Preparing for College Academics

Course Structure
Courses are often divided into separate

components:
lecture: instructor conducts a lecture on a prepared topic seminar/tutorial: smaller groups of students discuss course

material with a TA
lab: students gain hands-on experience related to the

course content
online: students access discussion boards and course

content online system (moodle)

Sample weekly schedule

Sunday 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 Physics Lecture Enviro Science lecture Enviro Science lecture Enviro Science tutorial Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

11:30
12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00

Math Lecture

Physics Lecture
Math Lecture Business lecture Math Lecture Intro to Psych lecture Physics Lecture Business lecture Business lecture

Intro to Psych lab

Physics lab

20:30

Class Size
Class sizes are much larger in university than at GWA You may be one of more than 100+ students in some of your courses
You may feel anonymous and find it difficult to communicate with the instructor

When the instructor presents a great deal of information in each lecture, it can be difficult to know what or how much to write down You may find it intimidating to ask questions or comment on the material

Course Expectations
How you take notes and what you take notes on will depend on your professors teaching style and course expectations: Are you expected to record information, participate in a discussion, ask questions, and/or observe how an expert (your professor) thinks, analyzes, and solves problems? Are you expected to have printed out and reviewed PowerPoint slides before the lecture? Are you expected to have completed the assigned textbook readings and/or problem sets before lecture? Do tests and exams focus on lectures, textbook material, or an equal combination of both?

Preparing for Lectures

Can You Skip Class?

Read Before Class

Materials to Bring to Class

The key is to develop a system that enables you to : 1. review regularly 2. recite (repeating key concepts from class) 3. reflect (connecting class ideas to other notes and readings)

English 101
COURSE SYLLABUS

FALL, 1998
INSTRUCTOR: JOHN DOE

Office Building 2, Room 613 OFFICE HOURS:4:30-5:30 MON & WED; 7:30-8:30 TUE & THR; 11:30-12:30 FRI OFFICE PHONE:845-9409 (leave a message after six rings; please speak loud enough and clearly) E-MAIL ADDRESS:johndoe@hcc.hawaii.edu (school) johndoe@aol.com (weekends and holidays) WEB PAGE:http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~johndoe COURSE PAGE:http://www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/instruct/div6/drafting/basic.htmCLASS HOURS:5:30-7:50 MON & WED

Description Organization Objectives Required supplies Grading plan Due dates Attendance policy Rules of conduct Schedule

OFFICE HOURS
Dont hesitate to see your teacher during his or her office

hours if you have a question. You can ask for clarification on coursework, assignments, or reading. Remember, a question or concern that you raise might be something that the teacher may want to bring up in class and have a class discussion on. Creating dialogue with your teacher is important. Your teacher will let you know the methods of communication that you can use to seek clarification or advice during the semester. These may include email, appointments during office hours or interacting with them through an online learning management system.

Engaging Lecture style

Engaging lecture style - key concepts

Verbal cues are phrases or words that your professor may use that can help you identify key concepts and main points. Some examples may include:
Now this is important The point that Id like to make is.

In summary
There are three ideas that Id like to cover today

in relation to X. The first is

Writing Lecture Notes

When you have to write notes quickly and thoroughly, try some of these strategies to make your notes easier to record and to review later on. Mark the date at the top of each of each piece of paper used to record your lecture notes. Page numbering can also help keep your notes in the proper sequence. Emphasize key phrases, terms and titles by circling, highlighting, or using different colors of ink. Show the relationships between items by drawing arrows, creating concept maps, or organizing content into tables. Use numbered bullets to outline sequences or timelines to organize events. Use white space and headings to delineate topics. Write on only one side of the page or create a blank column on the page so that there is space available to edit notes or to record questions, study notes, summaries or messages to yourself. Make sure that you can read what you record. If your handwriting is difficult to read, you may want to print, or look into using a laptop computer. Sometimes you may have to forego neatness. Sketch diagrams/charts/visuals as quickly as you can to give yourself an overview. Find full versions in the textbook or online if required. To record information more quickly try using abbreviations, omitting common words or using IM style notehand (b4 = before)

Lecture Follow-Up
Taking effective notes doesn't stop when the lecture ends. Take some time outside of class to edit, integrate or review your notes to help you prepare ahead of time for exams or projects. Try to review lecture material within 24 to 48 hours as recall will be very high. If you wait longer to review lecture material you may find that retention drops and you are relearning rather than reviewing. Set aside a few minutes each day to go over your notes, rewrite any messy parts, fill in gaps, and put your notes in a binder. If your instructor speaks very quickly, set aside time right after class to write down what you can from memory. In some cases, it may be helpful to compare your notes with a friends. Your friend might be able to help fill in some gaps in your notes, and you may be able to help him/her. If you take notes from the textbook after lecture, use the back side of your lecture notes. Youll spend less time taking textbook notes on topics already covered in the lecture. If you had difficulty understanding the content of the lecture, you can:
o See the prof during office hours. Take your notes with you to show where you are having difficulty. o Ask the prof if he or she gives the same lecture at another time. Hearing an explanation a second time can often lead to deeper understanding. At the end of each week, write a summary of the weeks lectures and textbook notes or create a concept map. The summary or map can later be used when studying for exams.

Understanding a "new" accent

One difficulty students have in listening to lectures is

understanding a "new" accent. Maybe your high school English teacher talked with one kind of accent and now your lecturers use a different one. In English speaking universities the staff come from many different countries and from different parts of the same country. This means that even though they are all speaking English it may take a week or two to get used to their voices. Suggestions:
1. Look at the lecture topic on the course outline. Do you

understand the title? 2. Find out the meaning of the topic before the lecture. 3. Read the textbook chapter on the topic. 4. Think about the questions you think the lecturer will be answering.

Understanding fast talkers

A second problem can be the speed of the lecturer's talking. Some students don't even know if what they are writing down is one word or two. Handy tips

1. Ask if you can record the lecture. Some lecturers allow recordings but others don't. 2. Try to note key points like names, statistics and dates. 3. Use a capital letter instead of writing the key word every time it is mentioned. For example if the lecture is about water pressure just write WP each time. 4. Make up your own shorthand system for common words. Here are some that are commonly used. There are many more and we suggest reading more about taking notes so that you become efficient at it. & = and # = number A = B = A equals B A -> B = A leads to B @ = at 5. Use plenty of space on the page as you take your notes. Make lists and sketches. You can add details later from your textbook. 6. Write down what you think you hear. Then later try saying it aloud if it doesn't make sense. Perhaps "be low" is really "below" for example.

Listening, looking and writing at the same time

Students say that writing and listening at the same

time is a problem. How can I write fast enough to take down all the important bits?, they ask. Actually you need to be doing three things: listening, writing and looking because while lecturers are talking they may also be writing on the board, pointing to overhead transparencies or showing slides. Maybe there are handouts as well. In that case listen to what the lecturer says about the handouts. Are they the same as the lecture or something extra? Looking up from your note-taking from time to time is important as you will find clues from the way the lecturer moves around.

Finding links between the lecture and the textbook

If you are better at reading English than at listening

to it, then you may notice that the words the lecturer says are sometimes different from the words in your textbook. The important words for the subject are the same, but not all the words that join the ideas. The same thing is likely to happen in your language. People write in a slightly different way from the way they speak. Handy tips 1. Read the textbook chapter before the lecture. 2. If you can't do that, read it soon afterwards looking at your notes to see how they match.

When can I ask a question?

The usual time to ask questions is when the lecturer asks for them. That may be at the beginning, during, or towards the end of the class. In large lectures not many students interrupt with a question while the lecturer is talking. Listen for the lecturer to invite questions in words as shown in the table below. THE LECTURER SAYS EXPLANATION Last week we discussedDoes anyone have any questions about that ? This question comes at the start of the lecture. If you have read your lecture notes and still don't understand them, now is the time to ask. Is everything clear so far? This question comes during the lecture. You can ask about something the lecturer has just said. Would anyone like me to go over that once more? Here the lecturer has explained something difficult. If you didn't understand, now is the time to ask. Does that help? This question follows the lecturer's answer to a question. Students usually say "Yes thanks" but if they haven't understood this is the time to ask.

What sort of questions do students ask during lectures?

Questions about details If you don't understand a word or phrase that is repeated during the lecture and seems to be important, then you can ask:

What does mean ?

Do you mean by X ? Other questions remind the lecturer that something has not been quite clear. Notice the word 'please' in the second sentence below, which is often used in English to show politeness. Students who don't have a word like this in their own language think that English speakers overuse it, but it's a quick way of making yourself sound polite and friendly. Would you mind explaining the point about? Could you say that last bit again please? Questions about the textbook Lecturers like questions that show students have been thinking and reading between classes. Here are some examples: On pageof the course book it says How is that related to today's lecture?

Could you explain the point about in our book?

What sort of questions is it better not to ask? Some students ask a question that has just been answered. This can happen if you have been waiting for some time to ask your question and have forgotten to listen to what the lecturer is saying while you wait for your turn. Students also ask questions which have been answered in other ways, such as asking "When is the next assignment due?" when the date is written on the board. Some questions are better asked in tutorials such as asking about the lecturer's feelings or personal opinions:

How do you feel about?

What do you think about?

10 Bad Habits
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Calling the subject dull Criticizing the speaker Getting over stimulated Listening only for facts Trying to online everything Faking attention Tolerating distraction Choosing only what is easy Letting emotional-laden word get in the way Wasting the differential between speech and thought speed