Technology in college classrooms : an action research examining the use of PowerPoint in ELL classrooms

• Main Author: Zhang, Weiwei
• Other Authors: Ward, Chris
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: visual aids; language learning; second language acquistion; PowerPoint; action research; instructional technology; Second language acquisition > Study and teaching; Educational technology; Microsoft PowerPoint (Computer file); English language > Computer-assisted instruction
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29048

This research looks at the use of PowerPoint as an instructional tool for teaching English language learners (ELL) who studied in a language program at a state university in the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of the research was to discover and to explore the perceptions of PowerPoint supported teaching and learning that were held by the students, the instructors, and the student researcher. PowerPoint is one of the most commonly used technologies in classrooms, and its projection on screens has become a fundamental part of many students' daily routine. The basic design of this research study is based on Stringer's (2004) action research model, which operates on a repeated circle of reflecting, planning, acting and observing. This action research was generated by all participants, guided by instructors, and monitored by the planned objectives of the study's outcomes. A constructivist approach was used to understand the process of teaching and learning with PowerPoint, and feedback (questionnaires, interviews, and personal communications) was collected from the students in order to help instructors and the student researcher to determine the students' needs. There are four main sets of data in this study—data from students' questionnaires, from students' interviews, from instructors' interviews, and from the student researcher's classroom observations. Students were given questionnaires at the ends of weeks two to ten, and two students from each class were selected to be interviewed. Instructors were interviewed both at the beginning and at the end of the term. The student researcher observed all classes starting week two, and wrote notes which were included as part of the data. === Graduation date: 2012