Eating Baby Food or Eating Meat? Student Voices on the “Everyday” Use of PowerPoint in University Teaching

Maich, Kimberly and Belcher, Christina (2014) Eating Baby Food or Eating Meat? Student Voices on the “Everyday” Use of PowerPoint in University Teaching. ICCTE Journal, 9 (2). ISSN 1932-7846

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Abstract

This research study centers on the use of PowerPoint in university classes. It poses the question: How do students perceive PowerPoint specifically and technology overall impacting their university experiences as a process for learning, as an element of social community building and as a worldview lens for examining and critiquing their world? In a qualitative ethnographic narrative, based on the work of Dorothy Smith, student voices in the everyday are heard in order to provide insider perceptions on the key question. Twenty-four volunteer participants signed consent to engage in focus groups flowing from 3, twenty-one hour face-to-face courses. These courses were comprised of 13 sessions of two 75 minute classes weekly taught by one professor. Following the first introductory class session, remaining classes were divided into two halves. The first half (6 classes) of each course was instructed using PowerPoint and the second half (6 classes) was not. Students were asked to reflect on the impact and benefits of each half section of the course delivery. Additionally, they were asked to comment on how each half of the course affected their meaning making, memory retention of data, process for learning, engagement for community making and worldview lens regarding the use of PowerPoint in university. Findings revealed three themes to consider in the professorial use of PowerPoint as a teaching tool in university, and also raised reflective scrutiny by the learners involved in the benefits and shortcomings of PowerPoint use.

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