+PowerPoint in consideration of

Working Memory

ChinaLinks Educational Consultants LLC

+Working Memory:Definition

Working Memory is the ability to maintain and manipulate information over short periods of time necessary to guide behavior

+Working Memory:Example

4371506 -----> 4371506 Maintain

4371506 -----> 6051734 Maintain & Manipulate

+Working Memory:Capacity

Limited

c.f. Miller’s magical number seven (chunks) : short term memory

Category of chunksdigits vs. letters vs. words (long vs. short)

+Working Memory:Models

Baddeley and Hitch model

Cowan

Ericsson and Kintsch

+Working memory:Baddeley and Hitch model

Visuo-Spatial Sketch PadPhonological Loop(Articulatory loop)

Central Executive

• Inner ear (phonological store)

• Inner voice (articulatory process)

• Closely related to visual imagery

• Used to encode nonverbal visual and spatial information.

• Attentional control : Making changes to practiced routine. (e.g., Altering driving to work routine when there is a traffic accident)

• Dividing attention: Multitasking

• Switching attention from one task to another

+Working memory:Current model

Visuo-Spatial SketchpadEpisodic buffer

Central Executive

Phonological Loop

Language Short-term episodic memory Visual semantics

+Bad PowerPoint Slides

Characteristics students don’t like about professors’ PowerPoint slides Too many words on a slide Clip art Movement (slide transitions or word animations) Templates with too many colors

+Good PowerPoint Slides

Characteristics students like about professors’ PowerPoint slides Graphs increase understanding of content Bulleted lists help them organize ideas PowerPoint can help to structure lectures Verbal explanations of pictures/graphs help more than

written clarifications

+Student Learning

Students learn more when material is presented in short phrases rather than full

paragraphs the professor talks about the information on the slide rather

than having students read it on their own relevant pictures are used. Irrelevant pictures decrease

learning compared to PowerPoint slides with no picture they take notes (if the professor is not talking). But if the

professor is lecturing, note-taking and listening decreased learning

they are given the PowerPoint slides before the class

+Working Memory with PowerPoint

How to leverage the working memory with PowerPoint? by dividing the information between the visual and auditory

modality.  Minimize the opportunity for distraction by removing any

irrelevant material Use simple cues to direct learners to important points or

content. Keep information displayed in short chunks that are easily

read and comprehended

+Resources for better PowerPoint

What is good PowerPoint design?http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/whats_good_powe.html

Think Outside the Slidehttp://www.youtube.com/user/ThinkOutsideTheSlide

KWICKhttp://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com/VSR_Chapter2.pdf

Improving PowerPoint-style Presentationshttp://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/improving-powerpoint-style-presentations/32126?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en