PowerPoint slide provision and student performance: the moderating roles of self-efficacy and gender

Research on the pedagogical value of providing students with PowerPoint (PPT) slide handouts has produced mixed results. One reason for the inconsistent findings may be that most studies in this stream of research have neglected to examine individual differences. In the current study, we aimed to advance research on the pedagogical value of providing students with access to PPT slide handouts by examining whether self-efficacy and gender influence the effect of PPT slide provision on academic performance. We found no evidence to suggest that the provision of slide handouts has broad, unconditional pedagogical value. Instead, we found that both self-efficacy and gender moderated the extent to which the availability of the handouts enhanced or hindered students' performance. As predicted, both students high on self-efficacy and males performed significantly better when they were provided with handouts. Conversely, students low on self-efficacy performed significantly worse when the handouts were provided. Female students also trended toward lower performance when the handouts were provided. Additionally, we found that students who were provided with PPT handouts perceived their instructor as more effective, and that this relation was mediated by students' feeling of preparation. Finally, students also considered the provision of PPT handouts more valuable to their learning and course performance than one-to-one interactions with the professor. Implications for research and practice are discussed.