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Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
21–30 of 56 posts
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#22I 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.
>Other than the chalk dust,
You know, the worst part that makes them unbearable and a literal health hazard to use.
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Well, I only ever cleaned them fully in grade school. In undergrad I TA'ed on whiteboard, in grad school it was unfortunately all whiteboards. Except for the rare literal "chalk talk" mini-conferences I was fortunate to attend, where I just erased what I had at the end, no full cleaning. So, I guess I just never "saw how the sausage was made" and implicitly assumed the worst.
Or my grade school never knew better, which is quite possible given its size/location. Or they thought it was funny to make kids deal with all the dust?
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#24This discussion reminded me of my best Diff Eq prof. He would start each lecture by putting a small clock on his podium, and starting at the precise time listed for the start of the lecture. Then he would leap into action, chalk dust flying around him as he explained the subject of the day. He would often go through more than six full-size chalkboards, having a student erase a few chalkboards behind him so he could return to use the first chalkboard when he ran out of room on the sixth one. Then at the precise time scheduled for the end of the lecture, he would take the clock off the podium and leave the room.
You could often see him walking around campus, covered in a fine white dust, looking like a ghost.
It's been 30 years, and I couldn't remember his name, but man do I remember his lectures.
Update: after typing this, I searched for him, and unfortunately found him almost immediately. He just passed away, and there was a memorial to him on the front page of his math department: https://www.math.fsu.edu/DepartmentNews/Articles/Fac_Nolder....
I note this line from the memorial: His students marveled at his ability to draw a perfect circle on the blackboard with a single stroke.
Here's to you, Dr. Nolder!
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#25I 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.
>Other than the chalk dust, You know, the worst part that makes them unbearable and a literal health hazard to use.
The fact that it's still used in many places obviously means it's not unbearable. Besides if you're bothered by the dust you can use the water cleaning methods described in this very thread. It's not perfect, but I would take a chalkboard over a whiteboard anytime.
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#26Earlier 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've had teachers that'd waft a binder at the board while continuing to talk. you can get a decent part of the chalk board dry in under a minute doing that. It's not like you're getting the board soaking wet either. A whiff of water is plenty to clean the board.
Edit: note you can also write on a wet chalkboard just fine. The tactile experience is just a little worse.
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#27Earlier 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?
Squeegee like sibling comments mentioned, then it doesn't take long to dry.
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#28maybe a wise use of technology?: never adopt a higher complexity tech when a lower one fit well.
And white boards are less clear (to me) and markers dry (often in the worst moment).
And about slides... very easy for prof, but i cannot copy a slide, always follow the reasoning, so having the things written is best, writing indeed is another side of thinking.
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#29If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Re: Why do Stanford math professors still use chalk? (2021)
#30It'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…
Magnetic dust would be worse news if it managed to get breathed in.