All entries for October 2007

Lecture styles

Quite frankly any lecture who thinks it is ok to present examinable material through PowerPoint needs a good hiding!

Problems:

i) It is hard enough trying to keep up to date with what is being done in a lecture without having to read and listen at the same time! For example, it is expected of course that we as students should take notes. Yes that is reasonable, but how are we supposed to do that whilst listening to potentially important information that is being said by the lecturer? You can't. So it seems to me that what you actually write down as notes is a bit of a gamble. If I write what they say perhaps it will come up in the exam, if I don't and chose to write something from the slides perhaps I will not know what to do for a particular question in the exam. I thought exams were about testing a students knowledge on a subject rather than testing whether or not they can write down the important facts in lectures.

ii) There is no interactivity. I like to understand a lot of what is presented to me in a lecture, in the lecture. This normally is the case, as with derivations and such like they are written down with an overhead projector - this is good, as you write the derivation down you understand what you are doing. However, when you see a huge equation on a PowerPoint slide the only feeling you get is "Where the hell did that come from". That is simply no good.

Solution: Scrap PowerPoint and any lecturer who insists on using it.

It should be renamed to Not-very-PowerfulPoint.

: 25 Oct 2007 18:09 |  Tags: Powerpoint |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Basics Dark Chocolate

I have conducted an experiment (a crude one at that) just with two random people. The experiment took two types of dark chocolate, Basics from Sainsbury's priced at £0.23p per 100g, and Green and Black's prices at around £1.30 per 100g.

Each person was given a piece of each chocolate - I simply won't dwell they both preferred the cheaper version.

This really isn't surprising. As it is very tasty, sweeter and less bitter. However, this was a bad experiment, so I went and found the most popular brand of chocolate in the UK, Cadbury's. When I compared the actual coco mass in the Bornville brand with that in the Basics I was astonished to find that there is more coco mass in the basics! Only by one percent but still... Even the Saisnbury's Basics Milk chocolate had more coco mass than the brand name of Dairy Milk. The Figures are shown below.

Basics - Dark      40%      Basics - Milk      29%

Bornville             39%      Dairy Milk          20%

This is purely an observation and I just thought I would bring this to the attention of the world around me. I will carry on the buy Basics, but each to their own I suppose.

: 24 Oct 2007 21:40 |  Tags: Basics Chocolate Dark |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

First entry

   I suppose what I really want to say is; why didn't I think of this earlier?

   This sort of question is in fact one that I ask myself quite frequently. Problem: I seem to be involved in an ever increasing violent battle, with myself, between the things I have to do and those I want to do. Albeit a losing one currently, I have decided to take heed of my subconscious and control of my desires. Today I start my quest to remember the world.

    As I see it, the world, or if you like, the universe is a personal reality. A concoction of each individual's opinions, reckonings and beliefs through their observations, knowledge and understanding respectively, of the world in which they, yes they, live in.

    I suggest to myself then, that I have a lot to think about if I wish to remember the world. If I start today I reckon I will be finished by tomorrow. However, my opinions may have changed by tomorrow, and who knows about my beliefs. Solution: stay calm, attempt every question and please stop writing at the end of the test.

: 24 Oct 2007 00:01 |  Tags: Broome Matthew |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem