title: PowerPoint presentation in learning physiology by undergraduates with different learning styles.
abstract: PowerPoint presentations (PPTs) have become routine in medical colleges because of their flexible and varied presentation capabilities. Research indicates that students prefer PPTs over the chalk-and-talk method, and there is a lot of debate over advantages and disadvantages of PPTs. However, there is no clear evidence that PPTs improve student learning/performance. Furthermore, there are a variety of learning styles with sex differences in classrooms. It is the responsibility of teacher/facilitator and student to be aware of learning style preferences to improve learning. The present study asked the following research question: do PPTs equally affect the learning of students with different learning styles in a mixed sex classroom? After we assessed students' predominant learning style according to the sensory modality that one most prefers to use when learning, a test was conducted before and after a PPT to assess student performance. The results were analyzed using Student's t-test and ANOVA with a Bonferroni post hoc test. A z-test showed no sex differences in preferred learning styles. There was significant increase in posttest performance compared with that of the pretest in all types of learners of both sexes. There was also a nonsignificant relationship among sex, learning style, and performance after the PPT. A PPT is equally effective for students with different learning style preferences and supports mixed sex classrooms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India roopabalu07@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Roopa B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ankad
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Shashikala
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herur
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manjula
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Surekharani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chinagudi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Shailaja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patil
mesh_terms: D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D001307:Auditory Perception; D032882:Comprehension; D003479:Curriculum; D004517:Education, Professional / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010827:Physiology / Q000193:education*; D011932:Reading; D012737:Sex Factors; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014796:Visual Perception; D014956:Writing
keywords: PowerPoint presentation; learning styles; sensory modality; students' performance