WhiteboardsVersusPowerPoint:

AStudyonthePreferredLecture
MethodforStudentsattheUniversityLevel

Preparedfor:

JessicaMcCarthy
English402Professor
WashingtonStateUniversity

Preparedby:

AlexandriaMurphy
SusanDahl
EllieFrame

November11,2015

WashingtonStateUniversity
Pullman,WA99163

Date:
To:

From:

Subject:

WashingtonStateUniversity
Pullman,WA99163

November11,2015
JessicaMcCarthy
English402Professor
WashingtonStateUniversity
AlexandriaMurphy
SusanDahl
EllieFrame
ReportontheStudyofthePreferredLectureStyleofStudentsattheUniversity
Level

Attachedisthereportforourstudy,WhiteboardsVersusPowerPoint:ThePreferredLecture
Style.Werealizedthatsometimesstudentsareunsatisfiedwiththestyletheyaretaughtwith.
Wehaveseenthatthereareavarietyofpeoplewhopreferbeingtaughtbyprofessorswhoutilize
thewhiteboardsintheclassroomtoconveythemessageofthelecture.Otherspreferlecturesthat
useMicrosoftPowerPointtoconveythemessageofthelecture.Wecompleted4tasksinorderto
gainanunderstandingofwhichstudentspreferwhichmethodofteaching.

Todevelopanunderstandingoftheproblemandcompletethetasks,wemainlyutilizedprimary
research.Wedistributedasurveytogainabasicunderstandingofwhatthestudentspreferred
andwhy.WealsodiscussedthistopicwithprofessorsaroundthePullmancampusof
WashingtonStateUniversitytounderstandtheirpointofviewonthistopic.

Duringtheoneweekallottedforresearch,weonlygatheredinformationfrom24participants.
Butwiththislimitednumberofresponses,welearnedthat54%ofstudentsprefertobetaughtby
teacherswhoutilizewhiteboardsintheirteachingmethod.However,only46%ofrespondents
statedthatwhiteboardbasedlecturesweretheirprimarylearningmethodintheclassroom.
Furtheranalysisshowedthatthesepreferencesandthereasonsbehindtheirpreferencediffered
betweencolleges.Forexample,engineeringstudentsweremorelikelytoprefer
whiteboardbasedlecturesoverbusinessorartsandsciencesstudentswhoweresplitontheir
preference.

Werecommendtalkingtoyourstudents,testingdifferentteachingmethods,andnotbeingafraid
oftryingsomethingnew.Itiscleartousthatstudentscertainlydohaveadifferenceintheir
preferredteachingmethod.Whileprofessorshavetheirownpreference,webelievethatby
steppingoutoftheircomfortzoneandtryinganewmethod,theymayfindthatitworksbetterto
lectureinadifferentway.Also,withsuchdifferentpreferencesinsomecolleges,itmaybebest
tocommunicatewithstudentsinthespecificclass.Forthisreason,werecommendprofessors
talktotheirstudentstolearntheirpreferencebecauseattheendoftheday,theyaretheonesthat
knowhowtheybestlearnandtheyaretheonestryingtolearnintheclass.

Weappreciatethetrustthatyouhaveinstilledinustoallowustocompletethisstudyand
provideourrecommendations.Welookforwardtotalkingtoyouaboutthedistributionofour
resultsandrecommendationstoprofessorsaroundthecampus.Ifyouhaveanyfurtherquestions
orcomments,pleasefollowupwitheitherofusthroughtheBlackboardlearningcenter.

TableofContents

ExecutiveSummary
.......4
Introduction
...4
ResearchMethods
.5
Task1:CreateaSurvey
....5
Task2:SharetheSurveyonFacebook
.6
Task3:CollectandAnalyzeResults
.....6
Task4:CollectthePointofViewofProfessors

...6
Results
....6
Conclusions
....7
Recommendation
..7
Appendix
....8
WhiteboardsvsPowerPointSurvey
..8
Figures
..10
Tables
...10
ProposedReport
.......12

ExecutiveSummary

WefeltthatstudentshadapreferencebetweenclassesthatweretaughtusingPowerPointand
classesusingthewhiteboard.Inordertolearnthevalidityofthishypothesis,weconducteda
surveypointedtowardsstudents.Wealsotalkedtoprofessorsaboutwhattheirfeelingsare
towardsthesubject.Intheoneweektimeperiodallottedforgatheringsurveyresults,we
received24responsestooursurveyandwereabletotalktofourprofessorsfromdifferentareas
withintheuniversity.Welearnedthat54%ofstudentspreferredlearningfromprofessorswho
utilizedthewhiteboard.However,only46%ofstudentsreportedtheirprimarylearningmethod
wasthewhiteboardmethod.Thismeansthatthereisadiscrepancybetweenwhatthestudents
wantandwhattheprofessorsfeelisbest.Whenwetalkedtotheprofessors,wesawjusthowtrue
thisiswhenthreeofthefourstatedtheypreferredteachingusingPowerPoint.Werecommendto
fixthismisalignmentofpreferencesbycreatingawayforprofessorstohaveanopendialogue
withtheirstudentstodeterminethebestteachingmethodfortheirspecificstudentsintheirclass.
Wethinkthisisthebestmethodbecausethisallowseachstudenttofeelliketheirpreferences
havebeenheard.Italsoallowstheprofessorstostepoutoftheircomfortzoneandtryanew
methodofteaching.Iftheprofessorstrydifferentteachingmethods,theymaylearnthatthey
preferadifferentmethodorthattheirstudentsperformbetterwhenutilizingadifferentteaching
method.Webelieveinordertogetthismessageacross,thebestroutetotakeistosendouta
onepagereporttoprofessorsviaemailtoshowthemourresultsandourrecommendation.This
waytheycanseethedata,considerourrecommendationandcometotheirownconclusion.

Introduction

Afterspendingsometimetalkingtofellowstudents,wefeltliketherewasadifferenceinthe
preferenceoflearningmethods.Wefeltlikesomestudentspreferredtolearnfromprofessors
whotaughtusingPowerPointandotherstudentspreferredwhentheirprofessorusedthe
whiteboard.Wewonderedifthisdifferedbetweencollegeswithinauniversityandifthe
studentsviewsweredifferentthanthoseofprofessors.Wewonderedifstudentswerelearning
intheirpreferredmethod.Furthermore,wewantedtofigureoutiftheywerenotbeingtaughtin
theirpreferredmethod,whythiswasandifitwasdifferent,wouldstudentslearnbetter.We
decidedtolearnmoreaboutthispotentialproblem.

Wedeterminedthatfourmaintaskswouldneedtobecompletedtogatheralloftheinformation
weneeded.Thefirsttaskthatwouldneedtobecompletedwouldbetoactuallycreateasurvey.
Wehadtomakesurethatoursurveywouldgatheralloftheinformationnecessaryandquickly.
Then,wewouldneedtofindaquickandbroadwaytodistributethissurvey.Wedecided
Facebookwasthebestmediuminordertoaccomplishthis.Next,wewouldneedtoanalyze
theseresultstofullyunderstandtheinformationthatwasgathered.Afterdoingthis,wewanted

informationfromprofessorstocompareitto.Wedecidedthattalkingtovariousprofessorsat
WashingtonStateUniversitywouldhelpusgatherinformationfromtheirperspective.Wecould
comparetheirresponsestothoseofthestudentstogatheraclearpictureofthelearning
environment.Wecouldusethesetocreateaonepagereportthatwecouldthendistributevia
emailtoprofessorsaroundtheuniversityinordertocreateabetterlearningenvironmentfor
students.

Welearnedthattherewasindeedadiscrepancybetweenthewaythatstudentspreferredtobe
taughtandthewaythattheywerebeingtaught.Wealsolearnedreasonsastowhythismightbe.
Wefoundthat54%ofourrespondentspreferredlearningfromprofessorswhoutilized
whiteboardsintheirlectureswhileonly46%ofthesepeoplereportedhavingthewhiteboard
usedastheirprimarylearningmethod.Welearnedthatthereasonforthisisbecauseprofessors
preferteachingwithPowerPointbecauseitcanholdmoreinformationinamoreorganized
fashion.

Werecommendthatprofessorsstarteachnewsemesterofclassesoutbyaskingtheirstudents
whattheirpreferredlearningmethodisandwhy.Wethinkthatiftheprofessorlearnsthatthe
preferredmethodisnotwhathe/sheprefers,thathe/sheatleasttriesteachinginthismethod.We
believethatbysteppingoutoftheircomfortzone,theymayfindthattheyactuallyprefera
differentteachingmethod.Wealsothinkthisgivesthestudentsabetterchanceatexcellingin
theclassandlearningmorewhilegettingbettergrades.

Inthefollowingsections,weprovideadditionaldetailsaboutourresearchmethods,theresults
weobtained,theconclusionsthatwedrewfromthoseresultsandourrecommendation.

ResearchMethods

Themainquestionthatwewantedtoanswerwasifstudentspreferredlearningbyprofessors
whoutilizethewhiteboardduringtheirlecturesorbyprofessorswhoprimarilyutilize
PowerPoint.Wefeltliketherewasadiscrepancybetweenthelearningpreferencesofthe
studentsandtheprofessorsteachingpreferences.Wewantedtoseeifthisistrueandifso,how
wecouldfixthis.

Task1:CreateaSurvey.
Thesurveyfirstaskedwhattheirmajorwas,todeterminedifferencesamongmajors.Afterthat
thesurveyaskedsixquestionsthatusedarankingmethod.Therankingscalerangedfromahigh
of5representingAlwaysandalowof1representingNever.Thesequestionscomparedhow
oftenthestudentlearnedinclass,tooknotesinclass,andhadusefulnotesinclassesthatwere
giveninPowerPointpresentationsagainstclassesthatusedthewhiteboard.Lastly,thesurvey

askedwhichmethodofinstructiontheypreferredandaskedthemtoexplaintheirreasoning.This
gaveinsighttotheirpersonalopinionsofthematterforeithersideoftheargument.

Task2:SharetheSurveyonFacebook.
Wewantedtodistributethesurveyinamannerthatwouldhaveabroadreachandobtainalotof
dataquickly.Wedidnothavealotoftimeforresearchsoweneededtoactquickly.Wefeltlike
distributingthemduringclasseswouldbedisruptivesowedecidedFacebookwouldbethebest
distributionmethod.Thiswouldallowustoreachabroadrangeofpeoplethatincludedpeople
weknewfromhighschoolthatendedupatdifferentuniversitiesandpeoplethatweknewfrom
WashingtonStateUniversity.Wealsofeltlikethiswouldbeamethodthatwouldgatherourdata
quicklysoeachofusinthegroupdistributedalinktothesurveyonourrespectiveFacebook
profiles.

Task3:CollectandAnalyzeResults.
GoogleFormsautomaticallyenterstheresultsintoExcelwhicheliminatedtheneedfordata
entry.Thenthedatawasanalyzedbymakingtotalsofthescoresbysummingupthenumbersthe
studentsrankedthatcertainquestionas,andthiswasgraphed.Theresponseswerearrangedso
thatmajorswerebunchedtogethertoeasilyanalyzethedifferencesbetweenthem.

Task4:CollectthePointofViewofProfessors.
Wethoughtthatgatheringreasonswhyprofessorsusetheirstyleofteachingwouldbean
interestingwaytoeitherproveitisorisnotthebestwaythatstudentslearn.Wewereableto
discusswithafewpast/presentprofessorsabouttheirteachingstylesandwhytheyusethem.
Aftertalkingwiththeprofessors,weusedthedatafromthesurveytoseewhatstudentsreally
thoughtaboutthestyleofteachingforeachclass/subject.Atableisshownintheresultswiththe
findings.

Results

Wegathered24completedsurveys.Thefirstquestionyieldedaresultof46%ofstudentssaying
thatthewhiteboardwastheprimarylearningmethodfortheminclasses.However,54%of
studentspreferredwhiteboardlecturingoverPowerPoint.Thismeanstherearestudentswhoare
notlearningthroughtheirpreferredmethod.Table1(intheTablesAppendix)showsthepercent
ofstudentswhopreferredthewhiteboardoverPowerPointfordifferentmajors/academic
colleges.ItisseenthatEngineeringstudentspreferthewhiteboardmorethanothermajorssuch
asArtsandScienceorBusinesswherehalfthestudentspreferredit.

Thenumericaltotalsforeachoptionwerefoundbyaddinguptherankingforeachsectionand
theseresultsareshowninFigure1(intheFiguresAppendix).WhiteboardoutrankedPowerPoint

ineverycategory.Thismeansthatstudentsweremorelikelytolearnduringclass,takenotes
duringclass,andhaveeffectivenotesfromclassesthatweretaughtusingthewhiteboard
comparedtoonesthatusedPowerPoint.Thisgraphmaybemisleadingduetothelargenumber
ofengineeringmajorsthattookthesurvey,anditisseeninTable1thattheypreferwhiteboard
primarily.

SeveralsurveysindictedthereasonswhytheypreferredwhiteboardoverPowerPoint.These
reasonsincludedbecauseitseasiertolearnandtakenotesbecausetheprofessorhastowrite
everythingout.Itwasalsostatedthatitwasbetterforwritingoutexampleproblems.The
studentswhochosePowerPointgavereasonssuchasthenoteswerealreadytheresoitseasierto
followandtheylikeitthattheycouldgobackandlookattheslides.

Conclusions

Attheendofourresearch,weconcludedthattherewasadiscrepancybetweenwhatthestudents
feelistheirbestlearningmethodandwhatprofessorsfeelistheirbestteachingmethod.Students
prefertolearnthroughthewhiteboardmethodwhileprofessorsprefertoteachwithPowerPoint.
Studentspreferlearningwiththewhiteboardmethodbecauseitisaslowerlearningprocess.It
forcestheteachertoslowdownandfullyexplainthematerial.Italsoforcesthestudenttotake
notesandprovidesampletimetorecordthenotes.ProfessorspreferredthePowerPointmethod
becauseitallowsformoreinformationtobecoveredwhileprovidingabasisinwhichto
organizetheirlecturenotesandtopics.

Recommendations

Wewouldliketoprovidethereportshownintheappendixtoprofessors.Webelievethat
professorsshoulddiscussthisdiscrepancywiththeirstudents.Thereshouldbeanopenareato
discussthisdiscrepancy.Ifprofessorscouldunderstandwhystudentspreferwhattheydo,they
couldevaluatetheirteachingmethod.Professorscouldgooutoftheircomfortzonetotrya
differentapproachtoteaching.Theymaylearnthatthereisadifferentmethodthattheyprefer
andseeanimprovementintheirstudentsgrades.However,weunderstandthereasonsbehind
whyprofessorsprefertoteachwithPowerPointbutwebelievethatbyhavinganopendialogue
withstudentsaboutthereasonsbehindtheirpreferences,acompromisecouldbemade.Perhaps
theprofessormayfindthatitmaybeinthestudentsadvantageforsomelecturestobetaughtby
onlyutilizingthewhiteboardwhilewithothersitmaybemoreadvantageoustoutilize
PowerPoint.Anopendiscussionwouldhelpmakeacompromiseandunderstandingbetweenthe
studentsandProfessors.

Appendix

Survey:

ThisisthesurveythatwedistributedonFacebookforpastorpresentuniversitystudentstofill
out.Wereceived24responses.Thenumbersinboldfacebelowrepresentthepercentageof
respondentswhochoseeachresponse.

1. Whatcollegedo/didyouattend?
a. EngineeringandArchitecture
29.2%
b. ArtsandSciences
25%
c. Agriculture,Human,andNaturalResourceSciences
8.3%
d. Business
20.8%
e. Education
8.3%
f. Communication
8.3%
2. HaveyouhadaclasswheretheprimarylecturingtechniquewasPowerPoint
presentations?
a. Yes
95.8%
b. No
4.2%
3. Haveyouhadaclasswheretheprimarylecturingtechniquewaswritingnotesonthe
whiteboard?
a. Yes
87.5%
b. No
12.5%
4. Whatwasyourprimarylearningmethod?
a. Whiteboard
45.8%
b. PowerPoint
54.2%
5. HowmuchdidyoufeelyoulearnedwhentheprimaryteachingmethodwasPowerPoint
presentations(onascaleof1to5)?
a. 1
0%
b. 2
20.8%
c. 3
29.2%
d. 4
25%
e. 5
25%
6. Howmuchdidyoufeelyoulearnedwhentheprimaryteachingmethodwaswritingnotes
onthewhiteboard(onascaleof1to5)?
a. 1
4.2%
b. 2
0%
c. 3
29.2%

d. 4
45.8%
e. 5
20.8%
7. Howoftendidyoutakenotesduringclasswhentheprimaryteachingmethodwas
PowerPointpresentations(onascaleof1to5)?
a. 1
0%
b. 2
25%
c. 3
16.7%
d. 4
20.8%
e. 5
37.5%
8. Howoftendidyoutakenotesduringclasswhentheprimaryteachingmethodwaswriting
notesonthewhiteboard(onascaleof1to5)?
a. 1
4.2%
b. 2
4.2%
c. 3
8.3%
d. 4
20.8%
e. 5
62.5%
9. Howhelpfulwereyournotesinyourlearningwhentheprimaryteachingmethodwas
PowerPointpresentations(onascaleof1to5)?
a. 1
16.7%
b. 2
12.5%
c. 3
16.7%
d. 4
20.8%
e. 5
33.3%
10. Howhelpfulwereyournotesinyourlearningwhentheprimaryteachingmethodwas
writingnotesonthewhiteboard(onascaleof1to5)?
a. 1
4.2%
b. 2
4.2%
c. 3
20.8%
d. 4
29.2%
e. 5
41.7%
11. Werenotesprovidedonline,asahandoutorinanyotherwaywhentheprimaryteaching
methodwasPowerPointpresentations?
a. Yes
83.3%
b. No
16.7%
12. Werenotesprovidedonline,asahandoutorinanyotherwaywhentheprimaryteaching
methodwaswritingnotesonthewhiteboard?
a. Yes
20.8%
b. No
79.2%
13. Didyoufindhavingthenotesprovidedhelpful?

10

a. Yes
79.2%
b. No
8.3%
c. Noteswerenotprovided
12.5%
14. Didyouwritemoredetailednotesontheprovidednotes?
a. Yes
62.5%
b. No
20.8%
c. Noteswerenotprovided
16.7%
15. Whichmethoddidyoupreferandwhy?*
a. Whiteboard
54.2%
b. PowerPoint
37.5%
*
Someresponseswerevagueonapreferenceandthereforewerenotcountedinthetotal
percentage.

Figures:

Figure1
SurveyAnalysisnumericaltotals

Tables:

Table1
Percentofstudentsinacertainmajor/collegethatpreferredwhiteboardover
PowerPoint

Agriculture/

11

Arts& Business Engineering

Science
50%

50%

86%

Human
Science*
0%

Communications Education*
*
100%

0%

*Theseresultsonlyhadtworesponsesfromthatmajorsomoredataisneededtomakevalid
conclusions.

12

Report:

ExecutiveSummary
Wewonderedwhatstudentspreferredfortheirlearningmethodintheclassroombeingtaught
byaprofessorwhomainlytaughtbyusingPowerPointpresentationsorthosewhomainlywrote
notesonthewhiteboard.Weadministeredasurveytostudentsaroundtheuniversityvia
Facebookandgatheredsomedata.Welearnedthat54%ofstudentspreferredtobetaughtby
professorswhoprimarilywrotetheirnotesonthewhiteboardwhileonly46%ofstudents
recordedthisastheirprimarylearningmethod.Webelievethatasprofessors,youshouldhave
anopendiscussionwithstudentsaboutwhatthebestwaytoteachyourspecificclassis.

ResearchMethodsandResults
AsurveywasadministeredonFacebooktodeterminewhichmajorspreferredwhiteboardor
PowerPointasthelecturingmethod.Excelwasusedtoanalyzethedataandcreatefiguresto
showtheresults.

Figure1showsthatWhiteboardoutrankedPowerPointineveryquestionforthe
survey.Table1showsthatEngineerspreferwhiteboard,whileinothermajorsthepreferenceis
even.

Figure1:
Surveytotals

Table1:
PercentofstudentsinacertaincollegethatpreferredwhiteboardoverPowerPoint

Arts& Business Engineering

Science
50%

50%

86%

Agriculture/

Human
Communications Education
Science
0%

100%

0%

Conclusion
Webelievethatasprofessors,youshouldholdanopendiscussionwithstudentstolearnthebest
waytoteachyourspecificclassandthebestwaythattheylearn.Ifyouhavequestionsor
commentsaboutthisresearch,pleasecontactanyoneofus.