BOLA - Study Skills - Learning and Lectures

Study Skills for Effe ctive Learn ing

Learning and Lectures
Your lecture programme covers key events in your working week. They will vary widely from monologues to structured discussions to practicals. Lectures without the use of visual aids and with little opportunity for discussion involve one way communication and suffer from problems.
Yet for an active learner, lecture-driven instruction can be useful and creative. Good sound ideas and information can be well presented offering a rich, informed picture. But concentration needs to be maintained (e.g. by visual aids, by structure, questions, by changes in pace and emphasis). You need to keep active mentally - making notes can help.
In a lecture concepts can be developed and measured against new criteria and the group can respond/explore these. The lecturer can synthesise material, being it up-to-date and provide good guidance for follow-up research by the student.

Lectures are a problem!
- for many learners who may criticise and say they

are dull, boring, a waste of time
makes me passive, sleepy and dependent
de-motivating and stifle curiosity, creativity
are usually one way - I'm just a dust bin
assume too much about my listening ability. My mind can absorb only as my bottom can endure.
the presentation was poorly planned, unstructured - went off the point.

Any lecture is an experience. Even a dull lecturer and lecture can offer useful information and concepts if you work hard as a participant. The lecture may facilitate reflection, development of your own thoughts.

Experiment and Raise Your Participation Level
When you ask questions and participate in discussion you experiment with ideas and relationships, pose hypotheses and evaluate WHAT IF positions.

Take notes actively. Doodling should be creative and related to the subject with lists, space maps, headings and points - 1 2 3 etc.
Write key points with a flourish. Keep the blood flowing. Jot down real life incidents, problems or events relating to the topic.
Maintain eye contact with the tutor (note taking interferes !). Smile and give encouragement. Show enthusiasm rather than boredom - lecturers can see how you feel from your non-verbal communication. This may be interpreted as hostility, boredom, scepticism, rudeness. All these will affect the interaction in the class. Try, without brashness, to facilitate good, everyday creative interaction.
Don't avoid opportunities to speak. Practise asking questions, offering observations in a group is valuable.
Remember six honest serving men ... what, why, how, when, where, who.
Ask for the lecturer to go over a point if you missed it, i.e. "Could you go over that again please" .
Make good stimulating challenges.
"But what how would you prove that point ....." "What possibility is there that ......" "Are there other possible causes ......"

Avoid letting frustration translate into what may be perceived as rudeness. >Make Connections. Try to associate the content of the lecture with your own experience and observation. Draw on newspapers, family, TV, hobby, Business exposure, journal
Participate (nicely, courteously) by sharing observations with your tutor group. Always be careful about hogging it. Your tutor may need to proceed. Your high participation may block some else's opportunity to speak.
MOVEMENT AND MUSCLES Do stretch (nicely!). Keep back straight and head up! It keeps the blood flowing.

Preparation.

Work closely with your lecturer to establish the lecture subject and areas to be covered. If known advance, do some prior reading. If the lecturer says "read the chapter in Buchanan on stereotyping for the next class" - then DO IT - there is NO excuse.
Pre-work raises the level of analysis. Even if you are vague about a lecture's content you can still compare/relate ideas presented to your own stock of knowledge. Offering information yourself will stimulate discussion within the lecture group.
Skills Development (Competencies)
If the course requires you to keep a Common Skills or Competence Evidence file in which you log personal learning targets and evidence of attainment/competence, consider how the lecture may help you develop these skills/competencies.

Ask - "What is my interest in this topic ?" "What can it add to my strengths?" "How can it help one vis-a-vis weaknesses?" "How can this lecture move me forward or add to my stock of knowledge and competence?"
Relate the topic to your assignments. Not just for this module but for other modules (and SUBJECTS) too. Aspects of economics and organisational behaviour have relevance to American Studies, Sports Psychology, even Geology and Ecology.

After the Lecture!

At the end of the talk give feedback to the lecturer. Seek a follow-up. Feedback can be simple - it doesn't need to be damagingly critical. e.g.
"That was good, I enjoyed that." "Can I take up some points with you later?" "I didn't follow everything you said". "Could you suggest some further reading."

After the lecture - do your follow-up reading and research. Do this quickly - don't lose your interest by leaving it too long. If a handout or synopsis has been issued read it immediately. Talk to your colleagues about the topic and exchange ideas. Do some work on your word processor or spreadsheet. Look up key articles in a journal and take notes.
If your lecture notes are thin, useless - take responsibility for fleshing them out by personal research. Collaborate with members of your study group. Try to improve your note taking.
Effective learners don't re-write notes word for word. Much time and effort can be wasted. Instead tidy up your existing notes by using a different coloured pen. Underline and add a few more ideas. Highlighters can help ! Try to draw spider diagrams.

Study Skills Index

© This resource was developed by C. Jarvis