Why Do Nursing Instructors Rely So Heavily On PowerPoints To Teach?

CuriousMe · Dec 11, 2011

Of course not. Their sole purpose is to sit around on their butts, drinking coffee and offering criticism while waiting on their next paycheck. :uhoh3:

Thankfully, that hasn't been my experience, for the most part, I've had wonderful, knowledgeable, talented and caring Professors. I'm sorry if it's been yours though.

CrazierThanYou · Dec 11, 2011

Thankfully, that hasn't been my experience, for the most part, I've had wonderful, knowledgeable, talented and caring Professors. I'm sorry if it's been yours though.

This pretty accurately describes my instructors I had the first year of nursing school. Now that I'm a second year student, I have 2 instructors who read straight from the PowerPoint, word for word. My other instructor mostly stands in front of the class, bragging on himself and all the material things he owns. Occasionally, he'll make some attempt at lecturing but it leaves us all saying "Wha...?"

feral5 · Oct 20, 2014

My favorite form of lecture was from my Anatomy prophesor while completing prereqs. He would just show a picture showing a graph, or anatomical part and proceeded to describe it, expand on it, and just derive class discussion from these visuals.

lepew · Oct 21, 2014

Sorry you are having instructors like that. It's not right. I do not read from power points - I use them as a guide. I also use interactive techniques. I don't want to hear myself talk for two hours- I know my students don't! I try to make it fun and interesting.

I am sorry y'all have such lazy instructors. They give education a bad name

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Oct 21, 2014

@lepew

I'm glad that you use interactive techniques in lecture. I'm a big fan of teachers who use examples, analogies, metaphors or meaningful stories related to nursing to help students understand better.I had an Anatomy professor who used power point slides heavily and although he would read the power points slides 'word for word' to the class, I did like how he would stop after every important main concept and have us turn to our neighbors to discuss and recap the important concept in one minute. It allowed the students to be active in learning and forced us to explain in our own words.

@lepew

I really am fond of learning different strategies to enhance my ability to learn for better understanding and would like to know whats the best way to study PP for exams when you have a professor who uses PP as an outline with no details? I had trouble trying to understand what to study from the power point slides for exams.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Oct 21, 2014

I upload PowerPoints in Blackboard because I have some students who like to make notes on them during lectures. However, during lectures, I use Prezis which is basically a concept map that is used for presentation purposes. I don’t personally care for PowerPoints because they are linear. I enjoy using Prezis because students are able to connect the concepts easier. Also, I am able to easily incorporate YouTube videos and other media without the need to stop and click a link- it’s automatic. I sometimes don’t lecture. Rather, we work on concept maps together. More importantly, if I am lecturing, I stop every 40 minutes for a quick break. Students tend to begin loosing focus after about 30 minutes of lecturing. I much rather take small breaks so that they can regain their thoughts and ready to move on.

When I have courses that are four hour blocks, I incorporate several active learning activities. Four hours is a long time to sit and listen to someone lecture- it’s boring! I find that some of the educators who have been teaching for quite some time tend to be set in their own ways. I spend a great deal of my time outside of class preparing the lectures and activities. Unfortunately, there are some educators who do not want to make that kind of investment.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Oct 22, 2014

@parkerbeancurdRN,BSN

Wow, I like that you use concepts maps in lecture - very clever!. I wish the professors at the end of each semester do a student survey to ask how they can improve their class (ielectures, class homeworks, etc.) This would not only enhance the students but also help professors adapt to new learning styles. A win-win situation.

Chaotika · Oct 23, 2014

The absolute worst are the instructors who have the canned ppt's and then talk above your head about every little thing in class. No explanation given, look at you like you have 5 heads when you ask a question, after saying "please ask questions...etc etc" and then treating you like an idiot AFTER looking at you like you have 5 heads when you finally DO ask a question. UGH - sorry, I really had to get that out there. I've been bottling that up for weeks.

I really do like the online learning systems like blackboard and canvas, as a SUPPLEMENTAL tool for classroom teaching (unless obviously you're online only). But when you can pretty much get the sum total of the class by going over the power point lectures, and then hear the same thing the next day in class, verbatim, it makes me wonder wth I'm spending my money for.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Oct 24, 2014

If you don't like spending the money then stop spending the money. Powerpoints work to get across information. This isn't a philosophy degree you are trying to earn. There is a lot of information that has to get to the students. If you do not like power points and class then maybe change your major. It is up to you. Powerpoints are not going anywhere. If you go on to earn a BSN and then maybe a masters you could be a teacher and then teach the class the way you like. However you will more than likely need evidence proving better graduation and information retention rates using your "more effective" method. Also if NCLEX scores start dropping school is going to hammer the instructor if they suddenly changed things up.

Bottom line is it does not matter. What matters is you study hard and graduate. Just like as a nurse you have to get the job done no matter what the situation.

ready2baRN · Oct 25, 2014

I think Nursing has a philosophical component to it that causes you to think critically. That is why most colleges make you take a philosophy course as a GEN ED because you will need to think critically in everyday life both professionally and personal. Second the school that I obtained my BS degree I never had an instructor that stood in front of class and just read off a powerpoint. All my in instructors made class engaging by getting the students involved in the information that's being presented. I understand the original posters complaint with the power points. They should be used as a source of information and guidance for the students and not for the instructor to just stand in front of the class and read off it for 3-4 hours.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Oct 25, 2014

Ready2baRN. You say "they should be used as a source of information and guidance for the students and not for the instructor to just stand in front of class and read off it for 3-4 hours". Ok? You are basing this on what evidence? I get what you are saying but a big part of teaching is that you have to get a lot of information to a lot of people. ESPECIALLY in nursing. If you say they should or should not do something what is your "better" way..and do you have evidence this will improve..what? Will it improve NCLEX scores? Will it improve retention of material? Will it make students "happier"? What is your goal of NOT doing it the other way? What problem have you identified that you want to improve? What if NCLEX scores are already 100% pass rate? Have you studied evidence from schools that teach differently that have statistics to back up your "improved"

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Oct 25, 2014

Windsufer8,

Not quite. The bottom line is that it does matter. As far as being a nurses and needing to get the job done- healthcare is a 24-hour operation. There have been times when I have passed work off to night shift. I have also had work passed to me from night shift. That is the nature of the beast. The mind set of "it's my way or the highway" is archaic. Current literature suggests that educators should make every attempt possible to change his/her teaching methods to best suit the student's learning style, not the other way around. Of course you will have the militant nurse educator who, for one reason or another, feels she needs to teach the class the way she learned. Those instructors often times are the ones with the lowest student satisfaction scores and who are generally in the dean's office dealing with student complaints. My comment should not suggest that it should be a free-for-all, but the old teaching methods are disappearing.