Impressions of Pre-Service Teachers about Use of PowerPoint Slides by Their Instructors and Its Effects on Their Learning

Abstract

This study aims to explore preservice teachers’ opinions about their instructors’ use of PowerPoint slides during classes. To this end, 10 preservice teachers were selected through convenience sampling and semi-structured interviews were then conducted. The interviews were held one-by-one and audio recorded after having received permission from the interviewees. The recorded audio data was then transcribed and subsequently coded using QDA Miner Lite analytical software. Data analysis was then carried out by two researchers in order to eliminate bias and to enhance objectivity in the qualitative coding process. The findings indicated that the preservice teachers, in terms of the design and content of their instructors’ PowerPoint slides, complained mostly about text inefficiency, whereas they favored the visual aids used in the slides. The findings also indicated that in terms of the perceived effects of using PowerPoint on preservice teachers’ learning, they favored the slides because of their simplification of the content, using PowerPoint as multimedia, using PowerPoint slides as course notes, and for following the course content easier. On the other hand, they complained about instructors’ frequently just reading from the slides verbatim. The findings of the study may inspire instructors to use PowerPoint more effectively in their classes, and thereby to become better role models to the preservice teachers they are instructing.