Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ssbell!mcmi!hdr!unocss!fritz From: fritz@unocss.UUCP (Sharon O'Neil) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Student preparedness Message-ID: <608@unocss.UUCP> Date: 9 Jan 89 00:01:36 GMT References: <52767@pyramid.pyramid.com> <5053@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <56@rpi.edu> <1276@tank.uchicago.edu> Organization: U. of Nebraska at Omaha Lines: 41 I personally find it very difficult to follow along with a lecture unless I take notes and I do take copious notes -- which by some twist of fate are even legible. I do not "mindlessly" copy down information given by the professor. For me, for some reason, active listening is enhanced by taking notes. However, I don't believe it is enough to simply take notes. I review each days set of notes every night. I keep separate color pens handy to write down my own impressions or questions I might have. I also think that it should be remembered that, while, for some disciplines notes may be beneficial, in other courses they may be a hindrance. In some courses it is essential to get general ideas, in which notes may prove to be of little conseuence. In other courses, it is essential to tie together many seemingly unrelated ideas, in which case notes can prove invaluable. In one individual course, that "trivia" may seem inconsequential. Over the course of an entire semester notes may allow the individual student to go back and tie ideas together more efficiently. The mistake that most students make is that they expect the professor to give them all the information in the lecture and that everything that they need to know is in the notes. The university is viewed by many as an assembly line. Most students do not view their education in a broad sense and instead view each course as self-contained. Critical thinking also comes from applying something learned in one course to another. I keep notes and have used information in one course in a seemingly unrelated course. It is possible to draw connections between a foreign language class and a physics class. -- ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------------- Sharon O'Neil | Internet: oneil%zeus@fergvax.unl.edu Who reads these, anyway? | Bitnet: oneil@unoma1 Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln | "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"