Math Is Fun Forum

ryos

Member

Registered: 2005-08-04

Posts: 394

The Dreaded Paper

Have you ever had a professor/teacher that lectures with an overhead projector and pre-prepared transparencies? Do they use a piece of opaque paper to cover up most of the transparency, revealing only the part they want you to see at that time?

*Charlie Brown voice* I can't stand it!

My physics professor lectures like that. The trouble is, he takes so long to explain between key points that my brain shuts down and I'm completely unable to understand what he's saying. I know that, conceptually, I should be able to understand, but it's like there's a physical limit in my brain that prevents me from slowing down to his pace.

The solution? DITCH THE PAPER! Never, ever use it again. That way, I can look at the whole of the transparency and figure out for myself what he's trying so clumsily to explain.

*pants*

So what's the point of that paper? What does it accomplish? Who would even think that that would be good lecturing practice?

Ok, I've ranted. Now maybe I can write rationally about it to my professor.

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El que pega primero pega dos veces.

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Re: The Dreaded Paper

Oh yes, very annoying!

I have been both sides of the overhead projector, and when I was lecturing I (thankfully) remembered that kind of stuff.

So, whenever I used that "cover up the transparency" thing it was always with good reason and never the "reveal a bit at a time". (One example when I would "cover up" was when the answer was below ! )

Another odd thing is when the professor lectures from a handbook or material that has already been handed out - if they went too slow I just read ahead and ignore them.

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman