Comments on: In praise of chalk: the value of teaching without technology

By: Ecology and Mathematics: perspectives from undergraduate students | Arthropod Ecology

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:02:04 +0000

[...] at McGill University and each lecture typically starts with an x-axis and a y-axis drawn on the chalkboard – something like [...]

By: Misadventures in teaching: Technology Begone! « Arthropod Ecology

Misadventures in teaching: Technology Begone! « Arthropod Ecology — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:01:35 +0000

[...] Yesterday I went back to using the chalkboard, and the lecture went smoothly, the class was happy(ier), and most importantly, I felt the content was being delivered in a more effective manner. [...]

By: Teaching with Technology « Arthropod Ecology

Teaching with Technology « Arthropod Ecology — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:51:06 +0000

[...] wrote a post about a year ago that expounded on the value of teaching without technology (In Praise of Chalk). Fundamentally, I can’t stand Powerpoint – it’s annoying, boring, causes [...]

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:16:12 +0000

Hi Dezene – thanks for the comment – yes, PPT can be effective – it’s all in who prepares the slides, how and with what content! My course is particularly well suited to chalk, but some courses just wouldn’t work well without PPT. For example, I ran into a Prof. in Dietetics today and talked to her about this – she said that it would be nearly impossible to deliver her courses without PPT – she uses case studies a lot, and the information is so rich and deep that PPT is req’d.

Yeah, I’ve seen that US army PPT before. Yikes, indeed.

By: Dezene Huber

Dezene Huber — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:03:44 +0000

Well, somehow I learned much of what I know via professors wielding chalk.

That said, just like with any technology, used well, PPT can be a good thing. For instance, when I teach histology and developmental biology sections of a cell physiology course, some form of image display is required. The embryology course that I took during my undergrad zoology years at U of Calgary relied on detailed images… there’s just no getting around it with a course like that. That type of content has always relied on imagery, and always will. The method of presenting the imagery has changed over time, however.

I think that it depends on what you use the PPT technology for. If it’s just list after list and words and more words… then just write it on a board and be done with it. But if it’s complex graphs and/or detailed anatomical (etc.) images, then PPT is just fine.

Maybe part of it is that I treat PPTs like a bit of a slideshow. Because, when it comes down to it, PPTs are really just… slides. Prior to PPT projectors we would make a PPT presentation and then print it out onto bonafide slides. After that, no more fiddling was possible. The most you could do once they were printed out was change the order in the carrousel.

Perhaps it depends on how you are using PPT technology. Treat it like a slideshow and it’s fine. Treat it like this:

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/us-army-creates-world-s-worst-powerpoint-slide-122255

…and you’re asking for trouble.

By: Resolutions: from blogs to birds « Arthropod Ecology

Resolutions: from blogs to birds « Arthropod Ecology — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:58:38 +0000

[...] of comprehensive exams in PhD programs, and discuss uses of technology in teaching (or not…back to chalk?). I’ll also work to follow good advice for writing science [...]

By: yao hua law

yao hua law — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:57:04 +0000

hey Chris, Yao Hua here, from your Insect Ecology class of…2004, 2005? Also did a ant biodiversity project in your lab right before I left for UC Davis. I’m now back in Malaysia, teaching and doing insect behavioural ecology research in a local university. I’ve always wanted to send you an email, especially when I had my first publication! Although I have NEVER seen you at conferences in the States, I have met Terry and some of your students at almost every Ecology or Entomology conference during 2006-2011 =).

Anyway, I really dislike Powerpoints. I think it’s good only for showing complex figures, or for facilitating a class discussion based on figures and I don’t want to kill trees by printing tens of papers.
I really like the whiteboard, and the chalkboard for that matter. It allows me to really draw and highlight key points on the go, as well as to incorporate students’ feedback easily into the contents. My Ph.D. supervisor, Jay Rosenheim, is such an incredible teacher and he teaches most, if not all of his lectures with the chalkboard.
However, given my lack of height, the top 1/3 of the board is usually out of my league. Sad.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 07:06:00 +0000

This is my last semester as an undergrad and I find it regrettable that in most classes powerpoint was the primary mode of lecturing. I feel powerpoints tend to over-emphasize synthetic thinking -making lists, thinking in broad categories- at the expense of analytic thinking -delving into specific examples, understanding the steps of a process, etc. And it’s so much more engaging to be listening to someone directly rather than having to split one’s attention between what the speaker says and what the slide shows. Anyway that’s my impression

By: jules (@jstep1)

jules (@jstep1) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:21:47 +0000

The worst part of trying to learn from powerpoint is the post-lecture studying and synthesis of information. It is incredibly difficult for me to process information and concepts without writing them down on a piece of paper, and I know many other students operate in the same manner. If I’m in a class with powerpoint, I take notes in a notebook, print the powerpoints, and then have to re-write the powerpoints in order to understand them! There’s also the textbook to consider. What I’ve found in most of the powerpoint-based classes is that the information I need becomes too dispersed and I end up with the same information written in different ways. This creates an even larger study headache than necessary! It becomes way too difficult to bring information together and synthesize it in a larger context.

With pop&comm ecology, there was a notebook, and a small textbook. That was it. And it was awesome. You could make inferences and synthesize the information into answering more theoretical questions because the basics were very clear and accessible. And yes, it is some nice comic relief to watch profs do the awkward scramble around the front of the room for the last half-piece of chalk.

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:56:29 +0000

Great points – I agree that the back to the class is a disadvantage of a chalkboard – this is where perhaps a white-board app on a tablet/ipad could be useful. But, as Erin points out, with a smartboard comes a need for some technical expertise. Again, the comments reflect nicely the argument that a mixed-approach is probably the way to go, whenever possible & that paying close attention to how the powerpoint slides are put together is important. I also very much like Peter’s point about how getting out of the ‘failure cocoon’ was facilitated by an interactive teaching approach.