Physical Setting
After establishing an appropriate study
schedule, it is essential to secure a suitable and
con-
ducive atmosphere, where your study plan can be
carried out. The first place to consider is
your home or dorm room. This location is a good
choice if you are its sole occupant and
can enjoy the privacy and solitude that is
necessary for successful study. However, the
presence of siblings in the home or roommates in
the dorm may make this location imprac-
tical, unless you can control entry or gain the
cooperation of the occupant(s).
Learning in the Classroom
Benefiting from Lectures
Lectures provide an excellent way of securing
ideas, facts, and viewpoints. To get the
most out of lectures, it is important to
improve your listening skills. To accomplish this,
the following should be taken into
consideration:
TIP 1
Your lecture seat
Your position in the classroom can influence
your level of concentration. If you find
your attention wandering, try to move to a
place that is preferably near the front and, if
possible, near the center. Try to avoid sitting
in a crowded area.
TIP 2
Preparation
Orient yourself before the lecture as quickly
as possible. This may take the form of
a brief review of the previous lecture and/or
highlights of a reading assignment.
TIP 3
Note taking
Take notes with discrimination. You need to use
judgment as to the extent of note
taking that a course requires. Speaking to
students who took the course with the same
instructor, and did well, will give you some
general guidelines as to the extent of note
taking that is desirable.
When presented with new information, fresh
ideas, complex or condensed informa-
tion during the course of a lecture, detailed
note taking is mandatory. Similarly, concepts
or facts that may be inconsistent with those
known or held by you should be recorded
because this type of information tends to be
easily disregarded or dismissed because of
the inherent conflict between what you hear and
what you believe to be true.
TIP 4
Identifying main ideas
The central themes of a lecture should be
determined. Their significance should be
enhanced by "fleshing them out" with
illustrations, diagrams, or supporting numerical data.
Major ideas become genuinely meaningful when
one associates some details with them.
TIP 5
Accuracy
Lecture notes are a condensation of the
teacher's presentation. If you use the note-
taking approach, as is commonly done, rather
than taping the lecture, an accurate repre-
sentation of the information is needed. This
should be done with the aim of using as
condensed a written record as possible, while
concentrating on making sure that you
secure all of the principles and facts. To
achieve this goal, you may find it helpful to
develop a personalized shorthand system. This
requires consistently using abbreviations
and symbols and not being concerned with the
presence of incomplete sentence flow.
TIP 6
Reworking notes
At the first available opportunity, your rough
notes should be rewritten so that their
meaning is clear and the notes can be used at a
future date for review and to prepare for
exams. In rewriting your notes, you should
rework them by filling in gaps and adding
any relevant details that you recall. The
process of reworking your notes can be valuable
because it helps you better understand and
absorb the material and it enhances your
note-taking skills--an essential part of the
learning process.
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