Photo credit: Isaac Graciano Lobo.
Teaching, for me, is a consuming activity. I enjoy it immensely
because it is an act of human communication, and I also get
pleasure from the exercise of organizing material into "nice
packages". Teaching requires serious thought and effort because
it is an attempt to help someone else learn. Even for oneself, learning
takes discipline and focus, and getting someone else to learn is a challenge.
Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester I 2025: University of Melbourne
Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester II 2024: University of Melbourne
Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester I 2024: University of Melbourne
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Courses taught by Arun Ram in 2021: University of Melbourne
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Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester I 2018: University of Melbourne
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Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester I 2012: University of Melbourne
Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester II 2011: University of Melbourne
Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester I 2011: University of Melbourne
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Courses taught by Arun Ram in Semester I 2010: University of Melbourne
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Courses taught by Arun Ram in Fall 2007: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 2007: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 2006, University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 2006
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Fall 2005
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Spring 2005
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Fall 2004: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 2004: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 2003:University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 2003
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Fall 2002: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Courses taught by Arun Ram in
Spring 2002: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Courses taught by Arun Ram in
Fall 2001: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 2001
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Fall 2000: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Courses taught by Arun Ram in
Spring 2000: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 1999: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 1999: Princeton University
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Fall 1998: Princeton University
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Spring 1998: Princeton University
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Fall 1997: Princeton University
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Spring 1997
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Fall 1996: Princeton University
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Spring 1996: University of Sydney, Australia
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Fall 1995: University of Sydney, Australia
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Spring 1995: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 1994: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 1994: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 1993: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Spring 1993: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 1992: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Fall 1987: University of California, San Diego
Some thoughts on presentation technology in the
mathematics classroom (23 August 2013)
I think about how to teach about mathematics often,
and consider often my various experiences about what kinds of tools
seem to be effective both as a teacher and as a learner
(I attend lots of talks in a year, many more than the undergraduate students
and I like to think about how effective each of them is, the advantages
and disadvantages).
I have been paying attention to and trying various technologies
(MathML, YouTube, browsers, etc as well as beamer, KeyNote, etc,
as well as chalkboards, white boards, interactive whiteboards, Access Grid,
iPads, tablets, touch screens, microphones) and thinking about them.
I always seem to come around to two things:
-
Mathematics always seems to transmit more successfully when there is more
simultaneous display space:
- 9 chalkboard panels is more effective than 1 beamer screen,
- 9 simultaneous projected screens is more effective than 1 screen sized chalkboard panel.
-
Active display space is more effective than passive display space:
- 1 document camera on which the lecturer is actively annotating the slide
is more effective than 1 passive Keynote slide with dot points.
-
9 simultaneous document cameras on which the lecturer is actively creating,
annotating and relating the slides is more effective
than 9 passive chalkboard panels that are prewritten and only pointed
to during the lecture.
My conclusion in the end is that it seems to be less about the fanciness
of the technology than about the amount of display space and how active it is.
One further thought comes to mind:
The robustness of the technology seems to be a very major factor
in the success of the lecture:
- a computer that won't properly display the slide is less effective
than a chalkboard that just works,
- a room with a chalkboard and no chalk is less effective than a
computer that properly displays the slide.
I don't know if the cost of maintenance of robust systems is a factor
that is beoing considered in the exercise, but I must admit that in
my experience just in my office, the cost of maintenence of my
chalkboard/chalk setup has cost me many fewer man hours than the cost
of maintenance of the computer on my desk.
