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Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

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Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#11

Post by chermi »

ido wrote: post #8
chermi wrote: post #2

It's like writing on paper vs writing on a digital tablet. The difference in tactile feedback leads to better handwriting, at least for me. I'm curious about the phenomenon they mentioned of "circles being smaller with markers". I definitely noticed that when teaching my overall font size decreased on markers vs. chalk, even when using the skinny chalks. But the effective tip size even with small chalk is larger than…

I did not appreciate having to pound the dust out of the erasers when I was in grade school. I wonder if they could make the chalk magnetic and have magnetic trap at the bottom or something. But again too complicated. The Russian solution is to use water - wipe the board with a wet sponge.

That sounds way better

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#12

Post by danielbln »

chermi wrote: post #11
ido wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did not appreciate having to pound the dust out of the erasers when I was in grade school. I wonder if they could make the chalk magnetic and have magnetic trap at the bottom or something. But again too complicated. The Russian solution is to use water - wipe the board with a wet sponge.

That sounds way better

Wait, you don't use water?! As a German I kind of thought that's normal everywhere, dip the sponge into water, clean the blackboard. Slamming dusty sponges together sounds.. very dusty indeed.

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#13

Post by crazygringo »

ido wrote: post #8
chermi wrote: post #2

It's like writing on paper vs writing on a digital tablet. The difference in tactile feedback leads to better handwriting, at least for me. I'm curious about the phenomenon they mentioned of "circles being smaller with markers". I definitely noticed that when teaching my overall font size decreased on markers vs. chalk, even when using the skinny chalks. But the effective tip size even with small chalk is larger than…

I did not appreciate having to pound the dust out of the erasers when I was in grade school. I wonder if they could make the chalk magnetic and have magnetic trap at the bottom or something. But again too complicated. The Russian solution is to use water - wipe the board with a wet sponge.

In my school, the board was erased many times throughout the day with erasers, and then with water only at the end of the day so it would be "pristine" the next morning.

If you wipe with a sponge, you can't really go on to use it immediately can you? Like you can't write well on a moist chalkboard?

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#14

Post by crazygringo »

CogitoCogito wrote: post #7

I enjoy using chalkboards so much more than whiteboards. Other than the chalk dust, I just can't understand how anyone would prefer whiteboards over chalkboards.

Yeah, it's the chalk dust. It's that simple.

Also different colors on whiteboards is occasionally helpful for clarity, e.g. color-coding an equation to a line in a graph. But that's pretty minor.

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#15

Post by lovich »

crazygringo wrote: post #14
CogitoCogito wrote: post #7

I enjoy using chalkboards so much more than whiteboards. Other than the chalk dust, I just can't understand how anyone would prefer whiteboards over chalkboards.

Yeah, it's the chalk dust. It's that simple. Also different colors on whiteboards is occasionally helpful for clarity, e.g. color-coding an equation to a line in a graph. But that's pretty minor.

we had colored chalk for that purpose in my school for math at least

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#16

Post by [deleted] »

lovich wrote: post #15
crazygringo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's the chalk dust. It's that simple. Also different colors on whiteboards is occasionally helpful for clarity, e.g. color-coding an equation to a line in a graph. But that's pretty minor.

we had colored chalk for that purpose in my school for math at least

[deleted]

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#17

Post by aitchnyu »

CogitoCogito wrote: post #7

I enjoy using chalkboards so much more than whiteboards. Other than the chalk dust, I just can't understand how anyone would prefer whiteboards over chalkboards.

I had some teachers allergic to chalk. They sent students to pound the dusters on the balcony.

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#18

Post by aitchnyu »

crazygringo wrote: post #13
ido wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did not appreciate having to pound the dust out of the erasers when I was in grade school. I wonder if they could make the chalk magnetic and have magnetic trap at the bottom or something. But again too complicated. The Russian solution is to use water - wipe the board with a wet sponge.

In my school, the board was erased many times throughout the day with erasers, and then with water only at the end of the day so it would be "pristine" the next morning. If you wipe with a sponge, you can't really go on to use it immediately can you? Like you can't write well on a moist chalkboard?

We used moist chalk to leave stronger duster-resistant marks on the board.

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#19

Post by titanomachy »

crazygringo wrote: post #13
ido wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did not appreciate having to pound the dust out of the erasers when I was in grade school. I wonder if they could make the chalk magnetic and have magnetic trap at the bottom or something. But again too complicated. The Russian solution is to use water - wipe the board with a wet sponge.

In my school, the board was erased many times throughout the day with erasers, and then with water only at the end of the day so it would be "pristine" the next morning. If you wipe with a sponge, you can't really go on to use it immediately can you? Like you can't write well on a moist chalkboard?

I had a great calculus prof who would wash all the chalkboards halfway through our (3-hour) class, and dismiss all the students for a 10-minute break while the boards dried.

Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)

#20

Post by hollandheese »

lovich wrote: post #15
crazygringo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's the chalk dust. It's that simple. Also different colors on whiteboards is occasionally helpful for clarity, e.g. color-coding an equation to a line in a graph. But that's pretty minor.

we had colored chalk for that purpose in my school for math at least

There is much less selection in colors for chalk. And many of them show very poorly on chalkboards. Hagoromo's green for example, is almost impossible to make out on our chalkboards.
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