In article <62q4e1$s67$1 at light.nih.gov>,
Bharathi Jagadeesh <bjag at ln.nimh.nih.gov> wrote:
>>My urban myth about why yellow on blue, or white on blue was better
>than black on white is that in a dark room the flashing on of
>bright slides with the darkness in between slides made it hard
>for eyes to adapt properly.
Sure I bet you're right, but my original point was really about the
darkness of the rooms in the first place. At least at the Neurosciences
meeting, it is becoming nearly impossible for me to take notes on the
10-minute talks (although we'll see how the book light works--thanks to
the person who suggested the small flashlight), and even difficult to
stay awake, when it's after lunch and the room is warm and stuffy to boot.
The dark slides just compound the problem.
I guess I got started thinking about this more when I participated in a
teacher training session for a "hands-on" learning curriculum for K-12
students. The emphasis was on student participation, interaction, active
learning, etc. etc. It's hard at least for me to imagine doing that with
the lights off. We recognize the importance of keeping the audience awake,
alert, and involved in the K-12 schools, and then when we communicate with
each other as professionals at meetings, what do we do? We talk at people
as they sit passively in the dark.
Karen
