Schooled for Life » Lectures

I’m Unstuck, but I’m Now Lost in the Forest

David — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:24:48 +0000

Having looked in the last postat trying to get unstuck during the study of a subject, we saw how Goofy eventually got unstuck from the trombone. But what we didn't discuss was how he ended up after getting unstuck. He flew through the air and ended up inside a bush far from the Mickey Mouse Club House.

Art Babbit is credited with creating Goofy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What I would like to look at in this post is what you do after you have gained some degree of understanding from your reading of your textbook and notes. The whole purpose of the previous post was understanding. What I would like to do now is extend that further. In a sense, this post is going to enable you to deepen that initial level that hopefully you were able attain.

Classify and Arrange what you have Read and Understood

Remember, at this stage, you are not doing any "studying". You aren't necessarily directly applying any of the chunking principles that we have discussed before. However, this aspect of classifying and arranging the information that you have understood is absolutely crucial to help you before you actually begin the task of memorizing, and applying the information to problem-based and equation- or solution-based examinations.

Textbook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Put infrastructure and textbooks side-by-side. As I noted previously, often your lecture notes will be your infrastructure. The lecturers will give you a very good idea as to what type of skeleton they like their subject they want their subject to have; and how to apply that to each lecture. However, not every lecturer is of the same quality. Now that you have gained some degree of understanding, put your lecture "skeleton" next to your textbook/textbooks. This is the crucial question : does the lecture-note skeleton measure up to your understanding of your textbook/s reading?If not, see the next point.

Pile of textbooks, reading glasses, and a calculator. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2. Begin to create your own infrastructure. Yes! You are allowed to do this! One of the driving forces of Schooled for Life is that the Student is the one drives the learning, not the lecturer! You are in control of how to arrange the information to suite how you understand and remember that information! But, don't misunderstand me here. I am not saying you are allowed to change the facts themselves. I cannot suddenly barge into my lecturer's office and say "The earth is the centre of the universe." Well, I suppose I could, but I wouldn't exactly get very far within the academic community, would I? No. What I am saying is that the way the infrastructure is arranged and given to you can be changed any way you want it to be changed.

Skeletons (Photo credit: Jollyboy)

3. Create your own "textbook". We live in the digital age. Scanning sections in textbooks can take seconds. Arranging them can take seconds. What I mean by "Create your own textbook" is that you can now add the relevant information onto the infrastructure that you have now created. If you are short on time, you could simply draw a large skeleton and write page reference numbers with the relevant textbook under each branch or limb of the skeleton. If you have more time, you can literally create your own textbook by digitally using your own infrastructure as a type of Contents Page, and scan the relevant pages from the textbooks and paste them into the pages in a word processor on your computer. Then, either print it out, or use it on your computer as your own textbook. Be sure to reference all the scans. You could also make a large textbook on a wall in your room. Draw the skeleton, and Prestik the scanned sections from the textbooks under each relevant limb of the infrastructure. In the next post, I am going to begin a more detailed look at chunking, and will follow that with a cross-referencing system that will blow your mind!

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Surprise yourself!

David — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 11:57:50 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Are you suffering from Boring Lecturer Syndrome? Then you need to help your brain shove the information from working memory deep into your frontal lobes where executive functioning happens. SURPRISE YOURSELF! Research has shown that if new information is presented to students in a way that is new, exciting or unexpected, it lights up pathways from working memory in their sensory areas of their brains into their frontal lobes. If your lecturer is not doing this for you, then you have to do it for yourself. But you are going to need a bunch of friends.

Get together with a group of about six other friends in the relevant class, assign each one section of the lecture, and each student's task is to come up with a unique, unusual, surprising and novel way of presenting their section of information. Give each other a couple of days and then get together. Make it a Pizza, Surprise and Study Night. Haul out your lecture notes, and each have your turn at presenting the information. Here are some guidelines. 1. Keep the presentations to about 10 facts or groups of facts per person. 2. Make it fun. Don't make fun of someone. If you are going to do that, make fun of yourself. 3. Keep it safe. Firearms are not required! 4. Every single person must be fully committed to it, otherwise it won't work. 5. Revise the work afterwards yourself. 6. Enjoy it!

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Lectures 102 : What not to do

David — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:35:51 +0000

image by osde8info

In the previous post we looked as a few ways you can benefit from lectures. In this post I want to discuss some of the things you shouldn't do in regards to lectures. 1. Skip lecture. Compared to high school, college students have a lot more freedom, and especially in first year where classes may have as many as 300 students, it is easy to skip lectures, especially if you are recovering from partying the night before! 2. Come unprepared. This is a follow-up to our previous post. Often-times, attending a lecture without preparing beforehand can be almost as bad as not attending at all. 3. Trying to write down everything the lecturer says. If you want to do that, rather record the lecture, and then when you get back home you can listen to the lecture again, even at double speed if you want to. We will discuss this in the next posts when I will give you some ideas on how to use recorded lectures properly. 4. Not writing anything at all. If you are going to the lecture, if you haven't prepared, at least try to listen for some key information as discussed previously. If you know someone in your class who is good at picking up important information during lectures, sit next to them or behind them during lectures, and you can see when they may note of something that the lecturer has said.

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Lectures 101

David — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:12:30 +0000

I want to discuss four ways that you can get the most out of the lectures that you attend. By following these simple steps, you can maximize the effectiveness of your attendance of lectures.

Image by sbarkley

image by denn

1. Read beforehand. This is perhaps one of the most crucial steps you should do. If your course-load is not too intensive, then I suggest that you read the relevant chapter/s a couple of days before the lecture, and jot down any questions that you have. Then, read the chapter and questions again the night before the lecture. If your course-load is heavy (think Medical School!), then read the chapter the night before with a red, green and blue highlighter nearby. Red highlights things you don't understand. Blue highlights things you already knew. Green highlights the main points that you would use as topics for essay questions. 2. The Handouts are never enough.No mater what the lecturer says toyou, I promise you that the lecture handouts are never enough. Use the lecture handouts as the skeleton upon which you build your chunks of knowledge. 3. Listen for points that are repeated. When the lecturer repeats a point more, take special note. When they say it more than twice, take very careful note of it. 4. Listen for points that are illustrated. If your lecturer gives you an illustration to try and explain a concept, pay very close attention as well. This is also usually an important point to know.

image by B Rosen

So who are these lecturers anyway? Seven ways to get to know them better (schooledforlife.com)
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The post Lectures 101 appeared first on Schooled for Life.

Schooled for Life » Lectures

I’m Unstuck, but I’m Now Lost in the Forest

Classify and Arrange what you have Read and Understood

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