Re: [applekeynote] Re: presentation dogma

(. . . .many rants)

First of all let me thank Jon Glass for the very simple solution. Unchecking the draft quality box does indeed give good output.

Interestingly, the powerpoint-derived pdf prints the 3 slides per page in the portrait page orientation as a default while the Keynote prints the same slides in the landscape orientation as a default. Which is better? From years of experience I know that no matter which one I choose, 20% of the students will bitterly complain about it (no good deed goes unpunished).

As for the broader issue of whether handouts are useful or the devil's own tool.... I think the obvious answer is that it depends on both the kind of  information and the  nature of the audience. I teach some  pretty detailed stuff (mainly biochemistry) with lots of complex structures and complicated pathways. All that stuff is in the text of course, but I need to show it so I can make the important points about context, interactions, regulation, disease correlations, etc. BUT, no matter how much I urge them to just listen to what I have to say, a majority feel the need to try to draw the complex structures and pathways. The result is that they invariably reproduce (often poorly) what is in the text but miss entirely what I am trying to emphasize. At the worst, they actually get it totally reversed (question after class "so the citric acid cycle can function normally in the total absence of oxygen?" Noooooooo.  At least with the slides in front of them they feel a bit more easy about actually listening to what I have to say.

Of course, as a teacher nearing the end of his career, the real question is why do I lecture anyway. I assume the lecture reflects a medieval tradition when books were rare and expensive (they still may be expensive, but at least they aren't rare) and it was the job of the lecturer to read the book and transmit its contents to the students. Although there a variety of efforts to break at least partially away from the traditional lecture format (e.g. student response systems) I can say from experience that there is tremendous resistance from the students to do anything other than lecture at them. I'm tenured so I can experiment, but I wouldn't advise it to my younger colleagues.

In any case, I digress. Thanks for the help solving my problem and for the broader discussion of what constitutes an effective presentation

Ross F.

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