Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!cornell!batcomputer!sun.soe.clarkson.edu!rpi!rpics!mccombt
From: mccombt@rpics (Todd McComb)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Student preparedness
Summary: notes, memorization
Message-ID: <56@rpi.edu>
Date: 4 Jan 89 06:28:21 GMT
References: <52767@pyramid.pyramid.com> <5053@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Sender: usenet@rpi.edu
Reply-To: mccombt@turing.cs.rpi.edu (Todd McComb)
Organization: Rensselaer Mathematics Dept., Troy NY
Lines: 48

[]
In article <5053@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Daniel Yaron Kimberg writes:

>In article <52767@pyramid.pyramid.com> Wendy Thrash writes:

>>Taking notes during class need not be a rote activity.  [etc.]

>That's interesting.  I only rarely take notes (largely because I haven't had
>a class in a long time which really required it), but I've noticed that when
>I do, I almost never look back at them.  Occasionally if there's going to be
>a test, I may skim them briefly before realizing they won't help much.  I
>wonder (this is a pseudo-survey - post comments) how many people take notes
>and then toss them like this.

I've never taken notes in my life.  I don't bring paper to class, etc.
I just sit there and listen to the lecture.  I've done this from elementary
school into graduate school, and frankly at this stage I couldn't take
notes even if I wanted to do it.  I would have no idea how to go about
taking them, and I really would be afraid of not catching all that was
said.  So much for my pseudo-survey response.

I think that one thing this discussion has shown more than anything else
is that different people want to be taught in different ways.  I cannot
even stand the thought of taking notes, and have always wondered why the
"typical student" routine has been propagated so deeply.  I am sure some
people are helped by taking copious notes, but I know that I for one would
be harmed.

The same is probably true for many of the other topics that have come
up in this recent education debate.  To be honest, I would be horrified
if I were confronted with educational situations which some of the posters
seem to prefer.

I also don't think that memorization of trivia is in any way necessary
to be successful in school.  I've had experience in engineering and
mathematics, and must say that I never "memorized" anything, and certainly
not for the sake of having "memorized" it.  I think too many people bite
on the information that is propagated around campuses: that is, that the
typical student crams for tests and copies notes verbatim.  Maybe the 
typical student does do those things, but I would assert that it is harmful
for many people.  (The word "typical" above, is more a joke than anything.)

--todd

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                         The way I feel is the way I am.
Todd McComb                                                  mccombt@cs.rpi.edu
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-