Monday, April 11, 2011

An informal survey of student views of PowerPoint

The table below shows responses of 160 University of Pittsburgh students to a ten-minute survey of their attitudes toward and use of PowerPoint. The survey questions were 5-level Likert scales -- a student could either disagree strongly, disagree somewhat, be neutral, agree somewhat or agree strongly with the statement.


The survey was not random. It was taken by about half of the class -- the students who were motivated enough to attend an optional study session.

Answer the questions for yourself, and see how you compare with the Pittsburgh students. For example, the strongest positive response was on printed handouts. Do you print PowerPoint handouts and study from them? These motivated students do.

The study is described in Barbara A. Frey and David J. Birnbaum, Learner's Perceptions on the Value of PowerPoint in lectures, January 31 2002.

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