Learning from Lectures
You should learn
There are very good reasons to learn how to learn from lectures.
Most professors are, at least to some extent, egocentric. What this
implies is that they tend to consider the information given during class
to be more important than that in the text or other sources. Furthermore,
most professors want to reward the students who attend class regularly by
asking questions that can only be answered from information given in
lecture. For both of these reasons, exams usually lean heavily toward
lecture material.
Many educational theorists are critical of the lecture method of
teaching. They generally consider a one-on-one tutorial arrangement
ideal, and a large
lecture class is diametrically opposite. The critic's image of a lecture
was captured in a cartoon showing, on one side, the podium with the
lecture being given by a tape recorder rather than by the professor in
person, and on the other side, the lecture being recorded on tape instead
of by the students in person. Insofar as that is an accurate image of a
real lecture class, it would indeed be an inferior method.
However, a good lecturer does not rigidly follow a script but
instead continually reacts to feedback from the class, sometimes slowing
down to repeat a point, sometimes digressing from the main theme to give
the class a mental rest, and frequently referring to current events of
interest to the class. For their part, good students do not attempt to
record everything the lecturer says but instead engage in what we called
divided selective attention. A lecture should require hard mental effort
from everyone. Just like your body, your mind gets tired from doing hard
work. Hence, one of the ways you can know whether you have been doing your
job is to ask whether you feel
mentally exhausted after listening to a lecture. If so, you have earned a
break.
How does one improve his or her skills at learning from lectures? It
is tempting to say that all one needs is practice, that proficiency will
come naturally with experience. However, the Principle of Contiguity
implies that practice only perpetuates whatever behavior is practiced,
which means that one
can only learn better skills by trying them out. The purpose of this
chapter is to describe some steps in learning from lectures that I can
recommend.
In doing so, however, I would emphasize again that the optimal
learning strategy is to some extent idiosyncratic. We each have our
personal style based
on our unique composite of learning experiences. Hence, my real purpose
is to encourage you to try out various alternative learning strategies in
order to discover the one that is best for you. It may turn
out that your current method is best, but even so, you
will have benefited from trying out different
techniques.
My recommended learning strategy requires ten steps. As usual, I
will tell you why I think each step is important. You probably already
know many of
these ideas, but it is better to repeat them than to leave the picture
incomplete.
Learning from Lectures Step 1: READ. The Scout motto, "Be Prepared,"
applies to students attending a lecture. Professors vary a great deal in
how closely
their lectures follow the text readings, but most professors presume that
the students have at least read the assignment before class. Hence, the
steps in getting the most out of lectures begin well before the lecture
itself: Read the Text.
One reason that preparation is important in learning from lectures is to
get past the awkward phase of being introduced to new ideas and concepts.
Meeting a concept is something like meeting a blind date in that there are
a number of superficial things to learn before you begin to find out what
it really
means. How a word is spelled, how it is pronounced, and how it is used in
sentences are all tangential to understanding its meaning. A lecture is
very much easier to follow if you are already acquainted with the
terminology.
There are other reasons to prepare for a lecture by reading the
assignment in advance. It may lead you to ask helpful questions in class,
especially if the professor appears to say something that differs from the
text. It may give you a general framework with which to organize the
lecture, especially if the
professor tends to ramble. It may also reduce your note-taking activity
because you do not need to copy definitions and graphs that you know are
in the text.
The point is that lectures and texts are reciprocal learning aids. First,
read the text to prepare yourself for the lecture, and then attend the
lecture to prepare yourself for studying the text.
Learning from Lectures Step 2: READY. One way in which your mind
is like a muscle is that your mind needs to "warm-up" before engaging in
hard work. But
warming up your mind is not quite the same as warming up your body because
you need to set your mind for a particular subject. Engaging in a
discussion on
financial affairs does not prepare your mind for a lecture in Chemistry.
Warming up your mind is called "priming," and involves recalling old
knowledge about a subject in preparation for adding new knowledge.
You can think of knowledge that is stored in your memory as being in
a dormant state, available but inactive. Whenever you think about
something, you
activate those ideas into consciousness and also activate associated ideas
into a near-conscious state. They do not revert directly to the dormant
state but
instead they gradually fade. Ideas that have recently been activated are
easier to recall than ones that have been idle for a long time. It is less
work to process a lecture if you have primed your mind by reviewing
related ideas.
It is easy to get the basic idea of priming. Read each of the
following words slowly, thinking briefly about their meaning to you:
dollar...loan
...money...wallet...gold...bank. Now I would be very surprised if the
word "bank" in the preceding list led you to think of the bank of a river.
Having primed your mind with ideas related to fiscal matters, you are most
likely to think along the same lines when new ideas are introduced. It is
for this reason, by the way, that many people are concerned about violence
on
T.V., ads for alcohol, pornography, etc. If you prime your mind with sexy
thoughts you will likely think of sexual interpretations of neutral
stimuli.
My strong recommendation is that you arrange your schedule so that
you can arrive at class a few minutes before the scheduled start of a
lecture and
prime your mind by reviewing your lecture notes from the last class.
There may not be close continuity from one lecture to the next, but the
important thing
is to get your thoughts directed toward the relevant subject matter. Your
mind will then be ready to start processing the new ideas you hear during
the lecture.
6.3.1 6.3.2
A father who asks a man to A divorce based on incompatibility
clarify his intentions wants him means that the couple
a. to change plans a. found someone else
b. to remove doubt b. can't coexist
c. to begin in earnest c. like different things
d. to repeat himself d. don't have children
6.3.3 6.3.4
Make up an original sentence A solar hot water system is
using each of these words passive if it
coherent subsidiary a. is simply acted upon
feasible succinct b. produces enough
peripheral superficial c. requires little care
proscribe terminology d. uses electricity
6.3.5 6.3.6
True or False? True or False?
It is the lecturer's fault if It doesn't take much mental
you are listening to the lecture capacity to write notes if you're
and don't understand it. just copying what was said or
written on the board.
6.3.7 6.3.8
Which of the following is NOT Why should one take only a few
active participation at lecture? written notes during a lecture?
a. taking notes Are there exceptions to this
b. listening rule?
c. thinking
d. asking questions
6.3.9 6.3.10
If you can not already do so, Practice blinking each eyelid
practice blinking each eyelid separately while holding the
separately without any other eyelid closed. Then learn
facial movements. Note that to open one eyelid while closing
you have to learn voluntary the other. There are many other
control of the muscles of your muscles over which you may not
body. have learned voluntary control!
_
1. b 8. Taking written notes
New level 3 words 2. b interferes with listening
3. and processing information,
4. a especially if one tries to
5. T to be neat and organized.
6. F It is okay, however, if the
7. a lecturer is very slow and repetitive.
Learning from Lectures Step 3: REACT. It is easy to listen passively to
a lecture, and it is hard work to listen actively, with your attention
divided between receiving information and processing it. The time to
learn the ideas presented during a lecture is during the lecture itself.
Many students think that their goal is to record as much of the
information as possible so that they can study and learn later. There are
two things wrong with this approach. In the first place, if you don't
understand the ideas when they are presented in the lecture, it is very
unlikely that you can figure them out later from your notes. In the
second place, it is a waste of time.
In most lecture situations, active participation means only covert
listening and thinking. But if the lecturer says something that you do
not understand, then it is your job to ask for clarification. Recall that
the lecturer is using words to try to explain a non-verbal idea. If you
were paying attention and didn't understand what was said, it is the
lecturer's fault, not yours. It is her or his job to put the idea into
meaningful-to-you terms. . .assuming, of course, that you have a
college-level vocabulary. You can't expect a professor to "dumb-down" an
idea to words at a childish level, but you can expect different words and
different examples aimed at clarifying the idea. Never leave a lecture
confused. When active listening-thinking isn't enough, ask questions
during or after class.
Learning from Lectures Step 4: RECORD. Almost every other book on
college learning advises students to take lots of notes during a lecture,
as many as three or four pages an hour. My advice is just the opposite:
Take few written notes. I hasten to remind you that the best learning
tactics are idiosyncratic, and you must determine for yourself how many
notes you take. The answer will probably not be the same for every
course. But I recommend that you don't try to be neat, and take only as
many written notes as you think you will need to remind you of what was
said.
6.4.1 6.4.2
The succeeding course in a field To elucidate a procedure is to
of study is the one that a. explain it
a. is easier b. explore it
b. is harder c. disprove it
c. goes before d. prove it
d. follows next
6.4.3 6.4.4
When you improvise a solution, A rule that pertains to you
a. you get along without it a. applies to you
b. you make do b. appeals to you
c. you follow directions c. is meaningful to you
d. you try it out d. has value to you
6.4.5 6.4.6
True or false? True or false?
The first review of your By taking complete lecture
lecture notes should occur notes neatly written in your
on the same day that you notebook, you can avoid the extra
took them. step of having to rewrite them.
6.4.7 6.4.8
When during a lecture should you
take notes? In what sense does Logan agree
a. Before you understand. that students should take lots
b. While you are learning. of notes during a lecture?
c. After you understand.
d. When everyone else does.
6.4.9 6.4.10
Negative practice Practice saying rapidly
Clench your teeth tightly
together and recite out loud The two tots took turns on
something you have memorized. the teeter-totter 'til Tom took
Note how important the shape of them to the test tent.
your mouth is in forming the
sounds of speech.
1. d 8. Logan favors taking lots
New level 3 words 2. a of mental notes and few
3. b written notes. Actually,
advocate 4. a he recommends taking lots
5. T of total notes, with the
6. F amount of written notes
7. c depending on the student
and the professor.
Why do I advise against taking lots of written notes? Because your mind
can only think of one thing at a time; you have a limited capacity for
time-
sharing among different activities. Writing requires a lot of sustained
attention. Take a moment to try this little exercise: Start tapping your
non-
preferred hand regularly on the desk at a rate of about two taps per
second. Now try to keep tapping while you write anything that comes to
mind. You will
find that writing requires so much attention that even tapping becomes
irregular. Similarly, unless the lecture is very slow and redundant,
writing is incompatible with listening-thinking.
Taking notes IS NOT active participation. It takes much less mental
effort to copy what the lecturer is saying than to process it. Many
students
don't understand a drawing that I put on the chalkboard because they are
very busy neatly copying the drawing instead of listening to what I am
saying about
it. Learn first, then write notes. You may have noticed that I referred
to "written" notes in the preceding paragraphs. Writing is the slowest of
the verbal skills. If you write neatly for an hour, you can read what you
wrote in five minutes or less...and you can think it in two minutes or
less. Hence, my advice is to take lots of mental notes during the
lecture, and only jot down enough written notes to remind you of what
was said. In this context, don't worry about neatness, spelling, or
grammar, and use any shorthand symbols you know or improvise. The
lecturer may deliberately pause to give you time to write, but more
generally, you need to keep your limited attention capacity focused on the
lecture and not diverted by the mechanical act of writing.
from Lectures Step 5: WRITE. If you do as I have advocated, you will
probably find that your scribbled notes would not be very meaningful
several days or weeks later. The ideas you learned in lecture immediately
begin to fade from memory, and you will need more complete written notes
in the future. Accordingly, sometime shortly after a lecture, and
certainly that day or evening, you need to re-write your notes. I don't
mean just copying them over
neatly. I mean using your written notes to remind you of your mental
notes, reconstructing the lecture in your mind, and then writing down in
your own words
as much as you think you will need when it comes time to prepare for the
exam. You are not graded on your notes. Just be sure that you will be
able to read and understand them later.
This re-write step pertains even if you decide to take a lot of written
notes in class. A half-hour to refresh your memory now can be worth
several hours of study later. This is because you not only have to get
knowledge into your memory, you also have to be able to get it out, to
remember it later. If you rewrite your lecture notes in the way I have
elucidated, recalling what the lecturer said and summarizing the ideas in
your own words, you are completing the input-output cycle. In the
process, you may find out that you really didn't understand something
very well and you should ask the professor about that before the next
class. But the main advantage is that you will have begun to practice
remembering the information while it is still fresh in your mind and hence
it is relatively easy to recall.
Learning from Lectures Step 6: REVIEW. You may sometimes combine this
step with the preceding one, but the ideal procedure is to re-write your
lectures notes soon after the lecture and then review them again shortly
before going to bed that night. The reason for this is given in the note
at the end of this chapter on consolidation of learning. Of all the
suggestions I have about learning, the cheapest in the sense of pay-off
per minute, is to review your notes before sleeping. Just five minutes
spent with your notes before bed-time can greatly enhance your memory of
the material.
Learning from Lectures Step 7: REDUCE. Your notebook should become a
second text for the course material. For it to serve that purpose, you
need to have written your notes in such a way that you can mark up your
notebook much as you do a textbook. As you can probably anticipate by
now, I do not believe that there is any one best way to transcribe your
notes. The most common method is to write in longhand in a spiral
notebook. Because I had learned to type
much faster than I could write legibly, I preferred to re-write on the
typewriter. If you have a word-processor and a printer, using a personal
computer could be an ideal technique. Any method with which you feel
comfortable is as good as any other for you. There is one important
guideline in re-writing your notes: Be sure to leave plenty of blank
space to write short summaries of the main ideas. The reduction step,
condensing ideas into fewer words, is the real essence of mastering a
subject. This is because we think in units called "chunks" of
information. There is no fixed size of a chunk of information; the size
depends on learning. But you can only hold in mind about seven chunks at
a time, and so the larger the chunks, the more information you can
process.
6.5.1 6.5.2
A technique that is conducive to The essence of an idea is its
learning is one that a. true nature
a. contributes to it b. alternative meaning
b. interferes with it c. original source
c. goes along with it d. importance
d. has nothing to do with it
6.5.3 6.5.4
An ineffectual method is one that To recapitulate an argument is to
a. is not learnable a. disprove it conclusively
b. is not productive b. restate it briefly
c. is not easy c. revise it completely
d. is not difficult d. demonstrate it empirically
6.5.5 6.5.6
True or false? True or false?
Generally speaking, the fewer A student should spend as much
the number of words you need to time reciting an idea as it takes
explain something, the better to study and learn it originally.
you understand it.
6.5.7 6.5.8
How big is a "chunk" of
information? Why is the difference between
a. a word maintenance rehearsal and
b. a phrase elaborative rehearsal important?
c. a sentence
d. it depends on the person
6.5.9 6.5.10
Make it a point of learn to Make up some short-hand symbols
use common symbols such as for words you find that you use
< _ less than arrow pointing frequently when taking lecture
> _ more than up _ increasing notes. Include abbreviations.
w/ _ with down _ decreasing Try to add a new symbol every
& _ and right _ leads to few lectures.
# _ number left _ feedback
1. a 8. Maintenance rehearsal
New level 3 words 2. a repeats the material word_
3. b for word and leads to
concise 4. b memorization but it does
spiral 5. T not require understanding.
6. T Elaborative rehearsal
7. d develops comprehension.
For example, if you are a baseball fan, the term "triple-play" is a large
chunk of information. You not only know that it means to get three outs
in a
single play, but you have clear ideas of the most likely ways that this
can happen. It may also mean a few unusual or very critical triple-plays
in your
experience. All of this is wrapped up in the single concept (chunk), but
only if you have learned that much. The process of chunking happens
automatically
as you keep going over your notes, but you can facilitate the process by
reducing your notes to concise summaries of the ideas.
Learning from Lectures Step 8: RECITE. There is one aspect of learning
that all experts agree is very important but that only a few students
practice: Recitation. In common usage, "to recite" means to repeat the
material word for word, and that is appropriate if you are required to
memorize something so that you can give the answer verbatim. As we use
the term, "to recite" means to recall the material from memory, not
necessarily verbatim.
Indeed, in most cases, word for word recitation is ineffectual. This form
of recitation is called "maintenance rehearsal" because it holds the
information briefly in your mind. This is what you do when you keep
repeating a telephone number while waiting to dial it. If you repeat it
enough times, you memorize the number. However, for most college
learning, the best form of recitation is to put the material into your own
words. This is called "elaborative rehearsal"
because it requires you to recapitulate describe explain the idea.
Indeed, you should try to say it in a number of different ways, and where
appropriate, you should try to give original examples of the idea.
Furthermore, you should spend at least half of your total study time
rehearsing the material. "Going over
your notes" should not mean simply re-reading them. You need to close your
eyes or look away from your notebook and rehearse the ideas elaboratively.
6.6.1 6.6.2
An antecedent event is a People who collaborate
a. following one a. work together
b. preceding one b. think alike
c. familiar one c. break the law
d. public one d. fight each other
6.6.3 6.6.4
To conjure an image is to Things that have been synthesized
have been
a. summon it mentally a. broken apart
b. describe it verbally b. sorted into categories
c. copy is visually c. measured for defects
d. like it secretly d. made into a whole
6.6.5 6.6.6
True or false? True or false?
Good students would usually One can profitably combine the
give themselves lower grades review step with the ready step.
than they actually get.
6.6.7 6.6.8
The best student to study with
is one who is What is the role of your
a. a poorer student imagination when reciting ideas
b. an equal student that you have learned?
c. a better student
d. the best student
6.6.9 6.6.10
Try to sit in different seats Learning is less specific to
in different parts of the lecture context if you learn in different
room from time to time. contexts. (For students who sit
(Beware You may find that other in the same seat, grades tend to
students object if you sit in be lower the further away from
"their" seat.) professor the chosen seat!)
1. b 8. Instead of reciting
New level 3 words 2. a ideas into "thin air," you
3. a should always imagine an
legitimate 4. d audience of some type and
perspective 5. T pitch the recitation to
6. T that audience.
This is the one stage in learning where studying with someone can be
conducive to better understanding of the material. After you both have
completed the preceding steps and are ready to practice recalling your
knowledge from memory, you may find that having another student criticize
your summary, and you, in turn, criticizing her or his summary, will
sharpen your understanding of the subject. Because you bring different
backgrounds to the subject, your thoughts may be somewhat different.
Collaboration works best when you are approximately equally good students.
You not only practice recalling ideas from memory, but you both gain new
ideas.
However, recitation does not require another real person...an imaginary
person will do very well. Those of us in the business all attest to the
fact that the very best way to learn a topic is to try to teach it.
Hence, one of the most beneficial ways to rehearse what you have learned
is to imagine yourself teaching it to someone else. Which is more, you
can conjure up different types of students: first a child to whom you must
explain the idea in simple terms; next an educated lay person with a good
vocabulary but little knowledge of the subject; then a fellow student who,
for legitimate reasons, did not attend the class; finally, your professor
who already understands the
idea and wants to know that you also understand it. In this last case,
your very brief summary will probably suffice. In my experience, reciting
material in
these various ways is an excellent context to learn to become your own
worst critic. If you listen to yourself while you are reciting (or
better yet, record your recitation so you can listen later), you can learn
to grade your own performance. No one knows better than you whether you
were trying to fake it or
whether you really understand it but are having difficulty remembering it
or finding words to express it. In the former case, you need to return to
the
review/reduce steps to learn it better. In the latter case, you need
additional practice at recitation.
Learning from Lectures Step 9: Re-REVIEW. The basic principles of
learning apply regardless of the source of the information. Thus, the
arguments given
in the last chapter about the need for frequent review apply to lecture
notes as well as to the textbook. One of the most common tactical errors
is to wait
until an exam is scheduled before reviewing lecture notes. Even the best
notes will have lost some of their meaning if you have not refreshed your
memory of
the ideas from time to time between the lecture and the exam.
One excellent time to review lecture notes is just before the next
class, and one of the best places to review is in the classroom.
Reviewing before class primes your mind for the next lecture, and doing it
in the classroom where the exam will be given associates the recall of
knowledge with that context. You get double benefit from getting to class
a few minutes ahead of schedule and reviewing notes. When there is time
to do so, my advice is to review all of your notes from the beginning of
the term. As with the text, doing so will help you synthesize ideas from
past lectures with the current one.
Learning from Lectures Step 10: RETRIEVAL. To a large extent, the
antecedent steps have gone a long way toward preparing you for an exam.
However, there are a few additional tactics to consider. These are
described in the succeeding chapter.
Conclusion
The most common teaching method used in college freshman courses is
the lecture. Few professors were trained in how to prepare and deliver
lectures and hence there is some justification for being critical of the
method. However the lecture is here is stay and good students know how to
get the most out of it. This chapter focused on ten steps involved in
"getting the most" out of lectures:
1. Read. A good lecturer does not repeat the information written in the
text, but s/he does assume that you have at least surveyed the assignment
and read it enough to know the terminology.
2. Ready. Your mind can function best if it has been primed for the
task by reviewing related material right before class.
3. React. The critical aspect of learning from a lecture is active
participation. This must entail covert attention divided between hearing
the words and processing them; it may also entail overt acts such as
asking and answering questions.
6.7.1 6.7.2
Something that disrupts class A procedure is judicious if it
a. breaks class up a. is a sound, wise one
b. entertains the class b. is an easy, simple one
c. establishes order in class c. is a bold, creative one
d. uses the class for d. is an immoral, indecent one
other purposes
6.7.3 6.7.4
Merging traffic is Searching in vain is
a. coming together a. interesting
b. splitting apart b. difficult
c. moving slowly c. self-satisfying
d. moving rapidly d. useless
6.7.5 6.7.6
True or False? True or False?
You don't need to read the One's reduced notes may look
text before the lecture unless very much like one's original
the professor sticks closely to notes from class.
the text.
6.7.7 6.7.8
A poor time to review notes is
a. before lecture What are the two ways in
b. before sleep which one may "react" during
c. after lecture a lecture? Are both necessary?
d. after sleep
6.7.9 6.7.10
If you have not already Use your middle finger on
learned to touch-type 1 2 3 number 8 as "home base," and
numbers into a keyboard, 4 5 6 locate numbers as you think of
practice extensively. 7 8 9 them in any irregular order.
(A touch-tone telephone 0 Practice this task with
is a good practice each hand.
instrument...on the hook.)
1. a 8. Reacting may be overt or
New level 3 words 2. a covert. Overt is asking
3. a and answering questions;
constitute 4. d covert is attending,
5. F thinking, and rehearsing.
6. T Only covert reacting is
7. d necessary; overt may be
desirable.
4. Record. Your eventual goal is to process the information in the
lecture and the more processing you can do in class, the better. Because
writing uses a lot of your limited mental capacity, you should take lots
of "mental notes" and only enough written notes to remind you of what was
said.
5. Re-write. As soon as possible after class, while the ideas are still
fresh in your mind, you should expand and organize your written notes so
that you will be able to reconstruct the information accurately at a later
time.
6. Review. Evidence suggests that experiences are not fully fixed in
your mind immediately but require some time without disruption in order to
be consolidated. Accordingly, a good tactic is to review your l
: :
3. . . Selective : Occasional
Attention : "catching up"
vs :
: Verbatim shadowing/memorizing
2. . . Personal : Limited vocabulary/grammar
Pragmatism :
vs Wandering mind,
1. . . : competing mental habits
Right Attitude: :
Commitment + Pre-occupation with personal problems,
Optimism + ignorance, and impulsive action
Professionalism
vs P I T F A L L S
:
Doing aimless/hopeless time