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Powerpoint ruins teaching. From students saying "I won't take notes its on the powerpoint, and the powerpoint is on the website", to teachers reading straight o

Powerpoint ruins teaching. From students saying "I won't take notes its on the powerpoint, and the powerpoint is on the website", to teachers reading straight off the slides it kills me see an all powerpoint lecture.

Herring 17y ago
Really I can't see that it's much worse than watching the professor write & talk to himself for an hour.
- olefoo 17y ago
  Depends on the professor. Some of the most intellectually challenging lectures I've heard were delivered with no more equipment than a chalkboard.
  - Herring 17y ago
    I don't doubt it, I'm just saying a bad lecture is probably more about the professor's (& student's) incompetence than about the tools. Eg I'd rather have slides to write on if he's just going to copy from the text.
- krschultz 17y ago
  Because when you take notes, you internalize a lot more than simply reading. It really makes a difference. Worse is when the professor snaps the slides faster than you can write them - meaning much faster than you can comprehend them. Sure I can watch someone flash basic history slides by but when it comes to math, science, obscure stuff there is no way I can catch it off a slide better than if the professor is writing.
- imgabe 17y ago
  For me there was a huge difference between a professor going through the process of deriving a formula on a board versus just having it flash up on a Powerpoint slide. You could probably use Powerpoint to simulate that, but most professors don't. Even if you do show the intermediate steps, I think the gradual process of watching something being written out (as well as then having the time to write it out yourself) let's it sink in better. Even something like having to decipher the professor's handwriting contributes to better understanding. If it's ambiguous what a particular symbol is, you're forced to think harder about the context it's in to figure it out. I'm not saying lectures should be given with obfuscated notes or anything, but that split second of interpretation your brain has to do adds value in the end.
uybuyvg 17y ago
Isn't that one of those history of education things: 60s - write a 5000 word essay on the causes of the civil war 70s - write a 500 word essay on why the civil war was bad 80s - write a poem about how you feel about the civil war 90 - draw a picture about how the civil war was bad 00s - Copy the PowerPoint slide, make CIVIL WAR bold.
tybris 17y ago
The good thing about powerpoint can be that the professor actually thinks about how he is going to present his topic. I find that old-school professors tend to drift a lot.

Herring 17y ago

Really I can't see that it's much worse than watching the professor write & talk to himself for an hour.

olefoo 17y ago
Depends on the professor. Some of the most intellectually challenging lectures I've heard were delivered with no more equipment than a chalkboard.
- Herring 17y ago
  I don't doubt it, I'm just saying a bad lecture is probably more about the professor's (& student's) incompetence than about the tools. Eg I'd rather have slides to write on if he's just going to copy from the text.
krschultz 17y ago
Because when you take notes, you internalize a lot more than simply reading. It really makes a difference. Worse is when the professor snaps the slides faster than you can write them - meaning much faster than you can comprehend them. Sure I can watch someone flash basic history slides by but when it comes to math, science, obscure stuff there is no way I can catch it off a slide better than if the professor is writing.
imgabe 17y ago
For me there was a huge difference between a professor going through the process of deriving a formula on a board versus just having it flash up on a Powerpoint slide. You could probably use Powerpoint to simulate that, but most professors don't. Even if you do show the intermediate steps, I think the gradual process of watching something being written out (as well as then having the time to write it out yourself) let's it sink in better. Even something like having to decipher the professor's handwriting contributes to better understanding. If it's ambiguous what a particular symbol is, you're forced to think harder about the context it's in to figure it out. I'm not saying lectures should be given with obfuscated notes or anything, but that split second of interpretation your brain has to do adds value in the end.

uybuyvg 17y ago

Isn't that one of those history of education things: 60s - write a 5000 word essay on the causes of the civil war 70s - write a 500 word essay on why the civil war was bad 80s - write a poem about how you feel about the civil war 90 - draw a picture about how the civil war was bad 00s - Copy the PowerPoint slide, make CIVIL WAR bold.

tybris 17y ago

The good thing about powerpoint can be that the professor actually thinks about how he is going to present his topic. I find that old-school professors tend to drift a lot.