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[der_gadfly]

Passivity in students during class: passivity in meeting by attendees. Hmmmmm.

Some material is inherently dull to students. It could be the speaker's voice, the weather, some other external event, the time of day of the class, or any number of other reasons. It happens to everyone on occasion: the audience zones out. What I used to do was plan my lectures so that I always had some kind of aside, which to the students appears to be completely random, but was actually penciled onto my notes. Since I tend to pace while lecturing, I can easily see if students are on topic (get some exercise while at it too). My chalk/whiteboard notes are sparse, with little written explanation, much more outline format. I toss out a question every so often and hope for more than the occasional grunt.

I hateseses powerpointseses, although I have used them in lieu of overheads/slides, but usually for large graphics (charts that depict large amounts of data, maps, the occasional cartoon) that are the basis for discussions. Rare is the time when I have used PPT for everyday notes. I prefer to draw diagrams, I feel it adds a personal touch. Sometimes, I can get the class involved as we disrespect my drawing talent. Lots of laughs, which signals engagement.

I agree that erasing the board is an effective means of maintaining student engagement.

On a side note, I used to put up a brief note or two just before class started: It was erased 5 minutes in. Latecomers usually missed that on the test, unless they were able to convince someone else to give them the notes, AND explain it. Everyone seemed to manage to get in on time!

[dutch_boy]

I would love to know how to "teach naked" in class sizes of 350-400 students.......discussions sessions after watching pod casts have not worked well in the past.  Students who freeze up in front of 30 of their classmates go absolutely polar in front of 350.  No one talks. Calling names does not work as they pretend they are not present. 

[lohai0]

I teach math - and I HATE power point.  Since I teach mostly entry level mathematics (and some proofs/problem solving), my biggest objection is that no matter how well constructed a slide is, I am always giving the students the impression that the is One & Only One Right Way to do whatever it is I'm showing.  I don't know about the inverted classsroom - since I adjust my examples and time on a topic by the reaction of the students.  What is working well for me is to make the students do pre-lecture writing activities.  A typical pre-lecture assignment is 2-3 short answer questions about the topic.  (Remedial Algebra:  How are slopes of lines and graphs related?)  The writing is worth around 10% of the grade, and the questions that are answered wrong on the pre-lecture sheets are reworded and put on the tests.  During class, I talk about half of the time, and break the class up into small groups for the other half.  My students even comment that they like the writing part on evaluations, which I don't understand at all.

[comp_queen]

I hateseses powerpointseses

This is going in my sig line!  Thanks for the laugh.

[mad_doctor]

Try this mini-experiment, and let me know the results...

One of my colleagues a few years back told me that he wanted to assess the note-taking ability and related study habits of his students, so he put a few random multiple choice questions up on the board while he lectured his way through the course.  In other words, while lecturing, he would put the question on the board and tell the students that it was no trick - the question would appear on the exam exactly as he had written it, and the correct answer was as he had indicated.

In my day it would have been a slam-dunk.  However, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the millenial snowflake generation will consistently miss these questions in my own trial runs.  I agree that it definitely is rooted in a deficit of note-taking and general study skills.  Do powerpoints contribute to that?  Perhaps.  I certainly can't think of a single reason why powerpoints would have an advantage over blackboard and chalk, since functionally they both do the same thing.

I stopped using powerpoints when I realized that the students used them as a justification for not taking notes and not paying attention in class.  The students seem to think that they have everything they need since they have the professor's own notes.  Furthermore, if the students have the powerpoints, they feel that it is unfair to be tested on anything except what is on the powerpoints, and they will become very vocal about it.