Blackboards, PowerPoint and Tablet PCs in the Classroom

1. Blackboards, PowerPoint and Tablet PCs in the Classroom Lecturer, Department of Physics University of Toronto Collaborators: David Harrison, Ruxandra Serbanescu

2. Talk Outline • PowerPoint versus Tablet / Blackboard • How we process visual information • The advantage of the large field of view of a blackboard • When a Tablet PC is appropriate • Case Studies: Classes of 1000, 35, and 85 students

3. Our experience in a 1700 seat auditorium • We taught calculus-based physics to 900 students in one huge section • Big central screen, two side screens • Tried pure Powerpoint for one quarter • Other 3 quarters we used Tablet PC on central screen for real time development • Major results, images on side screens • Student survey showed preference for Tablet PC method • “Medium Pen” was more readable than “Fine Pen”

4. Teaching Physics in a 1700 Student Auditorium

5. This Talk is Canned • “Students make it clear that simply replacing the use of the blackboard by a PowerPoint presentation offers them the opportunity to sleep in the dark…” • “… even awake, they miss a key element in the learning process: observing a professor think in real time, as he or she develops material step by step.” - quotes from U of T Academic Planning Document, Office of the Vice President and Provost, “Stepping Up: 2004 – 2010”

6. PowerPoint SUCKS! • So why am I using it????! • The information I’m delivering is descriptive, result-based • (…as opposed to analytical or method-based) • Audience is familiar with the context • You’ve seen this kind of stuff before! • You want me to hurry up and tell you the end result! • PowerPoint is not the best way to teach new, long argument-based material to an unfamiliar audience.

7. Our experience in a 100 seat classroom – smaller class • We taught second year physics to 35 students • 14 lectures: Tablet PC presentation, using PowerPoint as well as real-time notes using “digital ink” • 21 lectures: Blackboard presentation, plus Tablet PC PowerPoint on the side-screen • Student survey showed blackboard-focused method was preferred

8. How We Process Visual Information • The visual field has three regions: • Foveal - central 2 degrees of our gaze • Parafoveal - extends 5 degrees out from centre • Peripheral - region beyond parafovea • Studies of eye movements show: • Our eyes remain still during fixations (0.2 – 0.3 seconds) • Our eyes move very quickly during unconscious saccades (30-50 milliseconds)

9. How We Process Visual Information • When reading, 10-15% of saccades are regressions. • Regressive saccades increase with complexity of the text. • Sometimes readers jump back many lines. • Very large regressive saccades involve spatial memory. • If previous text is no longer in the visual field, reading becomes more difficult.

10. How We Process Visual Information • The visual field has three regions: • Foveal - central 2 degrees of our gaze • Parafoveal - extends 5 degrees out from centre • Peripheral - region beyond parafovea • Studies of eye movements show: • Our eyes remain still during fixations (0.2 – 0.3 seconds) • Our eyes move very quickly during unconscious saccades (30-50 milliseconds) • When reading, 10-15% of saccades are regressions. • Regressive saccades increase with complexity of the text. • Sometimes readers jump back many lines. • Very large regressive saccades involve spatial memory. • If previous text is no longer in the visual field, reading becomes more difficult. …maybe I should have presented it this way?

11. Advantages of Blackboards • Blackboards in traditional classrooms have multiple panels • Field of view is much larger than a single screen • Much more text is visible at once • Larger regressive saccades are possible • Multiple panels can be planned to display one argument • Students can review the argument as a whole.

12. Comparing Visual Fields All pictures drawn to the same angular scale 4 blackboard panels, each 2.2 x 1.1 m Projection Screen in room Sheet of Paper, held 32 cm away from eyes: Back of 100 seat classroom (9 m away): 17 x 23 degrees Back of 200 seat classroom (15 m away): Back of 1700 seat auditorium (about 60 m away): 7x5m screen

13. BUT: Visual Fields are Not the Whole Story • Readability of writing depends mainly on • Thickness of strokes • Distance of reader from board • Readability also depends on • Size of letters • Lighting on board • Cleanliness of board • Distance of student from the board should not exceed about 10 m

14. Our experience in a 200 seat classroom – medium class • We taught Physics for the Humanities to 85 students • Most lectures: Tablet PC presentation, with occasional window-switches to images and animations • 1 lecture: Blackboard presentation • Student survey showed strong preference for Tablet PC. Students said it was “more readable”.

15. Blackboard Visibility Easily readable readable Difficult to read

16. View from the back of a 200 seat classroom, 15 m away Whiteboard or Blackboard Tablet PC

17. Conclusions • PowerPoint may not be the best way to present long arguments to a student audience. • Blackboards offer: • Large field of view – easier to read and process text • Real time development of material • Check readability of your presentation method from the back row! • When blackboard is too distant to read, Tablet PC offers a readable alternative – but field of view is sacrificed.