Mathematics Weblog

Blackboards

Tuesday 10 October 2006 at 1:45 pm | In Articles | Post Comment

Press coverage has led me to Psychophysiology of Blackboard Teaching, Revisited which of course refers to the original article written in August. My only disappointment is that it is now too late to add anything useful to that article.

My experience in working in a College and for the Open University is that very few people understand anything about the teaching of mathematics. They seem to think that a few square centimetres of white board is sufficient and, nowadays, it can all be done ‘using a computer’ though those that say this can barely find the on-switch of a computer.

I have had battles in the past to get decent writing surfaces. I am happy with blackboards or whiteboards providing they provide very large surfaces. In fact they would have to be roller boards in order to accommodate the area I need. Even when you get what you want, few people think about maintenance so you end up with boards that are in a disgusting state and impossible to use. It helps if the previous user would clean the board after they have finished.

I don’t object to people being ignorant about how mathematics should be taught; what really gets me is their arrogance that they know best.

So good luck to Alexandre Borovik’s campaign! Do read Psychophysiology of Blackboard Teaching about the importance of blackboards in mathematics teaching.