Talking during lectures, your opinion?

[Arete]

I brought up technology because some of the policies the posters brought up about such use seemed to lean towards the intolerance of the technology in the classroom.

 

1. Using you laptop to take notes, or even googling/wikipediaing on topic things is fine.

2. Facebooking in the lecture is pretty darn rude, but not enough of an issue that I'd actually do anything.

3. As once happened to me while I was teaching, watching porn during class is decidedly unacceptable.

4. Texting falls into the same category as facebook - rude, but not worth disrupting everyone else over.

5. Talking on the phone is a capital sin. My tactic is usually to take the phone from the student if I can, and talk to the person they called, informing them that the caller is in a lecture, which they are disrupting, and they will call back at the end of class when I give the phone back.

 

Also, labs, tutorials and discussions are all different. A typical class will have both lectures, where you are expected to stfu and listen, and interactive sessions where I expect you to discuss and input into the class.

 

Ultimately, if I'm giving a prepared talk, with slides, I expect students to behave as they would like others to behave when they have prepared a talk for class. If they decide not to, without distracting others, it's rude but not worth addressing, if you're distracting other people, you'll be asked to stop (If I'm giving the lecture) or in extreme cases (you are flicking rubber bands at other students - it's happened, never TA statistics 101) you'll be told in no uncertain terms to GTFO and don't come back until you've learned to behave like an adult.

 

The bottom line is you were talking in a lecture, another student found it distracting, and you got told to shut up. A perfectly acceptable series of events.

[ajb]

A majority of the professors promote technology use in the classroom, especially since many of the texts are electronic and must of the course work is contained online.

Of course, I allow the students to use their electronic devices to read the pdf file of the questions, textbooks and so on in the examples classes. However, they should not be using them or typing during the actual lecture.

 

Also, the professor in computer science especially encourages it if he wants us to test example code in the class, which was what was happening when I was helping the student next to me with. He was trying to figure out what was wrong with his code and I was just correcting the code for him.

In a lab type session this would be encouraged of course. During a lecture you should be listening to what is being said. You may not follow all of it, but the idea is to at least give you some direction. You need to pay as much attention to the lecturer as you can.

1. Using you laptop to take notes, or even googling/wikipediaing on topic things is fine.

I am not sure how well one could make notes in a class using a laptop. For mathematics classes it would be very difficult if not impossible.

It must be a hybrid because they refer to them as lectures, but they become hybrids a lot of the time

So in Warsaw for mathematics, we have a lecture and then two examples/lab/problem sessions a week. The lecture is where I do the talking and the problem sessions is where the students to the talking.

[Unity+]

The bottom line is you were talking in a lecture, another student found it distracting, and you got told to shut up. A perfectly acceptable series of events.

I clarified earlier that the alleged guy didn't actually confront us. The friend of the guy I was helping said he thought(keyword) someone was getting annoyed, but he wasn't sure.

 

 

 

Of course, I allow the students to use their electronic devices to read the pdf file of the questions, textbooks and so on in the examples classes. However, they should not be using them or typing during the actual lecture.

A lot of the students at the university I go to type their notes and the teachers don't mind.

 

 

In a lab type session this would be encouraged of course. During a lecture you should be listening to what is being said. You may not follow all of it, but the idea is to at least give you some direction. You need to pay as much attention to the lecturer as you can.

I confess that I know a majority of the content being taught(I was too lazy to go up to the teacher and try to get into the higher-end courses in computer science to get used to the format). I understand, though, that it can be rude to talk over the professor during a lecture, which is why I avoid doing it at all costs(hence I use gestures rather than speaking).

 

 

 

I am not sure how well one could make notes in a class using a laptop. For mathematics classes it would be very difficult if not impossible.

I use google docs.

 

 

 

So in Warsaw for mathematics, we have a lecture and then two examples/lab/problem sessions a week. The lecture is where I do the talking and the problem sessions is where the students to the talking.

I can understand why.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Unity+

[ajb]

I use google docs.

 

I think that may still be a bit slow when trying to take notes from a blackboard in general. You run the risk of missing things while typing, but you have found it okay?

[CaptainPanic]

1. Ask a question as soon as I am not clear in what I am saying

 

That is a huge thing to ask from students (especially young students, e.g. 18-year-olds)!

 

When you're new to being a student at uni, you stlil care a LOT about what other people think of you. And asking a question to the professor is the same as admitting you did not understand it (i.e. losing face), despite the fact that the student might quite well realize that the teacher was not clear. It is quite possible that an entire classroom failed to understand something, yet none of them ask the question. Instead, they will all start discussing among themselves as soon as they have the opportunity (which, depending on the circumstances, might be right there in the classroom or lecture hall).

 

I am not saying this is ok. I merely try to explain the phenomenon. A large part of the problem is that these kids must go from being kids to adults in a very short period. These kids must learn that asking questions is ok, even if you are the only one who did not get it. (And also not to look annoyed and breathe out disrespectful and impatient sighs when someone asks a question you already understood).

[Delta1212]

I think that may still be a bit slow when trying to take notes from a blackboard in general. You run the risk of missing things while typing, but you have found it okay?

I never took notes on a laptop, but I know people who did. One thing to keep in mind is that there are a lot more people who are good at typing without looking at the screen than writing without looking at the paper. Typing, for many people, is also significantly faster.

 

So it's entirely possible to keep detailed notes on what the professor is saying while only minimally and occasionally breaking direct focus on them, which can be more difficult when writing with pen and paper. It does work better in subjects other than math, though.

 

It's not a skill I ever had, mind, but I was an awful note taker in general. I always learned better by paying maximal attention in class, and rarely read what notes I did take, anyway. There are a couple of exceptions where note taking was absolutely essential to a particular class, but in general I traded "I understand how all this fits together and will help you with it" for access to other people's notes on anything I didn't remember well enough myself and/or that wasn't in the text. (I've got a very good memory for information but nobody's perfect).

[Unity+]

I think that may still be a bit slow when trying to take notes from a blackboard in general. You run the risk of missing things while typing, but you have found it okay?

Yeah, I find it okay. I usually do it fast. The professor is even surprised because he think it would be too tedious.

[chemistry student]

I'm not sure if I wanna go to uni tbh. Too much work :L

[Delta1212]

I'm not sure if I wanna go to uni tbh. Too much work :L

Less than high school and generally more interesting.

[Unity+]

I'm not sure if I wanna go to uni tbh. Too much work :L

If I remember correctly, Universities are more research based than assignment based.

[ajb]

Yeah, I find it okay. I usually do it fast. The professor is even surprised because he think it would be too tedious.

I am surprised. I would not have thought one could easily type many equations in "real time", especially if the notation is not so basic. I would not expect my students to even try it.

 

I was once told someone that he thought that the people in the research seminars with laptops were keeping notes of the talks. He though it was great. Then he got himself a laptop and soon realised that they were all working on other things and not keeping notes! It would be, in my opinion, just about impossible to make notes in a seminar. I find it hard to keep just written notes. That said, a lecture to undergraduates would be at a slower pace with the intention that they could write some notes.

If I remember correctly, Universities are more research based than assignment based.

I would not say that. Students are usually given lots of assignments, questions and written exams, in mathematics and physics anyway. Some of the modules maybe more research focused or based on lab work.

[Unity+]

I am surprised. I would not have thought one could easily type many equations in "real time", especially if the notation is not so basic. I would not expect my students to even try it.I was once told someone that he thought that the people in the research seminars with laptops were keeping notes of the talks. He though it was great. Then he got himself a laptop and soon realised that they were all working on other things and not keeping notes! It would be, in my opinion, just about impossible to make notes in a seminar. I find it hard to keep just written notes. That said, a lecture to undergraduates would be at a slower pace with the intention that they could write some notes.I would not say that. Students are usually given lots of assignments, questions and written exams, in mathematics and physics anyway. Some of the modules maybe more research focused or based on lab work.

From my experience, papers, quizzes, and exams are for frequent than tiny assignments.

 

To confess, instead of writing out the equation in complete latex, I shorten it using my own acronyms(intgrl, d/DX,->, etc.)

 

Later on, I go back and put it into latex form.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Unity+