Lecture Notes

Overview
   I will be using PowerPoint presentations in class. This course, in particular, lends itself to this lecturing technique.
   I feel there are several advantages to this approach. Foremost among them, it allows me to present a lot of detailed information and examples without taking the time to write them all out on the board and without waiting for those students who try to take dictation in their lecture notes.
   However, there are also several potential disadvantages. First, some students may be tempted to reason that since the notes are available in such a convenient form, attendance at lectures is not necessary. To combat this, I have structured the grading so that a lack of attendance at lectures will directly impact your grade in the course. Second, I fear that by presenting notes in this form I will inadvertently convey the mistaken impression that only those things that appear in the notes are testable. Anything discussed in lectures or the readings is testable, even if it doesn't appear in the notes.
   I will not be handing out printed copies of the notes at the start of each lecture. I will, however, make the notes available to you on this page as downloadable PowerPoint presentations. I strongly recommend that you download and print the notes before each lecture and bring them with you to class. This will allow you to follow along and annotate the notes as you see fit during lecture. I will not wait for individuals to copy each slide into their notes by hand in its entirety. If you prefer to summarize my lectures in your own words, however, feel free to do so.
   In order to access the PowerPoint presentations for downloading, you will need to know the username and password. I will give you this information in class.
   In order to print the PowerPoint presentations, you will need access to a computer with PowerPoint (or the PowerPoint Viewer) installed. If your computer does not have this software, your best bet would be to use a computer in one of the public computer clusters on campus.