The Use of Interactive
PowerPoint Files in Medical
Education
IAMSE Workshop June 2014
Interactive eLearning – the MD Students
Perspective
• Advantages
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Helps develop reasoning skills
Increased retention of material
Maintains engagement
Opportunities to apply knowledge
Facilitates self-directed and user-paced
learning
• Disadvantages
• “Just tell me what I need to know to pass
Step I”
• Perceived usefulness
Interactive eLearning – the Faculty
Perspective
• Advantages
• Student learning is self-directed
• Efficient, ubiquitously available resource
• Less time in the lecture hall and in office hours
• Disadvantages
• “I don’t have time to learn a new way to teach”
• Use of specialized and potentially expensive
software programs to develop content
• Students may not utilize instructional tools
• Link to assessment
Necessity and Invention…
• In 2007, the Clinician who assisted with our
Medical Microbiology “Wet Labs” was
appointed Course Director of
Pathophysiology
• Necessity – figure out a way for a group of
PhD scientists to present the wet-lab
clinical cases to medical students
• Invention – converted the verbal
presentation of cases into “Interactive
PowerPoints” or IPPs!
Why Interactive PowerPoints?
• Simple and Universal
• Result is user-paced but faculty
directed
• Students learn through trial and error
• Encourages application of knowledge
• Non-passive
• Can incorporate words and pictures
simultaneously
• Video and reference article link-outs
So let’s see a sample…
• These Microbiology Wet Lab PowerPoints are designed for the
students to work through in small groups
• Physical specimens (i.e., agar plates, slides, chemical sensitivity tests,
etc.) relating to each case study are provided for students to interpret
• This format facilitates integration of other disciplines
• IPP’s are made available after class for further review
• Strep Lab Case 3 Demo
What do the students think?
What do the students think?
What do the students think?
Su m m ary o f stu d en t co m m en ts:
O verall th e electro n ic lab s w ere w ell received
Stu d en ts liked th e ab ility to access th e electro n ic lab s at
an y tim e an d lo catio n as a stu d y aid
Stu d en ts liked th e ab ility to review electro n ic lab s o n th eir
o w n as w ell as in a gro u p
Stu d en ts still see th e u tility o f th e trad itio n al lab fo rm at
Ta ke aw a y lesso n s fro m elab s:
V et case stu d ies w ith In fectio u s D isease sp ecialists an d
co m e u p w ith m o re exam p les; m ake th em m o re “clin ical”
In clu d e lo ts o f im ages; h o t lin ks
U se h u m o r, w h ere ap p ro p riate
Other applications?
• Independent study for
application of pedigree
construction and genetic risk
assessment methods
• Explanation of difficult
concepts
• Protein Translation
• Orientation of integral
membrane proteins
Does it work?
• Study to assess student perceptions
of Genetic Risk Assessment Learning
tools currently underway…
• 8% of students indicated that the IPP’s
were one of the top 3 most effective
components of the course
• Evidence from MCQ analysis
• Question regarding insertion of
integral membrane proteins
• IPP introduced in 2013
• The same year, the lecture was
shortened from 2 hours to 1 hour
84
82
80
78
76
74
72
70
2011
2012
2013
Does it work?
• One published study using a similar approach
• 3 Modules focused on Endocrine Pharmacology
• Voluntary Registration
• Only 38% completed all 3 modules
• Significant increase in pre-test score vs. post-test score (p<0.001)
• High student rankings for:
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Understanding
Utility
User friendliness
Overall learning experience
The Nuts and Bolts
• Let’s take a look at the Demo as a regular
PPT file…
• Plan out your presentation
• Generate slides as you would in a normal
PowerPoint
• To link a slide
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Highlight the text or image
“Insert” a hyperlink
Select “Place in this document”
Select the slide number and click “OK”
The Nuts and Bolts
• To use the Action Buttons
• Click in “Insert” and “Shapes”
• Select the appropriate Action
Button
• Click and drag the Action Button in
the region you wish to insert
• A dialog box will automatically
open enabling you to hyperlink the
Action Button to the appropriate
slide
Testing the Module!
• To run through the module, make
sure you are on full-screen mode
• Test early and often!
• Summer students are a great
resource for testing the material!!
• Once you are satisfied, there are a
few key steps to ensure interactivity!!
Preparing for Posting…
• There are a few additional steps to
ensure that your IPP is truly interactive
• Go to the “Transitions” tab and unclick
the “On Mouse Click” under the
“Advance Slide” section
• Make sure you also select “Apply To All”
• Next, click on the “Slide Show” tab and
select “Set Up Slide Show”
• Under “Show Type” select “Browse at a
Kiosk”
• Finally, save the document at a “Power
Point Show”
So lets get to work…
• You have been provided with an outline
of a fairly simple case on Genetic
inheritance risk assessment
• Working in groups, map out an IPP
• If you have a computer, try generating
the PowerPoint
Results
• Let’s compare the IPP
we just generated to
the one that I had
prepared previously
• What worked and what
didn’t?
Pro’s and Con’s
• “The key to choosing technology lies in the intersection
of pedagogy, content and technology where technology
affords the best support of pedagogy and understanding
of content”
• IPPs are
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Relatively easy to prepare
Do not require specialized software
Can be an effective self-directed learning tool
Mayer’s multimedia principles
• Only relevant information is included
• Information presented in user paced segments
• Words and pictures simultaneously
• But there are some limitations…
• Keeping track of the hyperlinks can be difficult with really
complex problems
• Not good for narrative branching
References
• Cook et al. “Internet-Based Learning in the Health Professions” JAMA
2008;300(10):1181-1196
• Gaikwad, N. & Tankhiwale, S.” Interactive E-learning module in
pharmacology: a pilot project at a rural medical college in India”
Perspectives on Medical Education 2014; 3. 15-30
• Triola et al. “New directions in e-learning research in health professions
education: Report of two symposia” Medical Teacher 2012;34: e15–e20
• Mayer, R. E. “Multimedia learning” (2nd ed.). 2009; NY: Cambridge
University Press.
• Wittrock, M. C. “Generative learning processes of the brain” Educational
Psychologist 1992;27(4), 531-541
• Wong et al. “Internet-based medical education: a realist review of what
works, for whom and in what circumstances” BMC Medical Education
2010;10:12