tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post1847924758832860357..comments2023-12-31T10:17:57.560-05:00Comments on Teaching, Playing, and Programming: Why I Don't Use PowerPoint For TeachingChris Okasakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18247315355264748920noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-12469760102078109562008-05-18T10:50:00.000-04:002008-05-18T10:50:00.000-04:00Thank you for this essay. Now I've got something ...Thank you for this essay. Now I've got something to point to when complaining about the CS lectures given here.<BR/><BR/>Studying computer science at <A HREF="http://www.lmu.de" REL="nofollow">LMU München</A>, I'm in the interesting position to be intimately familiar with both the PowerPoint style of lecturing (CS department) and the traditional chalk + blackboard style (mathematics department). It's striking seeing how next to noone ever attends the CS classes, while math classrooms tend to overflow from students taking notes and listening attentively. I'm seriously considering switching my major to mathematics right now, with the respective lecture styles being the primary reason.<BR/><BR/>Do you hear me, CS departments the world over? You're going to <I>lose students</I> if you don't do something about lecture quality fast!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-62657368716201662812008-04-09T19:40:00.000-04:002008-04-09T19:40:00.000-04:00Excellent essay.I was trying to articulate what ex...Excellent essay.<BR/><BR/>I was trying to articulate what exactly I find wrong with teaching-by-Powerpoint, and you cover everything I had thought of and more. Thanks!<BR/><BR/>I was treated to the "Powerpoint lecture" experience last semester, and found that I learnt nothing in class at all. As a result, I did not take another class taught by the same instructor.<BR/><BR/>I especially agree with your "The more you rely on slides, the more passive the students become" and the fact that it is impossible to have something that remains appropriate both for classroom teaching and as notes later.<BR/><BR/>Fortunately, most other instructors use the whiteboard and also separately provide notes for reading later. This has the advantage that there is always more context available when a student needs it than there would be on a single slide, and one does not have to struggle with taking down every word.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-46707200541079415962008-03-10T19:43:00.000-04:002008-03-10T19:43:00.000-04:00It's all about handling cognitive load.I wanted to...It's all about handling <A HREF="http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2007/mar/Cognitive_load_theory.html" REL="nofollow">cognitive load</A>.<BR/><BR/>I wanted to post this link earlier but it was difficult to locate. Today someone mentioned "John Zweller" to me and a signal went off in my brain about his research on PowerPoint presentations.John Zabroskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17294832205855394228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-37732066816075660702008-02-15T14:38:00.000-05:002008-02-15T14:38:00.000-05:00sn,What do I use? A variety of things. Yes, some...sn,<BR/><BR/>What do I use? A variety of things. Yes, sometimes I use a whiteboard. Sometimes I have the students doing group work (sometimes at whiteboards, sometimes at their seats). Sometimes I'm typing in notes (and/or code) on the projector as the class is collectively trying to solve a program. Sometimes we move to a lab. Sometimes we have discussions or even formal debates. And every once in a while, maybe once or twice a semester, I even give a PowerPoint lecture.Chris Okasakihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18247315355264748920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-13597137840545477312008-02-15T12:20:00.000-05:002008-02-15T12:20:00.000-05:00But if you don't use powerpoint, what *do* you us...But if you don't use powerpoint, what *do* you use? A whiteboard? Please tell me you don't. One thing I can't stand is trying to take notes at the same time someone is speaking. And on a whiteboard its doubly worse, because its being erased as you go along. What's wrong with a set of basic slides (powerpoint or whatever your favorite program is), on which students can annotate with additional comments?Aura Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14728200968132227134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-75484660530315515782008-02-12T10:58:00.000-05:002008-02-12T10:58:00.000-05:00OFFTOPIC: Sometimes I prefer to print longer posts...OFFTOPIC: Sometimes I prefer to print longer posts like yours and read them on the bus or home (where I don't have internet). For some reason your entries come out all wrong (and incomplete) when I try to print them. Do you think it would be possible to fix this? This info might help: http://www.tufts.edu/webcentral/tutorials/printcss/rgrighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02991214367108471744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-60157341446090024332008-02-12T09:07:00.000-05:002008-02-12T09:07:00.000-05:00rgrig, we're talking about different kinds of note...rgrig, we're talking about different kinds of notes. The notes you take in real time during a lesson are quite different from notes you prepare off-line for use during an exam. For the exam, I'm asking to the students to compress their notes from during the semester--which in extreme cases could be an entire notebook--into a single page.<BR/><BR/>But yes, taking notes during a lesson is rapidly becoming a lost art, in part because of the widespread availability of electronic slides. Most of my students take some notes during class, but probably only 25% or less take effective notes.Chris Okasakihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18247315355264748920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-56368154378982115412008-02-12T08:38:00.000-05:002008-02-12T08:38:00.000-05:00This is a funny post. Reading it would have made m...This is a funny post. Reading it would have made me think more than twice about posting my last post.<BR/><BR/><I>I always allow students to bring a single page of notes to exams. I encourage them to prepare the notes themselves, because the biggest benefit of the notes lies not in having the notes on the exam but rather in the cognitive act of organizing the information.</I><BR/><BR/>That reminded me of one cultural shock I had when moving from Romania to Ireland. In Romania, at least in my college, <B>everyone</B> took notes for <B>every</B> lecture. After doing this for five years most students get pretty good at it. In fact, I think I got reasonably good at it after my first term in college. By far the mot common failing was that people tried to write down everything, instead of organizing the information by jotting down the important points. Of course, you can't take good notes if you don't understand what is being presented. And once you understand what is being presented you hardly need the notes again. But I found that writing the notes helped me be focused. And usually I did need to read the notes once.<BR/><BR/>Why were all students taking notes? Because there were <B>no slides</B> (all lectures were using only blackboard and chalk) and the printed lecture notes were usually a couple of years behind. Many lecturers changed the course during those two years.<BR/><BR/>Then I came to Ireland. All slides, no notes. The students simply <I>do not know</I> how to take notes. Then this blog tells me that preparing notes <I>once per term</I> is good. Imagine my shock. However, for some obscure reason, I still feel that deliberately not giving slides to the students is a little sadistic. Maybe even only because the students will think so.rgrighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02991214367108471744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-37690794491473040692008-02-09T10:10:00.000-05:002008-02-09T10:10:00.000-05:00Well done. I sometimes hear profs complain about b...Well done. I sometimes hear profs complain about behavioral problems – students walking in and out, fiddling with mobile devices, napping. When you act like a television, don't be surprised that students treat you like a television.Chris Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14441920124568924031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-15832068175760188702008-02-09T00:25:00.000-05:002008-02-09T00:25:00.000-05:00In college, I would try to only put pictures on my...In college, I would try to only put pictures on my slides with a terse caption. The project requirements sheets usually said I needed a PowerPoint presentation, but didn't say WHAT had to be on the slides, so that's what I did to fill the requirement. My presentations really stood out as a result.<BR/><BR/>The best lecturer I ever had never used PowerPoint. Instead, he had an outline from which he read. Occasionally, for something important, he'd yell out, "HELLOOOO! HELLOOOO!", and repeat the important point. It wasn't obnoxious at all. Throughout his lectures, he sounded and looked like Montel Williams. His classroom was almost like being in the audience of a TV talk show. And, yes, he absolutely looked like Montel.<BR/><BR/>I believe Valentin Turchin mentions in Phenomenon of Science that it used to be a tradition in mathematics that a professor would spend their first few years as a lecturer perfecting their lecture notes, and then read them a dictation pace the rest of their career. (The book might actually have been Science Awakening by Van Der Waerden.)<BR/><BR/>Here are some things you can add to your essay about PowerPoint:<BR/><BR/>Portability! I occasionally attend the monthly NYPHP user group meeting at IBM in NYC. Presenters who have never seen the room they present in seem to assume that they'll be presenting in a lecture hall with theater seating. Ultimately, no one behind the first row can see the entire bottom half of their slide show.<BR/><BR/>Permanency. This is actually an underutilized strength of PowerPoints. In college, my Data Structures & Algorithms professor would constant make mistakes using just the whiteboard. I would get so confused. What's interesting is that I was in the morning section of the class, and he taught an afternoon section of the class. During lunch one day, I asked my friends in the afternoon section if they were infuriated by how often he erased and corrected things on the whiteboard. They told me he NEVER made mistakes! Practice makes perfect. It seems that he would consistently make sure to avoid repeating the same mistakes with the afternoon lecture. I often wondered what the solution to this problem was. Is it to use PowerPoint and make sure the content is correct?<BR/><BR/>The same lecturer was my professor for a course in Computer Organization and Assembly Language. Interestingly, he provided PowerPoint for this class due to not being able to attend the first two weeks of class (he was healing from emergency hip surgery). He provided a button on the slides that would play a bite-sized oration by him on each slide. It was great. I learned a lot from that.<BR/><BR/>The biggest problem I find with PowerPoint is that some teachers don't know HOW to respond to questions after using slides so long. If it's not ON the slide, then they're not going to be prepared to answer the question.<BR/><BR/><EM>In creating the slides, the teacher is imposing his own organization of the information on the students, when he should be helping the students to organize the information for themselves.</EM><BR/><BR/>Sometimes, students do not question authority. They look to the teacher or the book for correct answers. What they fail to realize is that IT'S JUST A THEORY, and they are free to construct their own theories. This is particularly true in the humanities, but somewhat true in Computer Science, too, due to the fact it is still an emerging discipline where many areas are simply <EM>intuitively appealing</EM> and not mathematical.John Zabroskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17294832205855394228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-57226476694762647032008-02-08T15:47:00.000-05:002008-02-08T15:47:00.000-05:00Excellent post. If only it were distributed to ev...Excellent post. If only it were distributed to every faculty member at every major university, the world would be a better place for us students. The very sight of a power point slide begins the process of putting me to sleep. A few slides with discussion and board presentation is great, but a lecture entirely reliant on slides with even moderate amounts of text are bound to cause me to fade out for a bit (or more). I personally think PowerPoint is the worst thing to happen to university classes. Not because it can't be a useful tool, but because it is so often and so easily misused.Jason M. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14396075067541286700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564777502681463717.post-39866455123805677492008-01-20T22:17:00.000-05:002008-01-20T22:17:00.000-05:00Chris, interesting post and definately echos many ...Chris, interesting post and definately echos many of the thoughts that Tufte puts forth in his speaking out against PowerPoint. <BR/><BR/>I tend to agree with the linearity of thought in using PowerPoint, and I have found as well that it can be quite difficult to lead people to the realization that some sorts of problems are not linear using the package, because of the presentation method. I tend to create reference slides and then do most of my presenting using a white board or flip charts. I suppose it helps keep me sharp too.Thinkingbladehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04150977616129332381noreply@blogger.com