Cognitive Science of PowerPoint Part II: The Power of Attention

The most common pedagogical visual tool used in engineering classrooms are slides, such as those generated by Google Slides, Keynote, Prezi or PowerPoint. Unfortunately, when viewed through the lens of current models describing human information processing, many slides are poorly designed. That is, they either contain too much, poorly organized, or distracting information. Given the complexity of engineering content, it is essential that slides be used to help the student focus on key elements to increase learning, rather than simply act as a data dump or cue card. The paper will first provide an overview of human attention processes and how these impact working memory and learning. Then, the paper will provide an overview of selected theories from cognitive psychology, including top-down vs. bottom-up processing, focused vs. divided attention, and salience models (e.g. perception, gaze, and motion). Finally, using an authentic example of an engineering classroom slide, this paper will demonstrate how the practical application of these cognitive theories of attention can increase focus on (and thus retention) of the relevant content. This paper aims to be a “why-to” as well as a “how-to” guide for improving visual aids, specifically slides, in the engineering classroom. Note, this paper builds on our previous paper that focused on the cognitive load with respect to slide design.