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Does a high tech (computerized, animated, PowerPoint) presentation increase retention of material compared to a low
Rick E Ricer1, Andrew T Filak, James Short
1Department of Family Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0582, USA. Rick.Ricer@UC.EDU
Background:
Computerized digital presentations have become standard in most medical schools without research proving their effectiveness.
Purpose:
The purpose was to determine if differences in (a) subjective evaluation; (b) short-term retention of material; and (c) long-term retention of material occurred with the use of static overheads versus computerized, animated PowerPoint for a presentation to medical students.
Methods:
All students rotating on a required clerkship attended a standard lecture presented by 1 faculty member. The content of the presentation remained the same, but the instructional media varied (overheads on even months, animated PowerPoint on odd months). Students completed a posttest and subjective evaluation immediately following the lecture and repeated the posttest 1 year later. Unpaired t tests were used to compare the 2 groups.
Results:
There were no significant differences between the groups on any parameter.
Conclusions:
In this study, students rated both types of presentation equally and displayed no differences in short- or long-term retention of material.
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