Overview

The front of the subject classroom has a 4' by 16' chalkboard affixed to it. The boards that were installed when the school was constructed in 1970 are still in use today. They are brown in color and blend in with the brown brick wall. The boards are in very good condition despite their age and serve many teachers very well.

It is hypothesized that the replacement of this board with whiteboard material will have a number of benefits. These include:

• Increased brightness. The original wall and chalkboard are both brown, presenting a very dull appearance. The use of a whiteboard will make the room brighter. Research suggests that brighter classroom environments are more appealing to students and cause them to be more alert.
• Greater visibility. The chalk that is supplied to teachers is yellow in color and does not provide much contrast with the board background. There are many colors of dry erase markers that can be used with the whiteboard. This allows for more versatility when drawing diagrams and differentiating parts of problems in science.
• Health benefit. The use of chalk is not very good for the health of the user. Chalk dries the hands and inhaled chalk dust causes mild respiratory distress. Although the dry erase markers have an odor, it has been deemed safe by many health agencies.
• Cleanliness. Chalkboards create a significant amount of chalk dust when used on a regular basis. This dust often becomes airborne and settles on many nearby surfaces. Computers and other electronic devices near chalkboards end up with a great deal of dust in them over time. Dry erase markers clean up much more easily and leave very little dust residue. Whiteboard surfaces are also much easier to clean since they don't require a wet treatment.
• Start a trend! This pilot study will be shared with the school administration to show that the use of whiteboards is a very effective, economical way to improve the classroom learning environment.

Method

The chalkboard was used for the first three weeks of the academic year as a control method. During this time students became accustomed to the teacher's presentation style with the chalkboard.

During the third week of the academic year the chalkboard was converted to a whiteboard. This was done with minimal cost and left the opportunity to replace the original chalkboard if the experiment was deemed to be ineffective. Two 4'X8' sheets of gloss white tileboard (Marlite) were purchased at a cost of $10.00 per sheet from a local home improvement store. The moulding around the chalkboard can be removed by prying it away from the wall. Brackets that hold the chalkboard are unscrewed from the wall and the chalkboard is freely removed and replaced by the whiteboard. They have exactly the same dimension except for thickness which is made up for with some shims placed between the whiteboard and mounting brackets. The chalkboard is then stored and the moulding is replaced.

Evaluation

Immediately upon replacement of the chalkboard, the students noted the difference and responded positively to the change. Some initial comments included the increased brightness of the room, the opportunity to use many different color markers, and the cleanliness of the whiteboard surface. Initial reaction was favorable overall. No negative comments were noted.

The whiteboard was then used for three weeks with the same frequency as the chalkboard before its replacement. At the conclusion of the three week trial period the following observations were noted by the teacher:

• Dramatic decrease in the amount of dust around the vicinity of the chalkboard.
• Marked decrease in the amount of dust collecting on the surface of computer monitors near the board.
• Healthier air and more sanitary conditions when writing on the board.
• Ease of use. It doesn't require nearly as much pressure to use the dry erase markers as chalk.
• Great versatility in the use of colors to differentiate parts of diagrams and equations in chemistry and physics teaching.

Students were polled in a written survey to see what their opinion of the whiteboard is. The demographic breakdown is a follows:

• 67 academic chemistry I students
• 50 academic physics I students
• Grade breakdown: 53% 10th grade; 18% 11th grade; 29% 12th grade

Result of questionairre:

1. Which do you like better, the whiteboard or chalkboard?	96.6% Whiteboard	3.4% Chalkboard
2. Do you think your other teachers should get a whiteboard?	89.7% Yes	10.3% No
3. Mr. Flint writes more neatly on which board?	88.9% Whiteboard	11.1% Chalkboard
4. Which board is easier to read?	94.9% Whiteboard	5.1% Chalkboard

Students who prefer the whiteboard said the following statements contribute to their opinion (sample size = 113):

62.4% - The whiteboard is brighter
76.9% - The whiteboard is cleaner looking
65.8% - The whiteboard is easier to read
58.1% - I like the colors available for the whiteboard

Students who prefer the chalkboard agreed with the following statements (sample size = 4):

100% - I'm more used to chalkboards
50.0% - It's too hard to get used ot the whiteboard
100% - The whiteboard is too bright
75.0% - The chalkboard is easier to read
25.0% - The markers smell really bad
100% - The chalkboard gives me headaches

Four students who prefer the whiteboard also say they believe the whiteboard causes headaches.

Conclusion

An overwhelming majority of students prefer the whiteboard. The result of the survey and the reflective observation of the teacher supports all points of the hypothesis. I am very happy with the whiteboard since it is easy to write on, easy to erase, allows for a tremendous variety of colors, and is much healthier. I have noticed a marked decrease in the amount of respiratory distress and it is much cleaner.

It was not anticipated that there would be an increase in the rate of headaches among students as a result of this project. There is no compelling evidence in the literature that viewing whiteboards causes an increase in the frequency of headaches. This data seems inconclusive since no students have made their case known to the teacher or the school nurse.

Within one week of the conversion of the chalkboard to whiteboard in the trial room one other teacher has done the same in his room with marked success. In the four weeks following this conversion four other teachers have made serious inquiry into making this conversion in their rooms as well.

The outcome of this study has been shared with the Science Department chairperson and principal at the high school in question.