Microsoft PowerPoint has become the default tool for presenting learning materials in classrooms, universities, corporate training programs, webinars and remote learning environments. But is it being used effectively? This question arises because learners face a major challenge. They try to listen to the speaker's explanations while simultaneously connecting them to the relevant visual elements on the slide, which can interfere with learning.

Recently, two researchers, Hikaru Ito and Professor Hiroko Ichikawa from Tokyo University of Science, Japan, examined whether a simple change in presentation design could address the problem.

Drawing on educational psychologist Richard Mayer's well-supported cognitive theory of multimedia learning, they proposed a "cumulative presentation" format, in which new visual elements are displayed one by one as the speaker explains them.

For example, while explaining a graph, when the speaker says, "Prey and predators increase over time," the corresponding graph curves are displayed to go up, and when the speaker says, "As predators consume prey, prey numbers decline, followed by a decline in predator numbers," the graph curves are displayed to go down.

To test whether this format worked, the researchers compared it with the traditional, or whole-slide, presentation format, in which information is presented all at once (for instance, the entire graph) before the narration begins.

Their study, published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, specifically assessed whether cumulative presentation could effectively guide learners' visual attention to relevant information and improve learning.

Ichikawa highlights the study's strength, saying, "Previous studies have mainly evaluated the effectiveness of teaching material presentation methods by analyzing test scores. But we have analyzed eye-tracking measures, along with test scores, to understand not only whether learning improved but also how it improved."

To this end, the researchers recruited 40 Japanese university students and assigned 20 to the cumulative presentation condition and 20 to the whole-slide presentation condition. Both groups then completed three steps.

First, they completed a test to assess their knowledge of the presentation topic and check the baseline knowledge of both groups. Second, both groups viewed and listened to a recording of the same seven-slide PowerPoint presentation, with only the presentation format differing between the groups.

Participants' eye movements were recorded using a screen-based eye tracker during the presentation. Third, they completed the same test administered before the presentation, along with a brief five-point Likert-scale questionnaire to assess whether they experienced any difficulties during the lesson and the test.

Analysis revealed that the pre-presentation test scores of both groups were not significantly different, indicating that they had similar knowledge of the presentation topic before the presentation. However, the cumulative presentation group got higher post-presentation test scores than the whole-slide presentation group, showing that cumulative presentation design improved learning outcomes.

But what is the mechanism underlying this improvement? Eye-tracking data showed that, compared with the whole-slide group, participants in the cumulative presentation group fixated their gaze (or looked) at newly appeared, voiceover-relevant visual elements earlier and for longer.

In other words, the cumulative presentation format quickly captured learners' attention to visual information that aligned with the voiceover and allowed them to sustain that attention for a long time.

Furthermore, both groups were not significantly different in their perceptions of how difficult the lesson and the test were. This suggests that cumulative presentation design can improve learning outcomes without changing learners' perceived difficulty.

Ichikawa said, "Teachers, trainers and presenters can segment visual information and match each segment with the relevant verbal explanation. In this way, learners can process the visual and auditory content step by step and gradually build an overall understanding of the slide.

"In the future, AI-based systems for generating educational materials can also be trained to apply cumulative presentation design and create teaching materials that are learner-friendly."

As digital education and virtual presentations become an unavoidable part of the learning journey, optimizing the presentation of multimodal content is important. This calls for more evidence-based presentation strategies, such as cumulative presentations, to reduce information overload. This helps learners focus on relevant information at the right moment and improve their learning experience.

More information

Hikaru Ito et al, Cumulative Presentation Enhances Learning Outcomes by Directing Learners' Visual Attention, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (2026). DOI: 10.1002/jcal.70286

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Citation: How simple changes to PowerPoint presentations can make a big difference for learners (2026, July 12) retrieved 12 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-simple-powerpoint-big-difference-learners.html

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