Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Advice to Students




  1. If the subject seems boring, look for a way to make it interesting.
  2. Don't just take notes. You are a student, not a stenographer. Try to boil down the concepts into plain language. Pretend that you are teaching the subject to a friend.
  3. Ask questions when something isn't clear. If your question is too long or specialized, see the instructor after the class.
  4. Remember that you are learning a subject, not dictating its scope or content. You may not like its characteristics but subjects come as they are. Don't fight the water. Swim.
  5. Recognize that when you study a subject, you are always learning more than just that subject. Consider the skills you are picking up along the way.
  6. Don't give slavish acceptance to perspectives and opinions simply because they come from an author or a professor. You can find historians with wildly different views of what took place in a particular time. Watch out for biases.Draw your own conclusions.
  7. Strive to learn the material and not just get through the class. Too many students enter the classroom with low expectations of their ability to do well and then they work mightily to fulfill those expectations.

2 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

Being a current student alongside of many younger than myself, I can give another: Take notes by hand, don't just type on your computer or even worse, follow along with the PowerPoint printout the teacher handed out.

When you type, you usually can get down everything the teacher says. When you read a handout, you follow with minimal effort. When you take notes, you are forced to write down what you think the teacher means, which engages much more of your brain than any other way and is much better for learning.

Michael Wade said...

Daniel,

That is a very good point.

Thanks!

Michael