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I studied physics and this at a time when faculty gradually changed from blackboard-based lectures to powerpoint. The blackboard-based lectures were far superio

I studied physics and this at a time when faculty gradually changed from blackboard-based lectures to powerpoint. The blackboard-based lectures were far superior to any other way of lecturing (in my view). Main benefit was in the speed of presentation. Writing on a blackboard takes some time, the lecturer is slow enough in presenting that you can really follow along, while not "standing still". What a contrast to powerpoint presentations where the lecturer paused for a minute or two to let students read the equations. Either time was not enough, or you'd start to get bored. Until I graduated at the end of my 5 year program, I tutored freshmen students. Towards the end of my time at uni, they almost exclusively had lectures with powerpoints. I sat in one of the into lectures and what had been a good introductory course to classical mechanics had turned into a mind-numbing powerpoint karaoke show.

lfowles 8y ago
I once had a professor that would write on the blackboard with his right hand and erase with his left simultaneously. Quite a struggle to keep up with equations on those days he chose to fly through lectures like that!
erk__ 8y ago
I feel like some things work on powerpoints and other onthe blackboard, for example maths work a lot better on blackboard. Some of our best lecturers had a powerpoint but they first showed the equations on them after they had showed them on the blackboard, which I found pretty good.
JadeNB 8y ago
> Main benefit was in the speed of presentation. Writing on a blackboard takes some time, the lecturer is slow enough in presenting that you can really follow along, while not "standing still". While I love chalk, and miss it since my current university uses whiteboards (actually stupid @#@#* WallTalkers, despite our pleas), it's hardly the case that the two options are 'chalk' or 'Powerpoint'. Also, Powerpoint slides can be delivered at a reasonable pace—I've seen many professors fruitfully use slides with blanks, distributed to the students in advance, on which students can take notes—and chalk-and-talk lectures are scarcely universal models of pacing—one 'remedy' often pursued by lecturers who want to go faster than they can write is just not to write anything.
- baud147258 8y ago
  In one of the class I had, which used Powerpoint, I had a pdf version of the slides, on which I added notes, all on the corresponding slides.
- OJFord 8y ago
  In EE blackboards were mostly replaced shortly before / while I was there a few years ago. Whiteboards are _vastly_ inferior for two reasons in my view: 1. Colours are harder to distinguish, or to see at all. Chalk is easy, even a brand new pen is difficult from more than a few rows back, possibly made worse by my colour blindness; 2. You can't go over an existing pen line. You can _sort of_ make it thicker (but typically remove part of it at the same time) but you can't draw a square and then go over one edge in red, for example.
conjectures 8y ago
I find another benefit of blackboard presentation is the order of information. The lecturer can build something up rather than simply showing the finished article and saying voila.
- leereeves 8y ago
  But slides have one big advantage: they can be posted online for later review so students can follow the lecture instead of taking notes.
  - spicytunacone 8y ago
    I had a math instructor record his blackboard lectures and posted them online later that day. Just another consideration.
    - moftz 8y ago
      If the professor just recorded the lecture, I'd imagine most students would never go to class again.
      - max76 8y ago
        If no one goes to the physical classroom why not sell the same recorded lecture to a thousand people online instead of the 100 that fit into a classroom?
        gowld 8y ago
        Or better yet, give it away for free! https://www.edx.org/school/mitx https://www.edx.org/school/mitx
        moftz 8y ago
        I had a world history/geography/current events kind of class in college that had an in-person lecture and was also livestreamed and recorded. Lecture hall fit about 1800 people but he also had an unlimited class size "online" section you could sign up for if you didn't get in-person section during early course request. You never actually had to go to class. The professor had to get his own system for taking quizes and handing in assignments since the online learning management system the school used would choke with that many students at once trying to submit things. Content aside, it was a very interestingly run course. Assignments were at your own pace, you had a large list of the kinds of projects you could turn in for credit. There were quizzes, exams, essay topics, interview topics, and an option for independent projects to get credit. Each kind of project had it's own maximum point value it would be graded out of and the final grade was totally based on how many points your actually earned, not out of how many. Even if you did a shit job on every assignment, as long as you did enough of them, you could get an A. It was a nice way to boost the GPA from just sheer effort rather than actual achievement.
Nasrudith 8y ago
Personally I find it is the responsiveness that is the real benefit with a good professor - they can respond and go off into areas a power point slide would not be prepared for. Ultimately the worth of a tool is in how it is used.
jeffwass 8y ago
When did this happen? I got my PhD in physics in 2008 and other than the introductory undergrad classes, all other classes (that I knew of, at least) were still taught using chalkboard/whiteboards. And I agree with a sibling comment on this thread. The speed of information is ideal with live ‘writing/derivation’, as you can follow along at the teacher’s own pace and write each step yourself. I used to do his for my own section classes I taught as a TA. I’d come in with a small post-it size note of starting points, and just work brought problems without referencing anything else. Kept it down to Earth, and I think (or hope) showed the students there’s nothing insanely hard here, just lots of small bite-sized steps.

lfowles 8y ago

I once had a professor that would write on the blackboard with his right hand and erase with his left simultaneously. Quite a struggle to keep up with equations on those days he chose to fly through lectures like that!

erk__ 8y ago

I feel like some things work on powerpoints and other onthe blackboard, for example maths work a lot better on blackboard. Some of our best lecturers had a powerpoint but they first showed the equations on them after they had showed them on the blackboard, which I found pretty good.

JadeNB 8y ago

> Main benefit was in the speed of presentation. Writing on a blackboard takes some time, the lecturer is slow enough in presenting that you can really follow along, while not "standing still". While I love chalk, and miss it since my current university uses whiteboards (actually stupid @#@#* WallTalkers, despite our pleas), it's hardly the case that the two options are 'chalk' or 'Powerpoint'. Also, Powerpoint slides can be delivered at a reasonable pace—I've seen many professors fruitfully use slides with blanks, distributed to the students in advance, on which students can take notes—and chalk-and-talk lectures are scarcely universal models of pacing—one 'remedy' often pursued by lecturers who want to go faster than they can write is just not to write anything.

baud147258 8y ago
In one of the class I had, which used Powerpoint, I had a pdf version of the slides, on which I added notes, all on the corresponding slides.
OJFord 8y ago
In EE blackboards were mostly replaced shortly before / while I was there a few years ago. Whiteboards are _vastly_ inferior for two reasons in my view: 1. Colours are harder to distinguish, or to see at all. Chalk is easy, even a brand new pen is difficult from more than a few rows back, possibly made worse by my colour blindness; 2. You can't go over an existing pen line. You can _sort of_ make it thicker (but typically remove part of it at the same time) but you can't draw a square and then go over one edge in red, for example.

conjectures 8y ago

I find another benefit of blackboard presentation is the order of information. The lecturer can build something up rather than simply showing the finished article and saying voila.

leereeves 8y ago
But slides have one big advantage: they can be posted online for later review so students can follow the lecture instead of taking notes.
- spicytunacone 8y ago
  I had a math instructor record his blackboard lectures and posted them online later that day. Just another consideration.
  - moftz 8y ago
    If the professor just recorded the lecture, I'd imagine most students would never go to class again.
    - max76 8y ago
      If no one goes to the physical classroom why not sell the same recorded lecture to a thousand people online instead of the 100 that fit into a classroom?
      - gowld 8y ago
        Or better yet, give it away for free! https://www.edx.org/school/mitx https://www.edx.org/school/mitx
      - moftz 8y ago
        I had a world history/geography/current events kind of class in college that had an in-person lecture and was also livestreamed and recorded. Lecture hall fit about 1800 people but he also had an unlimited class size "online" section you could sign up for if you didn't get in-person section during early course request. You never actually had to go to class. The professor had to get his own system for taking quizes and handing in assignments since the online learning management system the school used would choke with that many students at once trying to submit things. Content aside, it was a very interestingly run course. Assignments were at your own pace, you had a large list of the kinds of projects you could turn in for credit. There were quizzes, exams, essay topics, interview topics, and an option for independent projects to get credit. Each kind of project had it's own maximum point value it would be graded out of and the final grade was totally based on how many points your actually earned, not out of how many. Even if you did a shit job on every assignment, as long as you did enough of them, you could get an A. It was a nice way to boost the GPA from just sheer effort rather than actual achievement.

Nasrudith 8y ago

Personally I find it is the responsiveness that is the real benefit with a good professor - they can respond and go off into areas a power point slide would not be prepared for. Ultimately the worth of a tool is in how it is used.

jeffwass 8y ago

When did this happen? I got my PhD in physics in 2008 and other than the introductory undergrad classes, all other classes (that I knew of, at least) were still taught using chalkboard/whiteboards. And I agree with a sibling comment on this thread. The speed of information is ideal with live ‘writing/derivation’, as you can follow along at the teacher’s own pace and write each step yourself. I used to do his for my own section classes I taught as a TA. I’d come in with a small post-it size note of starting points, and just work brought problems without referencing anything else. Kept it down to Earth, and I think (or hope) showed the students there’s nothing insanely hard here, just lots of small bite-sized steps.