Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#101

Post by gowld » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 7:54 PM UTC

magicalhippo wrote: post #21

Aromasin wrote: post #15

I had one lecturer in my 4 years at university that only used a chalkboard, and most pupils despised him because the pace as which he wrote far surpassed the rate at we we could sensibly copy notes. We wrote it out, but it gave little time to actually consider the concept we were learning. The rest of my lecturers all used PowerPoint presentations for the most part, in conjunction with print-outs so we could follow a…

I found the exact opposite when learning math. I need to write it down, and when presented with Power Point I have to transform it into something I can understand, and that means I don't have enough attention left to really listen to the lecturer. On the other hand, the lecturers that used a blackboard at my uni all had prepared the lecture, what they wrote was meant to be written in a notebook. They wrote it at a pa…

Shouldn't you be paying full attention instead of taking redundant dictation during lecture?

If you weren't stuck with following a chalkboard, typos could be fixed once and for all time at the source, instead of reappearing at random in every lecture.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#102

Post by gowld » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 7:58 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #89

onemoresoop wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the better, take notes afterwards while listening to a recording and looking at the blackboard snapshots. However, I understand that this cannot be a regular practice due to time constraints but maybe this could be used for the classes that spark most interest, the knowledge crystallizes better with a few passes

I'm not sure if that is actually better. I seem to recall (but can't be bothered to look up) a study that showed students who read the book twice do no better that those who read it once. Which is to say the first time you see material in some format is when you get the greatest gain. Taking notes the second time through probably isn't worth it, though taking notes from a different source of the same material might b…

You are speculating without justification. Re-reading having no/lesser benefit (a highly-suspect conclusion, given the massive sucess of spaced repetition), says nothing of the benefit of reading once + writing once.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#103

Post by z3t4 » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 8:09 PM UTC

I guess whiteboard pens is a better business, they run out fast and are really expensive compared to chalk.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#104

Post by jordigh » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 8:51 PM UTC

Syzygies wrote: post #94

jordigh wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be surprised if you get five seconds on the final video. You might also be edited out in a way to make it look like you said something other than what you intended to convey. The Catalan diagrams will almost certainly not make the cut.

We'll see! From my experiences with reporters after being the math consultant for "A Beautiful Mind", I share your cynicism. This crew nevertheless impressed me. They'll certainly open with a closeup of my chalk attache case. The Catalan diagrams just didn't fit the prejudices that she imagines of her audience. I was interviewed with these diagrams behind me, so it will be hard to use anything I said without them app…

Oh, you're Dave Bayer! Sounds like people come to you often.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#105

Post by asteli » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

thanatropism wrote: post #96

Syzygies wrote: post #42

My Hagoromo chalk and eraser notes: https://www.math.columbia.edu/~bayer/LinearAlgebra/Video/Cha... CNN is doing a short web video on this chalk, and I was interviewed last week. They particularly liked my custom attache case for carrying all my colors to teach. When I drew diagrams revealing Catalan number correspondences, they were quite worried that these pictures "weren't math" and I might be hoodwinking them. Th…

> Mathematicians like to believe that we're smarter than average, but we're actually just very focused. Serious question: does this spell doom for people with ADHD?

It doesn't necessarily. One thing that can come with ADHD is hyperfocus for certain activities. If one has ADHD and an intense interest in mathematics, you might be in luck.

When I was in school, I have a hard time staying engaged in lecture, and homework was near-impossible. I got a C in physics, but set the curve on the tests. It was a fascinating topic, but I couldn't stay focused on the bookwork.

Occasionally I will find a project that fully engages hyperfocus, and it's incredibly satisfying. I once fabricated a motorcycle carrier in a day and a half, pausing only to eat and sleep.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#106

Post by scott_s » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 9:18 PM UTC

cr0sh wrote: post #67

scott_s wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that all of my math teachers in middle and high school used projectors with transparencies. It wasn't until college that most math and physics was on black boards. The major benefit of transparencies is that the teacher was always facing the class . So they could just look up to make eye contact with students. I hadn't given it thought before, but I assume transparencies weren't as present in college because…

It might also be due to lighting. Overhead projectors require a fairly dark room, and only work well up to a certain size and distance. Much beyond that, their light gets too dim, and if it is a large lecture hall, you need a large projection with very bright light for everyone to see. Then there's off-axis people who might find a projector difficult to read. In a small classroom, both of these issues don't really co…

Absolutely true, and I didn't think about this. In retrospect, my intro physics courses (which were 90% engineers) were in such classrooms, and could not have used a projector. But the rest of my physics classes, and all of my math classes, were in rooms the size of my high school classrooms.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#107

Post by wespad » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 9:28 PM UTC

This reminds me of a story I read about 10 years ago of a Japanese manufacturer of a very specific type and format of scientific lab notebook that ended production. I think about the story every now and then and go on a deep dive, but can never find it. Buried in the web.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#108

Post by onemoresoop » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 9:41 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #89

onemoresoop wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the better, take notes afterwards while listening to a recording and looking at the blackboard snapshots. However, I understand that this cannot be a regular practice due to time constraints but maybe this could be used for the classes that spark most interest, the knowledge crystallizes better with a few passes

I'm not sure if that is actually better. I seem to recall (but can't be bothered to look up) a study that showed students who read the book twice do no better that those who read it once. Which is to say the first time you see material in some format is when you get the greatest gain. Taking notes the second time through probably isn't worth it, though taking notes from a different source of the same material might b…

I personally used this practice and it helped me tremendously. It freed me from following the blackboard word by word and let me take briefer notes, sometimes incomplete, only to return and redo all the notes comprehensively. It felt like take attending the course twice. However, I only did this for the classes that I was very interested in. For all the others it can easily turn into a waste of time.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#109

Post by onemoresoop » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 9:45 PM UTC

gowld wrote: post #102

bluGill wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if that is actually better. I seem to recall (but can't be bothered to look up) a study that showed students who read the book twice do no better that those who read it once. Which is to say the first time you see material in some format is when you get the greatest gain. Taking notes the second time through probably isn't worth it, though taking notes from a different source of the same material might b…

You are speculating without justification. Re-reading having no/lesser benefit (a highly-suspect conclusion, given the massive sucess of spaced repetition), says nothing of the benefit of reading once + writing once.

Recording and retaking the notes from the audio/snapshot is actually reinforcing the knowledge twofold, one is recalling the info and then rewriting it. I don't know if this is for everyone (most likely not) but it did work well for me.

Re: Mathematicians are hoarding a type of Japanese chalk (2015)

#110

Post by FabHK » Tue, Apr 23, 2019, 10:33 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #84

FabHK wrote: post #18

Reminds me of Walter Lewin's (of MIT) famous dotted lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l789l6np-qA

Has he explained how he does this?

Yes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhawwXcQsUs

BTW, there are also circle drawers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAhfZUZiwSE