week 7: Tufte and Power Point
It seems that slowing down and thinking about what medium to use continues to be a major theme in the class. Edward Tufte as well as Cohan and Rosenzweig emphasize a similar point: the importance of thinking about your projects audience and goals before you do anything. Tufte argues that Power Point is not the best answer for professional projects, he believes professional handouts convey the entire picture much better. While I think he makes some good points about the limits of Power Point, I think slide ware programs have the ability to add more to a presentation than Tufte gives them credit for. With that said, I do agree with Tufte that bad Power Point presentations can ruin an otherwise good presentation. However, a good Power Point or slide ware presentation can also greatly enhance a presentation. For example, I thought the video on presentation Zen of Steve Jobs introducing the new Mac Mini was a great example of how to incorporate slide ware into a presentation. The presentation includes Steve Jobs discussing the new product and has slides of the Mac Mini corresponding to where he is in his discussion. Part way through, Jobs actually demonstrates some of the new features of the Mac Mini, such as Front Row. Obviously, this presentation makes a great deal of sense given the subject. I wonder if part of the problem is that Power Point was created years ago and may just be obsolete? Computer technology has advance so much since Power Point was first created, but has Power Point evolved at the same rate?
Tufte tends to look at Power Point through a business perspective. The same is true for many of the posting on the Tufte discussion thread, a lot of the discussion was based on businesses and also math and sciences. However, what does Power Point do for historians? What about students?
I think part of the issue is that every person learns in his/her own unique way. Some people may actually benefit from receiving a handout before a lecture; others may not. Personally, I like to take notes during class and do not like to be distracted by handouts. Tufte makes a good point about distributing handouts before the lecture, as nothing is more distracting than handouts being passed around while someone is talking. He wrote on his discussion thread on July 7, 2002, “…he best handouts are given out in advance of meeting. Why turn our students into stenographers recording our dictation? Instead let’s try something new in class: thinking.” While I think this is an excellent idea, as I think some professors and teachers do too much reciting facts in class, especially in high school. For example my freshman year high school Chemistry teacher put pre-written sheets on the overhead and just read off them all class. Oh yes, it was 180 days of Chemistry bliss. However, at the same time I wonder if Tufte’s statement fits in with history classes?
I do not think handouts are necessary or really work for history classes. First, history students do plenty of reading outside the class and are expected to discuss in class. Second, some people learn better by listening, processing, and then taking down their own notes. While this process may lead to students misunderstanding concepts. It can also increase students ability to comprehend the subject matter on their own terms and creates more than just one perspective. What is the difference between regurgitating information on a piece of paper given to you and reciting information from a lecture you took notes on? Also, this statement also greatly undervalues note taking as a skill.
Back to the article. Perhaps it is a good idea to at least give the audience handouts when they walk in the room. They can then choose to read the handouts or not. I think it is important to keep the handouts simple and straight forward. Sometimes handouts can be too difficult to follow along and when a lecturer refers to the handout one can get easily lost. In regards to handouts before college classes, which was discussed on the Tufte discussion board. While again I see the benefits of handing them out to every student, I personally would not benefit from say having a sheet of math proofs given to me. In high school and undergrad I liked trying to figure out math and science problems on my own first. I think giving students the solutions first takes away from the thought process. Could you imagine if college history professors just gave out the key terms and concepts before every lecture?