How to Cure ‘Death by PowerPoint’

Most of the didactic portions of EMT and paramedic classes still involve instructor-led lectures. Historically the instructor uses a slide deck with a PowerPoint presentation and delivers content to the class while they take notes. The word lecture has its origins in French, meaning to read. Ironically many EMS instructors will do just that: read the PowerPoint slides to the class as their main form of passing along information. This in turn creates a condition known as “Death by PowerPoint” that both bores the class and reduces the effectiveness of learning.

This article offers few simple suggestions to make lectures more interactive and avert the lack of engagement and boredom that come when one is poorly delivered.

Less Text, More Visuals

The cardinal sin of PowerPoint is too much text on the screen. Since there is so much text, the fonts are often very small and hard to read. This may cause instructors to feel the need to read the screen to the class. In his book The Naked Presenter, author Garr Reynolds encourage little or even no text on slides. Instead he feels large images are important—they make the audience focus less on the text and instead listen to the presenter and for the presenter to be authentic (naked, in the parlance of the book) and share their expertise, rather than reading text. For example, when giving a lecture about an MCI, rather than listing all the steps, perhaps have a visual of a triage tag or an actual MCI and talk about what’s in the photo, rather than reading text. Photos should be vivid and robust. Text, if used, should be limited to a sentence or less.

Fewer War Stories, More Suggestions

Instructors sometimes feel they need to prove their competence or show they’re knowledgeable. This can result in “war stories” to the class. If these stories serve a greater purpose or illustrate a lesson, then they might have value. However, if the stories are simply to share one’s résumé or impress the audience, they might be saved for another time. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of teaching and an engaging tool when used well. The key with good storytelling is to have the stories be factual and not embellished; remain pertinent to the topic being discussed; and, most important, in Reynolds’ words, “try to, share, help, inspire, teach, inform, guide, persuade, motivate…or make the world a little bit better.” Stories should serve as a suggestion or lesson for the class for future positive behavior. Another approach is to share a time you made a mistake and how you learned from it.

Engage Your Audience (High-Tech)

Research shows audiences that are engaged learn significantly more than those that listen passively. According to researchers Erika Blood and Richard Neel, students demonstrated more mastery of content and reported increased engagement when a student response system (SRS) was used. Student response systems can take several forms. Some companies have “clicker” systems where audience members can respond to multiple-choice questions. In today’s world, where nearly every learner has a smart phone, this technology can be used to leverage engagement and ensure understanding of content. Some examples include:

• Poll Everywhere is a system where the instructor creates a survey and asks the audience to use their phones to vote via text message. The results show up on screen. This is not a free program, but there is a free version with limited features.
• Pear Deck works with PowerPoint or Google Slides to create interactive slides for students. You can set the slides to have students enter text or a number, choose from multiple choices, draw a response, interact with a live web page, or drag an icon to a specific part of the slide. This also is not a free program, but there is a free version as well as a three-month free premium trial.
• Padlet is a program that creates a class “discussion board,” and students, using their phones or laptops, can add content, ask questions, comment, “like,” and edit in real time. There are both free and premium versions.
• Kahoot! is a free program by which instructors can create multiple-choice quizzes students answer using their phones. It’s played in a gamelike format for points. It is a great and fun way to pretest students or check for understanding.

Engage Your Audience (Low-Tech)

You don’t necessarily need phones or laptops to engage your audience. Using a few proven instructional methods can get your students more involved in the lecture.

Don’t always stand in front of the room, and don’t always have a podium as a barrier between you and the class. Move about. Besides causing students to focus on your movement, by moving closer to their seats, you create what is called a “zone of proximity,” which has been shown to create greater levels of alertness and engagement.

Ask for volunteers to share an answer or opinion. When you ask a question, use “wait time”: a period from 5–15 seconds to allow students to process the question and formulate responses. Be comfortable with the initial silence and fight the urge to call on the first hand raised. Wait for more hands to go up and don’t always call on the same people who raise their hands first.

Call on students to ask what they know or share an opinion. Don’t rely just on volunteers. Don’t do it to embarrass students but to keep them engaged, because they don’t know when they will be called on.

10:2

This isn’t just the best position for your hands on a steering wheel. The 10:2 ratio is a proven strategy based on research that suggests the key to learning, especially basic mastery of new concepts, is frequent and persistent review of material. For every 10 minutes of lecture, allow students two minutes of reflection. This can include a chance to write down notes or turn to their neighbor and talk about the most important points just shared.

Case Studies and Problem-Solving

After sharing a concept or point, give students a case study where they can discuss the point. For example, if you just finished a short lecture about lung sounds, provide a case study where a patient demonstrates certain kinds of lung sounds and ask students to brainstorm their possible causes and how they might treat them. You can ask them to turn to their partner and discuss for two minutes before sharing with the class as a whole.

Even after thousands of years, the lecture still remains one of the primary ways of teaching new information. Using a variety of ways to engage students can make an EMS class more interactive and avoid the shame of “death by PowerPoint.”

References

Blood E, Neel R. Using Student Response Systems in Lecture-Based Instruction: Does It Change Student Engagement and Learning? J Technology Teacher Education, 2008 Jul; 16(3).

Reynolds G. The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With, or Without, Slides. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2011.

Barry A. Bachenheimer, EdD, FF/EMT, is a frequent contributor to EMS World. He is a career educator and university professor, as well as a firefighter and member of the technical-rescue team with the Roseland (N.J.) Fire Department and an EMT with the South Orange (N.J.) Rescue Squad. With an emergency services career of more than 30 years, he frequently serves as an instructor for both departments. He is also co-owner of Jump Bag Training Company, LLC. Reach him at barry@jumpbagtraining.com.