Lecture 3

Investing in yourself

What is Learning?

How do you know that you have learned something?

What is learning? What do you have to do to learn something?

How to know you have learned something?

New ideas pop up into your consciousness as you are reading chatting, etc.

You find yourself becoming interested in a new idea and thinking it over.

You can put an argument into your own words. You can create your own summary of a topic. You are able to think your way into planning an

essay.

You are able to move on to learn something deeper.

What is learning?

Taking in new ideas By making the effort to understand what you

read and hear. Working on new ideas

By fitting them in alongside what you already know

Drawing connections with what you already know

Expressing new ideas By using them to say things in your own way.

What do you need to do to learn?

Making an effort to understand as your read and listen.

Making notes selectively and creatively – not just copying everything.

Thinking about what you are learning, and organizing it in your head or on paper.

Draw connections to other ideas, theories, methods.

What do you need to do to learn?

Listening closely and joining discussions in class

Reworking your class notes Write them out in “organized form” Do this before starting on assignments or

exams Treat writing as a key learning experience.

Methods of Learning Learning is like having a discussion with your subject.

You “receive” new ideas and information, and you “reply” by putting the ideas and information to use.

The ways to engage in this discussion are:

Reading. (articles, textbooks, etc) (“receive”) Writing. (essays, assignments) (“reply”) Listening. (attending lectures) (“receive”) Speaking. (debate, classroom discussion)

(“reply”) All these ways contribute to your learning.

Academic Style of Discussion Academic “discussion” uses the following elements.

You need to be aware of these methods as they help you to read and understand more easily.

Debate. Sets ideas against each to test their strengths.

Scholarship. Shows how your arguments link to what other people think.

Argument. Present a logical sequence of steps to lead to a conclusion.

Academic Style of Discussion

Critical analysis. Take ideas apart to evaluate strength and weakness.

Evidence. Presenting evidence to back up your arguments.

Objectivity. Writing in a detached, unemotional way so that your arguments stand on their own.

Precision. No wasted words. Saying what needs to be said to present your argument, and no more.

Academic Style of Discussion

Of course, many academic discussions involve more than one of these elements, sometimes many.

If you want to be able to read / write effectively, you should be aware of these elements.

Identifying what the writer is doing will help you to understand his purpose and to read and understand the document more easily.

How to Read

After reading, make a few notes. How long did it take to read? # words? Did you like it? Was it interesting? Was there anything unclear or that you didn't

understand? Summarize it in one sentence. Summarize the main arguments (3 or 4

points) The idea is for YOU to control the reading.

You do this by being active and making notes.

How to Read Remember, WHILE reading you should have a

highlighter marker and a pen, and you should: Highlight key words and phrases. NOT TOO MANY! You make yourself an active

reader by choosing the specific words and phrases that you think are important.

Make margin notes. Circle words and phrases. “I think this is wrong” “?” or “!” “This is an example of Davidson's theory”

Try to connect your margin notes to other things you already know, or to other parts of the article.

Problems in Reading Unfamiliar words / specialist terms

Should you stop to look them up? Looking things up can slow you down. You can look them up, ignore them, or guess. If you do not look them up, circle them and put a

“?” in the margin. This reminds you to look them up later.

Specialist language is used for a reason: clear communication

you need to become familiar with an area of study to understand the particular way in which people in that area use certain words.

Reading Speed

Different speeds are appropriate for different tasks

There is no one 'correct' speed. However... some guidelines might be:

Easy familiar material: 12 pages/hr Somewhat familiar material: 8 pages/hr Difficult or unfamiliar material, or material

you want to deeply understand: <5 pages/hr

How to Read

The purpose of reading is to develop your thoughts.

You need to put new ideas and new information into the understanding and knowledge that is already in your head.

You need to develop new points of view which means that you connect these new things with other things, and you can discuss how they connect to each other.

Slow Reading

When you really want to digest something fully, you need to read slowly and take careful notes. Here's an example:

“I started to read with a highlighter and a pen. I read a few lines, wrote some notes on my notepad and in the margin, in my own words. I highlighted the important phrases. Then I went to the next few lines. I sometimes drew diagrams to show how concepts connected to each other.”

Active Reading

Underline or highlight key words or phrases Not too many By choosing which words to select, you are

actively engaged. Make notes in the margins

Underline/highlighting also can be passive after a while

So write margin notes: make comments or ask questions in the margins

Active Reading

The key is to focus your attention on what the text is saying, not on the words on the page.

Think about what the text's key concepts are. You should try to ask, about any reading:

What is this telling me? What do I think about this? Am I surprised?

Does it make sense to me? Do I expect this to be true?

How does this match with what I already know?

Reading Critically

In addition to making sense of what you read, you need to decide whether you are convinced by the arguments.

Weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments.

Can you trust what you've read? In what context was it written & published? Are the arguments logical? What do those on the other side(s) say? Are the conclusions justified?

Making Notes

Go back to the article you read, and select the most important highlighted/underlined words or phrases

Use a “shorthand” that you understand Your notes will be very easy to write and

understand. e.g, use ↑ and → and ↓ to indicate changes

in things, or how one things leads to another thing (→)

Use “>” and “<” etc.

Outliners

One way to make notes is with “outliner” software

Most word processors (MS Word for ex.) have got an outline view built in

Notes

Making separate notes is an additional investment which can add a lot of value to reading a text.

Not always necessary – depends on what you've been reading & your purpose.

Notes should NOT be an abbreviated copy of the original text.

They should be an attempt to pick out the bones of the argument.

Cornell Note Taking System

Use a large notebook. A4 size paper in a ring binder.

Divide each page into 4 parts Horiz. Line across the top

1. Top: Fill in course, lecturer, date. Horiz. Line a little way from the bottom

4. Bottom: summary area Vertical Line between the top & bottom lines

Creates Areas 2 and 3. This vertical line is ¼ from left side of page

Cornell System...

Fill in the top area before the lecture starts Make notes in the main area (2) during the

lecture After the lecture, read through your notes:

Find key concepts, questions, ideas Write these in area 3 (the left margin)

After you have made some notes, write a quick summary of it all in the bottom area (4)

Cornell System

When taking notes, remember to indent them so that main points are to the left, and sub-points are indented to the right

Examples are indented Supporting evidence is indented

Listen for key phrases such as: “the main issues are” “another important factor” “why do we think this is true?”

Memory

By organising your knowledge you can often remember it better.

Grids When considering 2 or more related topics it

is useful to write these down in a rectangular grid, and consider key elements of what makes them different from each other.

Mind maps Perhaps more “creative” or free-flow Special software can do this, or just by hand.

Memory

Both of these methods help you to remember better.

The key is to organise your knowledge into a structure that shows relationships.

Note Taking: Summary

Taking notes keeps you actively focused It is good for your morale because it is a

creative process with a tangible result It helps you to understand better because it

forces you to search for meaning in what you read or hear

Notes serve as an extension of your memory and make studying for an exam easier.

Listening to Lectures

To get the full benefit of a lecture, you need to: Do some preparatory reading before the

lecture (perhaps the core textbook?) Take notes during the lecture Revise your notes and re-read the text, after

the lecture to ensure you get all the main points.