Poster 11 – Lecture Slide Design: Medical Students’ Preferences of Best Practices

Presenters:
Karen Pinder, Olivia Tsai

Authors:
Olivia Tsai, Clarissa Wallace, Karen Pinder

Poster Abstract:
Large group lectures that are centred on PowerPoint (PPT) slide presentations are a ubiquitous instructional format during the pre-clinical years of medical school. However, lecturers rarely receive formal training on how to design their lecture slides to optimize student learning. Consequently, due to the large number of faculty members delivering lectures in undergraduate medical curricula, there is wide variation in slide layout and organization. To assess students’ experiences and preferences with lecture slides design, a survey was distributed to students in the MD Undergraduate Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The survey evaluated students’ experiences with PPT slides in large group lectures through the entirety of their first year of medical school. Questions explored the perceived importance of lecture slides in understanding content, and satisfaction with slide formatting, quality and consistency. Results were used to formulate a one-page checklist of best practices for slide design, which is now distributed to all lecturers in the UBC undergraduate medical curriculum. Major student recommendations included addressing readability by using simple white backgrounds with black text, the provision of relevant and high-quality graphics, and higher level session organization through the use of lecture objectives, tables and summary slides. Our results will be useful and of interest to all medical and allied health professionals who lecture using PPT slides.

Keywords: Instructional Design, Lecture Slides, Faculty Development

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