Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!nather
From: nather@ut-emx.UUCP (Ed Nather)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Student preparedness
Message-ID: <9252@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 4 Jan 89 22:54:07 GMT
References: <52767@pyramid.pyramid.com> <5053@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <56@rpi.edu>
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 24

In article <56@rpi.edu>, mccombt@rpics (Todd McComb) writes:
> 
> 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. 
> 
Excellent, if it works for you.  It's what I recommend to students who
take copious notes and fail tests.  They're so busy trying to get down
every word they totally miss the sense of the lecture -- and have no
idea what is important and what is not.  Tape recorders do about as well.
(I usually have a forrest of minirecorders in front of me as soon as the
word spreads that I don't mind.)

> [...] the
> typical student crams for tests and copies notes verbatim. 

... and forgets most of the course on the way out of the exam room.

Do students really believe they've received "an education" when all
they've done is memorize facts to pass a course, and then forget them?
Curiously, it seems that many do ...

-- 
Ed Nather
Astronomy Dept, U of Texas @ Austin