(154g) No More Death By Powerpoint! Using the Assertion-Evidence Technical Presentation Model in a ChE Unit Operations Course

It is well-known that effective oral communication skills are critical to the success of chemical engineering (ChE) graduates in the modern workplace, so it is important that ChE instructors provide their students with numerous opportunities to practice oral communication skills through in-class presentations. However, assigning several oral presentations across multiple sections or in large classes can be mentally exhausting for the course instructor, and students may similarly feel that they are simply “turning the crank” and feel bored or unchallenged when faced with the construction (or sit in the audience) of yet another dull technical presentation – these are symptoms of the widely-discussed “Death by Powerpoint” (DBP) syndrome.

Part of the reason DBP syndrome occurs is adherence to the classic bullet/sub-bullet structure espoused in much instruction on technical presentations, which can lead to presentations feeling formulaic and lacking in creativity. In recent years new and exciting presentation paradigms have been developed and adapted for technical presentations. One modern presentation style, the assertion-evidence (AE) model, requires a heavier reliance on visuals rather than text. Recent studies claim that presentations using the AE model lead to significantly better comprehension and recall of advanced concepts by both presenters and audience members compared to common presentation formats.

This work describes the incorporation of oral presentation assignments using the AE model into different sections of a senior ChE Unit Operation laboratory course. In order to determine if assigning the AE model impacted students’ improvement in oral presentations, student performance for an experimental cohort using the AE model was compared against a similar control cohort that completed oral presentations using the DBP format. It was found that student improvement in presentations increased when assigning the AE model without negative impact on student grades. Anecdotally, the instructor as well as students enjoyed the change of pace of the AE model compared to the DBP format. Student views on being assigned the AE model were mostly positive (65% of respondents), with student comments indicating they enjoyed the challenge and change of pace using the AE model both as speakers and audience members. Students also commented that they plan to use tenets of the AE model in their professional presentations moving forward. Suggestions for instructors interested in assigning the AE model in their courses are provided.

*NOTICE: This abstract describes an extension of work previously published under the citation M. Cooper, “No More Death by Powerpoint! Using an Alternative Presentation Model in a ChE Unit Operations Laboratory Course”, ASEE 2016 Annual Conference, Columbus OH, Paper ID#18898 (2016) and it should be noted portions of the text of this abstract also appear in the ASEE conference proceedings.