THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF POWERPOINT

PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote, Prezi and other visual tools have become ubiquitous in modernclassrooms, business meetings, and engineering briefings. Unfortunately, many slides are poorly designed with a high cognitive load. That is, they either contain too much information or have poorly organized information. Given the inverse correlation between cognitive overload and memory, reducing the cognitive load of slides can lead to more effective presentations – improving communication, retention, and instruction. The paper will first provide an overview of cognitiveload theory and its significance/relation to human factors engineering. Then, selected theories from cognitive psychology, including the expert-novice divide, dualchannel theory, gestalt principles, and constructivism will be introduced. Using authentic examples of classroom slides, this paper will demonstrate how these cognitive theories' practical application can reduce cognitive load. This paper aims to be a "why-to" as well as a "how-to" guide for improving visual pedagogical aids, specifically, slides, in the engineering classroom.