PowerPoint and Student Notes

a presentation byPatrick Douglas Crispen

Edited as presented here by Anne Heitman

Department of Instructional Technology

Why take notes?

• Does student note-taking, however badly the students may do it, improve performance on fact-based tests?

• Of course! (Kiewra, Potts)• But whose notes should the students

review when it comes time to prepare for a test: theirs or yours?

Notes and student performance

• Students who only review the instructor’s notes perform better on fact-based tests of the lecture material than do students who only review their own notes. (Kiewra, Potts)

• Students who don’t even show up for the lecture but who review the instructor's notes score higher than students who attend the lecture and take and review their own notes. (Kiewra, Potts)

• Students remember a greater proportion of the information in their own notes than in provided notes. (Kiewra, Potts)

• Students who take the same amount of time reviewing both their notes and the instructor's notes perform best of all on fact-based tests. (Kiewra, Potts)

• BUT, if the test requires higher-order learning (e.g., analysis and synthesis of ideas), having the instructor's notes is of no benefit whatsoever. (Kiewra, Potts)

So…..

• To maximize student performance on fact-based tests, combine student note-taking during your presentations with word-for-word copies of your presentations (and lecture notes) afterward.

• Give your students a copy (or handout) of your presentation after class but before the test.

• However, we aren’t teaching students how to take notes, a critical skill students need in order to succeed in fact-based education.

• Instead of “notes during/handouts after” you might want to try “skeletal outline before/notes during/handouts after.”

What is a skeletal outline?

• ..a printed outline of your presentation’s main topics with plenty of white space on that outline for your students to write their own notes, definitions, etc. as they listen to your presentation. (Potts)

• There is a positive correlation between the amount of white space in your skeletal outline and the amount of notes your students will take. (Hartley & Davies)

Creating skeletal outlines

The easiest way to create a skeletal outline in PowerPoint is to:

– Save your presentation as an outline– Open the outline in Microsoft Word– Edit the outline to remove a bunch of

content and add lots of white space– Print the outline and give it to your

students before your presentation

To save as an outline

• In PowerPoint, go to File > Save As…• Choose Other Formats• Then, in the “Save as type:” pull-down list

choose Outline/RTF (*.rtf)

Editing your outline in word

• Expect to have to completely change the font and positioning.

• How much you cut out is completely up to you.

Review

To maximize student performance on fact-based tests,

– Have your students take notes during your presentation and then give your students a copy of your presentation (and lecture notes) afterward.

– OR give your students a skeletal outline before your presentation (with lots of white space), have your students take notes during your presentation, and then give your students a copy of your presentation (and lecture notes) afterward.