PowerPoint Lecture vs. Jeopardy-Style Game: Which is more effective? Traditionally, I have used PowerPoint to present information in the main portion of my lectures, and a Jeopardy-style game as a fun way to review main points. I had always viewed the two as completely different presentation styles with distinctly different applications...

1. Getting the most our your games
PowerPoint Lecture vs.
Jeopardy-Style Game:
Which is more effective?
By John Dillon, C3 Visuals
www.C3Visuals.com

2. PowerPoint Lecture vs. Jeopardy-Style Game:
Which is more effective?
Traditionally, I have used PowerPoint to present information in the main portion of my lec-
tures, and a Jeopardy-style game as a fun way to review main points. I had always viewed
the two as completely different presentation styles with distinctly different applications.
However, when I set out to create a more effective presentation on the spread of infectious
disease, I found that the two styles are actually both based on the principle of using simple
notes to convey important information. This common way to convey main points lent itself
easily to the conversion of my traditional PowerPoint lecture into a Jeopardy-style game.
So, I thought I would try it and see for myself the results.
I used My Quiz™ Show software to create the game. With this software, converting a
PowerPoint lecture to a Jeopardy-style game was really a simple process. To begin, I
identified the main teaching objectives for my lecture then I created questions in two for-
mats. The first format was based on specific content. The second format was a means to
a specific end or objective.
Jeopardy-style Question Example 1
Here is a PowerPoint Slide with content. From this I slide I need to create a question in the
game that will allow me to review the same information as I would with PowerPoint.
Here is an example of a slide from my PowerPoint presentation. The content is short becuase they really are just a reminder of
what I want to go over in my presentation.

3. Jeopardy-style game question based on a the previous PowerPoint slide.
Here is my question that I created to to review Hepatitis.
To solidify information in the mind’s of my audience members, I used the summary area
of My Quiz™ Show. This area can also be used to cover additional, related points just like
in a traditional PowerPoint presentation.
Question as it appears in My Quiz Show
With the My Quiz Show™ software, I
was able to copy and paste informa-
tion from my PowerPoint slides and
add it to the summary area of the
Jeopardy-style game. This software
also allows for PowerPoint slides to be
saved as JPEG files that can be im-
ported directly to the summary area
thus eliminating the need to cut and
paste (see example to right).
This is an example how you can even incorporate your actual slide from your Power-
Point presentation into the summary area. Note how you can make the slide larger.

4. Jeopardy-style Question Example 2
Creating a specific objective question
This question was built using an open-ended question where the answer was tied to my
teaching points. Using different question styles, I found, was a wonderful way to “mix it
up” a bit in order to maintain my audience’s attention.
Q: Mary Mallon became infamous for the spread of what
disease?
In this example, the answer was Typhoid. Poor Mary will always be remembered as Ty-
phoid Mary. This question was a great launching pad to review additional main points of
the lecture. Below are examples of the main points this question led to:
• Like Hepatitis A, Typhoid is spread through the gastrointestinal system if she simply
would have washed her hands before preparing food, she would have greatly re-
duced the spread of the disease.
• Mary was a perfect example of being highly infectious without having any symptoms
or feeling ill. Mary refused to believe she could spread a disease when she was not
even sick.
• She was eventually prosecuted for knowingly spreading a disease. Mary was respon-
sible for multiple deaths in the hospital where she worked as a cook.
With these two question format examples, I was able to transition my PowerPoint lecture
into a more engaging game. I felt a little mischievous about using the game. It was like I
teased my students with candy, but by the time I was done they were eating broccoli and
liking it! I can’t say that ever happened with my PowerPoint lectures.
However, enjoyment was only one of my goals. I also wanted my audience to retain more
of the key points from my lecture.
In my experience, I found the Jeopardy-style game much more effective in achieving both
of my goals. In fact, it was so much more successful I am not going back to my original
PowerPoint lecture. With the Jeopardy-style game, I was able to deliver the same content,
right down to the same lame jokes I typically tell, but I delivered the information in much
more engaging way.
About the author. John Dillon works for C3 Visuals and speaks frequently on using games to teach
in the classroom John also is a Paramedic and has taught a variety of EMS related topics for over
20 years. You can visit www.c3visuals.com to find out more.