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College of Business & Economics/ School Of

Commerce
Proposal submitted for Research Economics Assignment
Assessing the dependence of students on teachers’ power
points as studying material
R3ECON

Emilia Teshome
UGR/1245/24

Submitted to: Demilie Basha

Submission Date: June 3 , 2024
 Research Proposal

Title of the proposed research project: Assessing the dependence of

students on teachers’ power points as studying material

Statement of the problem

In educational settings, PowerPoint presentations have become an increasingly popular

teaching tool. Both the way teachers teach students and the way students interact with the
course material have changed as a result of the incorporation of PowerPoint as teaching and
learning material. Still, there is reason for concern and further research regarding how much
students rely on teachers' PowerPoint presentations as their main source of study material. The
challenge at hand is figuring out how reliant students have grown on their teachers' PowerPoint
presentations in order to study. Although the use of reference material and a clear organization
of complex information can improve learning experiences, it is important to determine whether
students are becoming excessively dependent on these resources at the expense of other study
techniques.
There are several possible consequences from relying too much on PowerPoint presentations. It
might impede students' capacity for autonomous critical analysis of knowledge, which would
restrict the growth of higher-order thinking abilities. Furthermore, depending exclusively on
PowerPoint presentations could result in a passive learning style of instruction that lowers
student engagement and active participation. Educational institutions and instructors must
investigate the factors that lead students to rely on PowerPoint presentations as study
materials. Determining the fundamental causes of this reliance will give insight on how well
PowerPoint presentations work as teaching tools and direct the creation of tactics that
encourage a more thorough and well-rounded approach to learning.
Objective

In conducting this study, we look forward to accomplishing the following specific aims
Aim 1: compare the effectiveness of provision of the teacher’s PowerPoint by choosing a course
with two classes containing students that have no contact with each other and providing one
with PowerPoint and references and the other with just references from which the PowerPoint
is extracted and no PowerPoint. And compare the outcome through their test results by the
end of the semester.

Hypothesis 1: students provided with power points will have higher grades on that specific
course because they had access to the teacher’s material in addition to the references they
were given.

Aim 2: compare the effectiveness of provision of the teacher’s PowerPoint by choosing a course
with two classes containing students that have no contact with each other and providing one
with PowerPoint and references and the other with just references from which the PowerPoint
is extracted and no PowerPoint. And compare the outcome through their thoughts about the
specific course.

Hypothesis 2: students provided with power points will be more drawn to the course than
those with no PowerPoint to study from.

Background

PowerPoint presentations are now a vital resource for students seeking to succeed academically
and expand their knowledge. These engaging visual aids are a valuable study tool because they
provide a number of advantages that improve the educational process. Research studies have
exhaustively demonstrated the significance of PowerPoint presentations in student learning,
making them a reliable source.
Many lecturers in Higher and Further Education still adhere to the established orthodoxy that
using media like PowerPoint to present information is not the most effective way to enhance
learning, despite research findings to the contrary. (Bartsch and Cobern (2003), Brandl et al
(2015)).

Students can more efficiently organize and understand complex material with the aid of
PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint presentations improve comprehension and memory by
condensing ideas into manageable bullet points and including visuals like graphs, diagrams, and
pictures. Visual stimuli facilitate the cognitive process, making it easier for students to
understand abstract ideas.Students typically expect receiving a set of "slides" outlining the main
points of the lesson and the learning objectives ahead of time. One could argue that the
marketization of English education, which has strengthened the idea that students are
"customers" entitled to learning materials as part of the learning package, has further encouraged
this expectation. (Mark 2013).

A well-organized structure for taking notes is provided by PowerPoints. These presentations can
serve as study aids for students, who can make sure they accurately record important details and
salient points. This well-structured approach reduces the possibility of overlooking important
details during the study process and functions as a dependable tool for getting ready for tests.
According to recent data, this strategy may promote the misconception that participation in class
is not actually necessary to learn, and that learning can be accomplished by taking notes for the
required assessment. (Worthington and Levasseur 2015). And due to this reason, in lectures,
students have got accustomed to the specific course. (Hill et al, 2012).

Students' thinking was affected by the use of PowerPoint presentations. During the academic
year 2009–2010, 1,128 students made up the study sample. They were divided into 17 groups,
with the focus being on the students' voluntary use of online learning activities. The findings
demonstrate that the students' ability to remember and think clearly was positively impacted by
both their involvement in these activities and the quantity of tasks they finished. (Lopez and
Rodriguez (2013))

Two groups of 109 first-year undergraduate biology students participated in the study that
investigated the effect of PowerPoint as a learning tool: the experimental group, which included
56 students, and the control group, which included 53 students. While the second group was
taught using the conventional method, the first group was instructed using PowerPoint. The
findings indicated that undergraduate biology program students may perform better academically
if they were taught using PowerPoint techniques. (Gurbuz et al.(2010))

On the investigation of the impact of PowerPoint and videos on students' academic performance
and information retention. Thirty-six students from the first secondary class were in the
experimental group, and thirty-five students from the first secondary school were in the sample.
The first group received instruction using conventional methods like direct lectures and
blackboards. Blended learning was used to instruct the second group. The outcome demonstrated
that the experimental section's students performed better and more positively than those in the
control group. (Ahmed (2011)).

The quantity of knowledge a student acquires in a predetermined amount of time based on the
subjects and methods taught by their teachers is referred to as achievement. Any teacher's
primary objective is to raise the performance and competency levels of their students while
fostering a sense of self-worth.

The complexity of the multimedia presentations is something that educators need to be aware of.
PowerPoint presentations, for instance, don't have to be more complicated than text on a colored
screen. On the other hand, with tables, images, graphs, sound effects, visual effects, video clips,
etc., it can be intricate. Numerous investigators have exhibited that Content that can lessen
comprehension includes things like pointless sounds (Moreno & Mayer, 2001), intriguing but
unnecessary text (Schraw, 1998), and pointless images (Mayer, 2001, p. 113) and reduce
comprehension.

Research Methods

Study design: randomized cross-over trail consisting of dual purposed intervention.

1) The effectiveness of provision of the teacher’s PowerPoint to students by comparing the
outcome through their test results by the end of the semester, and
 2) The effectiveness of provision of the teacher’s PowerPoint to students by comparing the
outcome through their thoughts about the specific course.
Stratified sampling will be used because we would like the selected sample to represent a sub-
group in their first year of college because they wouldn’t fully be dependent on PowerPoint as
study material as much as students in higher levels. After the first selection based on their
educational level a random sample from a particular department and they will be classified into
two different classes where one is the experimental class and the other is the controlled class.
Using stratified sampling will enhance precision and guarantees that the sample fairly
represents significant subgroups within the population. When specific subgroups are known to
have unique characteristics or are particularly relevant to the research study, this is especially
helpful. Stratified sampling ensures that they are included in the sample, which makes cross-
group comparisons and analyses meaningful.
Setting and methods of research: two classes taking the same course in the same university
with the same lecturer and similar learning conditions including the teaching methods,
classroom setting, learning hours, activity of students etc.
The students that will participate in this research will be a group of year one students who were
studying for their bachelor’s degree at School of Commerce, Addis Ababa University. The
students will be studying on a full time basis and all would be engaged in their studies with no
additional work. When questioned, all would most likely mention they used PowerPoint
extensively in their previous studies and would be able to list a wide range of perceived benefits
to using this form of presentation.
This research will be based on a course which is taught in a span of three to four months. All
chapters would be thought using a PowerPoint in both classes but only one class would be
provided with PowerPoint and the other class would only be given reference books to study
from.
Students in one of the class will be told at the start of the course that no PowerPoint slides
would be provided as a study material, instead just reference books and the students in the
other class, the experimental group will be given both the reference books and the PowerPoint
slides. The researcher will use the same pre-post test for both groups to measure the goals of
this study.
The first test will prepared to measure the students `achievement and the retention of the
information in that particular course and the rest of the assessment will also be done the way
the teacher used to do it previously but similar assessment will be taken in both classes to
compare results.

Study subjects: similar teacher and 60-80 students of two class rooms which are about the
same age and have similar prospects. The distribution of students on these two groups will be
completely random
Timetable: in the length of one semester.
The experimental group will be given the reference books in the start of the semester and the
controlled group will be given both the power point and the reference books in the start of the
semester. As for the assessment, a midst the course both groups will take their mid exams out
of 30 and an assignment out of 20 and the final exam will be given to them by the end of the
course.
The questionnaire will be posted in their particular groups once the semester ends so they can
give their opinion about the course and their opinion on usage of PowerPoint as studying
material.
Randomization: students will be randomized when first put in to the class room, the students
would have no contact with each other so they don’t share their materials.
Main outcome measures: students’ exam and assessment results, meaning their average GPA
by the end of the semester. And thoughts and opinion about the specific course, do they like it
or not.
Once their results are collected both the experimental and the control group will be compared
and to know the significance of providing powerpoint as study material will be tested through
T-test, which will test the significance if mean differences between the two groups in their
achievement scores.
Process Measures: students’ approach towards the course with the provision of PowerPoint
and without PowerPoint as studying material.
1. Researcher will choose the course and PowerPoint for this study
2. The researcher will chose the population and identify the samples of the study
3. The researcher will develop the instrument for the study: assessment tests and final exam
test
4. These exams will be given the way the school requires it to be given, the assessment through
out their study and the final exam by the end of the semester
5. Researcher will collect both the experimental and control group results to make regression
and compare results
6. The reliability and stability will be tested to have no errors; this will be done through making
sure every student has submitted their assessment and that there are no mistakes
7. Students thoughts on that course will be collected through online Google form
8. Recommendations and suggestions will be collected
Analyses: analyses of main outcome and process measures comparing the students who
received the PowerPoint and reference books as studying material from the lecturer and
students who have received reference books only and no PowerPoint ass studying material. We
will use logistic regression for dichotomous outcomes and linear regression for continuous
outcomes. Once the results are collected by the end of the semester each class’s GPA will be
regressed to know the effectiveness of PowerPoint as study material for students. Further more
their outlook on their course could be assessed through a questionnaire directed to each class
students asking dichotomous questions such as:

 Was this course easy to learn?

 did you like the course?
 Would having a PowerPoint as a study material made it easier and likable?
Budget: conducting this study will not require any finance because students’ results can be
found from the teachers in a software format and the questionnaires to be filled could be
conducted online.

References

 Ahmed. A. M. M. (2011) { in Arabic} The Impact of Using Blended Learning in Teaching

Chemistry on the Achievement and the Attitude toward it and Maintain the Learning
 Impact on the Secondary Students. The Journal of the Scientific Education, Egypt,14 (3):
173.

 Bartsch, R. and Cobern, K. (2003) Effectiveness of PowerPoint in Lectures, Computers and

Education, 41(1), pp. 77-86.

 Brandl, K., Schneild, S. and Armour, C. (2015) Writing on the Board versus PowerPoint:
What do Students Prefer and Why? The FASEB Journal, 29(1), Supplement LB465.

 Gurbuz, H., Kisoglu, M., &Kahraman, S., (2010). The effect of PowerPoint presentations
prepared and presented by prospective teachers on biology achievement and attitudes
toward biology. Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2 3043-3047.

 Hill, A., Arford, T., Lubitow, A. and Smollin, L. (2012) I’m ambivalent about it: the dilemmas
of PowerPoint, American Sociological Association, 40(3), pp. 242-256.

 López , M.P and Rodríguez , L. E. (2013) Educational Technology Research and

Development. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. 61 (4): 625-638.

 Mark, E. (2013) Student Satisfaction and the customer focus in higher education, Journal of
Higher Education Policy and Management, 35(1), pp. 2-10.