Introducing the "Cluttered Slide Contest" for College and University Students

TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Petticoat Creek Press Inc., the publisher of the groundbreaking book 5 Steps to Conquer 'Death by PowerPoint', is launching the "Cluttered Slide Contest" for college and university students across North America. 

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150908/264292

Between September 8 and September 30, 2015, post-secondary students are encouraged to upload to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter photographs of the most cluttered, crowded and convoluted slides shown by professors in their classroom or lecture hall.

The winning entry will receive $1,000. 

"We started this contest to improve the quality of classroom education," says Eric Bergman, author of 5 Steps to Conquer 'Death by PowerPoint'. "The research is absolutely clear: The more cluttered the slide, the less effective the lecture." 

Three separate studies from Purdue, Barcelona and Munich have compared the presentation of lectures using PowerPoint versus delivering exactly the same information without showing a single slide. Researchers then administered quizzes to test student understanding and retention of the material presented during the lecture. 

"Each study came to exactly the same conclusion," Bergman says. "Students who weren't exposed to PowerPoint scored 20 to 30 per cent higher on the quiz. In one study, this held true even when the same professors delivered the same information using both styles—with slides and without."

On October 5, the 10 best examples of cluttered slide photos posted by students between September 8 to September 30—that have been verified by the judging committee as having been shown in class—will be uploaded to the same hashtag, #ClutteredSlide. "We're calling this the best of the cluttered worst," says Bergman. The slide that gets the most likes, retweets and shares by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 9 will win US $1,000. 

"Ultimately, the goal of this contest is to motivate students to demand a higher standard from their education because it is the most significant investment they will ever make in their future," Bergman says. "We also want professors to recognize that it's time to pay attention to credible, peer-review research that refutes the thinking that the use—and especially the overuse—of slides in the classroom somehow benefits the learning process."

Written by Eric Bergman, 5 Steps to Conquer 'Death by PowerPoint' encourages all presenters—including university professors—to reduce their reliance on PowerPoint and conduct effective conversations with their audiences. The foreword is written by John Sweller, Ph.D., emeritus professor of education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. 

He writes: "The various recommendations Bergman makes are based on strong research evidence he has brilliantly applied to the art of presenting information to a live audience. Eric Bergman's techniques are a window to the future of this important human activity."

For information, contact:
Eric Bergman
416-410-3273
Email

SOURCE Petticoat Creek Press, Inc.

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