found significant differences 1ith the 0resence of lecture slides3 :utler and ;affe ga+e 4ui es to 0artici0ants t1o da,s after the lecture. as 1ell as four 1ee"s after the lecture3 The results of their t1o-da, 0ost-instruction 4ui re+ealed no significant

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES

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differences /et1een the conditions 1ith and 1ithout lecture slides3 6o1e+er. the results of their four-1ee" 0ost-instruction 4ui re+ealed that the 0resence of lecture slides negati+el, affected the scores3 In contrast. :o1man 8'%%&9 did not find significant differences in the final e2am scores of those 0ro+ided 1ith lecture slides. and those 1ho 1ere not 0ro+ided 1ith slides3 :a// and Ross 8'%%&9 found results that 1ere consistent 1ith the 0resent stud,. as 1ell as :o1man?s stud,3 S0ecificall,. e2am 0erformance /et1een the +arious classes did not differ significantl,3 The 0resent stud, com/ined the designs of all studies e2amined3 As 1ith :a// and Ross. one condition 1as 0ro+ided 1ith slides 0rior to the lecture. and one 1as 0ro+ided 1ith slides follo1ing the lecture3 Unli"e :a// and Ross. and consistent 1ith the three of the included studies. a control grou0 recei+ing no lecture slides 1as also included3 The onl, stud, that did not resem/le the design of the 0resent e20eriment 1as Gra/e and Christo0herson3 The largest limitation of the 0resent stud, 1as the lac" of random assignment3 The researchers originall, 0lanned to use random assignment7 ho1e+er recruiting 0artici0ants through the initial e-mails 1as e2tremel, difficult3 Due to the fact that +er, fe1 indi+iduals signed u0 in ad+ance. the researchers decided to allo1 su/Bects to 0artici0ate in the stud,. e+en if 0rior notice had not /een gi+en3 Since 0artici0ants 1ere allo1ed to attend an, time slot. random assignment 1as not 0ossi/le3 As e20ected. this decision also led to large discre0ancies in grou0 si es3 In addition. a second maBor limitation 1as that the researchers 1ere una/le to 0ro+ide su/Bects 1ith incenti+es that 1ere +er, a00ealing3 This largel, affected the o+erall lac" of 0artici0ants and forced the researchers to forfeit the random assignment3 The last maBor limitation of the 0resent stud, 1as the lac" of control o+er 1hether or not 0artici0ants studied in /et1een the lecture and 0ost-lecture 4ui 3 Due to the nature of this stud,. it is a 0ro/lem that is +irtuall, una+oida/le3

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES The 0resent results indicate that the 0osting of lecture slides should /e u0 to the discretion of the 0rofessors3 This is /ecause the results did not signif, that 0ro+iding the slides made an, difference in test scores3 This finding gi+es 0rofessors more lee1a, in ho1 the, choose to teach their courses and conduct their lectures3 This to0ic also a00lies to man, other en+ironments that re4uire the retention of im0ortant information. such as first aid courses. dri+er?s education. and Bo/ training3 Until further research has /een com0leted. suggestions for

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the o0timal 0resentation methods cannot /e made3 It is li"el, that this research 1ould also /e of use in se+eral other fields3 The 0resent stud, could /e im0ro+ed /, eliminating the as man, of the limitations as 0ossi/le3 S0ecificall,. /etter incenti+es 1ould li"el, lead to more 0artici0ants. allo1ing random assignment to /e used3 It 1ould /e /eneficial to 0ro+ide incenti+es that are more a00ealing. ho1e+er this 1ould re4uire the researchers to /e 0ro+ided 1ith a small /udget3 There are a num/er of different ste0s that can /e ta"en to further the research on this to0ic3 Eariations of this stud, 1ould /e e2tremel, useful. /ut the researchers suggest that some as0ects of the stud, remain consistent3 The researchers considered the idea of using an online 4ui . /ut reali ed that there 1ould /e no 1a, of ensuring that 0artici0ants 1ere not reading directl, from the slide handouts the, 1ere 0ro+ided 1ith3 Due to this. it is suggested that future studies feature 4ui es that are al1a,s 0erformed in a controlled setting3 In the future. if more +ariations of this stud, 1ere 0erformed. researchers 1ould li"el, /e a/le to identif, the most effecti+e 1a, to use -o1er-oint 0resentations as teaching aids3 This could 0otentiall, lead to an increase in test results of those enrolled in uni+ersit,. as 1ell as courses such as dri+er?s education and first aid3 It 1ould also /e /eneficial to 0erform studies that e2amine the 0resence of lecture slides on retention of information o+er the long-term3 Such a stud, 1ould feature a series of lectures and

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES

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4ui es in the short-term. in addition to a follo1-u0 test se+eral months to a ,ear later3 Although 0artici0ant mortalit, for this t,0e of stud, 1ould li"el, /e high. the results gained 1ould /e in+alua/le3 The im0lications a00l, directl, to uni+ersit, courses. /ecause the long-term understanding of information is +er, im0ortant to future classes and careers3 #ith this "no1ledge. educators could design classes that 0romote o0timal learning and retention in /oth short- and long-terms3

LEARNING AND LECTURE SLIDES References :a//. H3 A3. A Ross. C3 8'%%&93 The timing of online lecture slide a+aila/ilit, and its effect on attendance. 0artici0ation. and e2am 0erformance3 Computers & Education, 52. =<=-==$3 doi:$%3$%$<IB3com0edu3'%%=3$'3%%&3 :o1man. L3 8'%%&93 Does 0osting -o1er-oint 0resentations on #e/CT affect class 0erformance or attendanceJ3 Journal of Instructional Psycholo y, !". $%@-$%)3

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Retrie+ed from htt0:II1e/3e/scohost3comIehostI0df+ie1erI0df+ie1erJ+idD**AhidD $*AsidDe(a(=/*'-@=da-@'$(-a<$d-f$<$<'))/)'%>@%sessionmgr@ :utler. !3. A ;affe. K3 8'%%<93 Cli0 art or no cli0 art: A lesson from cogniti+e science for social 1or" educators3 Journal of #echnolo y in $uman %er&ices. 2'. $$&-$(@3 doi:$%3$(%%IK%$)+'@n%'L%)3 Gra/e. !3. A Christo0herson. H3 8'%%=93 50tional student use of online lecture resources: Resource 0references. 0erformance and lecture attendance3 Journal of Computer (ssisted )earnin , 2'. $-$%3 Retrie+ed from htt0:II1e/3e/scohost3comIehostI0 df+ie1erI0df+ie 1er J+idD*'AhidD$*AsidDe(a(=/*'-@=da-@'$(-a<$d-f$<$<')) !arsh. E3. A Sin". 63 8'%$%93 Access to handouts of 0resentation slides during lecture: Conse4uences for learning3 (pplied Co niti&e Psycholo y. 2'. <&$-)%<3 doi:$%3$%%'Iac03$*)&3