As learners and teaching technology continue to evolve, faculty are recognizing the importance of teaching for active learning.  Two decades of detailed slide presentations have resulted in students who multitask during class. During a two-hour lecture, the average student spends 37 minutes doing non-class related activities on their devices (Ravizza et. al. 2017). One of the most common downsides of popular presentation formatting is that students do not need to be active (or even present if files are made available) during delivery; they become a passive audience. Student exam performance then becomes a matter of cramming course content into short-term memory, without ever really mastering, considering, or owning the course material in a meaningful way. The goal of teaching for active learning focuses on re-engaging students for better outcomes.

Although its definition is somewhat abstract, active learning is an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging students with the course material through activities such as discussions, problem solving, case studies, and role playing. Scientifically proven to result in significantly increased message retention; active learning involves multiple parts of the brain, increases collaboration and creativity, and improves both critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Incorporating active learning strategies with course lectures not only allows the student to be fully present, it can also be used to break-up lecturing into shorter segments, more manageable for most adult attention spans. Turkey Bookmark

The task of embracing change can be daunting for both faculty and students.  One National Academy of Science published study indicates that despite active learning being identified as a superior method of instruction, most college STEM instructors continue to choose traditional teaching methods.  This same study identifies one student-based reason for instructor reluctance—though students in an active classroom learn more, they feel like they learn less. The study believes this negative correlation is caused, in part, by the increased effort required of students during active learning (Deslauriers et.al, 2019). Students claim that instructors aren’t actually teaching, and instructors can face negative reactions to a change in their lecturing methods that were already difficult to create and introduce.

In this educational quagmire, Pecha Kucha is an answer. 

Pecha Kucha (Japanese for chit-chat) is nothing new in academic circles. It’s a presentation style that emerged around 2003 and has since been leveraged in performance and conferences across the world.  In its original form, a presenter offered 20 slides, and had 20 seconds to present each slide (Zepeda, 2014). Each slide is to be comprised of a photo only, no words.  This storytelling presentation utilizes imagery and efficient use of spoken word to create a memorable, meaningful, and concise presentation. It’s a great method for teaching students, and their instructors, how to create their best presentations for active learning. In the classroom, it’s a good bet that it might take more than six minutes and 40 seconds to explain any one topic,  but the model has powerful applications when it comes to introducing course content. Storytelling is a powerful teaching tool promoting a sense of community and belonging.  Research shows that when individuals’ needs are being met and they feel a sense of security and trust, their environment is more conducive to academic development (Zepeda, 2014). Integrating experiential storytelling into lectures has been used extensively, Pecha Kucha, or PK for short, provides a format to incorporate this active learning.

When the instructor presents in PK style:

When students are asked to present in PK style:

But how might this look in practice?

One might imagine how a PK presentation might look in an anatomy course. A slide of an anatomical landmark might be accompanied by lecture comments about its features and functions.

And for history? Perhaps classic or museum displays might provide visual insight for lecture commentary.

But what about something without visual content?  What about literary devices such as hypophora or malapropism?  How can they be explained without words?  Emotions, wisdom, satire—can these be approached with PK? 

Diane Shew taught college-level anatomy & physiology for several years, which lead to roles developing and teaching courses specific to assisting adults of all ages and cultures as they identify the skills they will need to overcome their own unique obstacles to success. In her current role, she coaches students at Mount Carmel College of Nursing’s Student Success Center.

Columbi, A. G. (2017). The Impact of Pecha Kucha Presentations in the Assessment of a Translation Studies Unit at The University of Western Australia. IAFOR Journal of Education. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1162674.pdf

Deslauriers L, McCarty L.S., Miller K., & Kestin, G. (2019) Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1821936116

Ravizza, S. M., Uitvlugt, M. G., & Fenn, K. M. (2017). Logged in and zoned out: How laptop internet use relates to classroom learning. Psychological Science, 28(2), 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616677314

Robinson, R. (2015). Pecha Kucha: How to improve students’ presentation Skills. The European Conference on Language Learning 2015 Official Conference Proceedings. http://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/ecll2015/ECLL2015_17575.pdf

Zepeda, J. (2014). Stories in the Classroom: Building Community Using Storytelling and Storyacting. Journal of Childhood Studies, 39(2), 21-26. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v39i2.15220

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