The two things crucial to learning any subject in College

[Cyc]

1.) Textbook <-- If the textbook is solid and the tests are based on material in the text, then you're golden.

2.) Slides posted online <--- If your teacher isn't a twat, he/she should be posting the material on WebCT or whatever software your school uses to share stuff online.

Personally, I think every class should have a good text book. My biggest pet peeve is math text books that don't bother to use english prose to explain how to work out problems. I actually dropped a class because our math text was so terrible. You can't just throw problems at people using math terms. You have to explain how the shit works first. amirite? Maybe other mathphobes will agree with me.

Every class should use Powerpoint or some digital version of notes that can be uploaded after lecture. There's no excuse in 2009 to have a teacher who writes notes with an overhead projector. Also, they should be using the slides as a reference to keep themselves organized. I had a teacher who had great slides, but refused to post them online because she felt that people wouldn't attend her lecture if she did. She was a decent lecturer too, but man, what an arrogant bitch.

Got anything to add to my comprehensive list?

 

[BARBARELLA]

Definitely agree with those two, especially the online notes, some of the notes my lectures puts up on the board or talks through are incomprehensible and it means that there impossible to go back to, which means that you have to learn straight from the book, which brings us back to your first point

 

[djzmo]

I'd have to disagree with those two things being essential, I'd say motivation is far more important, if you aren't motivated, then maybe those things are kind of important. On a side note, I was in a history class a couple of years ago where the teacher dictated the class and made us wrote EVERYTHING he said. I've never, ever learned so much in a history class before. By writing what you learn you re-learn it in some way.

 

[Cyc]

^ I agree that's a good aid for rote memorization... but I disagree that it should be shoved down your throat in the form of mandatory note-taking. I hope you atleast had a laptop. I couldn't put pen to paper that long.

As for motivation, that's really an apples n' oranges thing. I by no means meant to imply those were the only two things you need.. moreover they're the two most important supplemental things.

 

[yougene]

Know what type of learner you are, and engage as many senses as possible in the learning process.

Communicate what you've learned with peers. Explain what you know, ask about what you don't know. That sort of relates to my 1st point.

 

[Enlitx]

I do think that posting slides online is very important, it has helped me out a lot.

I was actually thinking about this subject the other day. I am taking a 400 level biochemistry class right now, and the professor is very good about teaching so students can understand and learn the material.

She makes us take an online quiz after each lecture to make sure we know the material, and an online quiz before the next lecture to make sure we are reading up and staying ahead of the game. Every week we also have one in class quiz that is harder than the online ones (such as memorizing the complete pathway of glycolysis including the structures of every substrate and the name of every enzyme for each step). During every lecture we usually have a fifteen minute period to do a worksheet with 2-3 peers that pertains to the material covered in class. She pauses during lecture to make us explain a concept to the person sitting next to us. She has an online discussion board that she checks constantly so we can all ask questions about whatever the subject is. She also encourages students to answer questions (she says will help her write you a good recommendation letter). She writes out 100 study questions for every two lectures that will pretty much gurantee you an A on a test if you answer them all correctly. The study questions don't simply ask for answers to a complete problem, she asks questions that lead you to the type of thinking that will make you understand the problem in all its aspects. Finally, she gives five tests and then a final, so you aren't trying to cram so much stuff into one test.

Compare this to professors who simply give you three tests and then a final, and that is it (besides posting lecture notes), and you can see why I love having this professor.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that she also gives us 4 questions during class with our wireless response device (which allows you to pick A,B,C,D,E from a list of possible answers on the board). These are graded as well. All in all there is a hell of a lot of work, but I understand the material a lot better than I would if another professor was teaching it.

 

[Lysis]

My professor this year puts a podcast up of his lecture. That's pretty damn cool and the only professor who has done it in my long years of school.

I think a professor can get away with not posting powerpoint slides online if they sell their notes in book form. I've had professors who use a textbook as secondary for learning, so I don't really need it except for clarification. I like when professors sell a cheap book of their required points in notes form. First, it's cheaper for students. Second, you know exactly what's on the tests. Third, you just need to go to lecture and highlight points that the professor brings out.

 

[ebola?]

Got anything to add to my comprehensive list?

We wouldn't if your list were comprehensive.
...
Actually, I have contentions with both items.
1. At a certain level, courses will require primary studies and specific analyses, not more general text books. As a grad student, it appears that...well, all sociology textbooks oversimplify to the point of distortion.
2. I prefer by far dynamic lecture and discussion on the chalk board. To the extent that I actually generate outlines or slides, I'm happy posting or e-mailing them.

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

GO TO CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MOST important thing right there.

You may think that it is OK to slack off and you can read the notes online later... but guess what? POW you missed a quiz. Or you missed the announcement for the quiz next session. You missed out on some crucial example that will be used as THE major exam question.

DO NOT assume that everything will be put up on the web. It may not be. NOTHING may be put up, and then where are you? Fucked is what...

You're god damn well paying for your classes, so go to them!

end of story

 

[Cyc]

^ That's why they invented the rubric. Handy thing, that. Never miss another mark again.

I understand that attending class is important, but not everyone learns well that way. Personally, I'm content curling up in my bed with a pot of coffee and a textbook, flipping pages and reading chapters. If I want to spend my money doing that once a week, then I don't expect it to be held against me. The learning is still facilitated, it's just not conventional.

 

[cocacrazy]

^going to class is not all about listening to the lecture. It's also a way to get info on what the proffesor is going to actually put on the test which they often hint at and how they want assignments done.

When I go to class I get a feel for how the professor grades, what they are looking for. This is invaluable to me since every instructor has some weird quirk.
This obviously isn't essential for passing but it sure does make life easier, at least in my experience it has.

 

[johanneschimpo]

All I've ever done is written down what the prof said (especially when they give you that little hint that its something that's going to be tested on), then reread the notes the morning of the exam. The process of hearing, writing, then reading it is enough to implant almost everything in my head, and my I get pretty damn good grades for putting in a few minutes of studying while others dedicate hours a day.


I agree with the bad textbooks though. I had a god-awful book on QM this quarter. As if the class isn't shitty enough for a non-physics major, the book was the least linear textbook I have ever encountered, and it was impossible to get into it at all. I wish my egomaniac profs would stop trying to write their own horrible textbooks, which always lead to a class full of D's and F's (inflated after a curve, of course ).

 

[euphoria]

Paying attention is #1 for me, sit up front, turn off your cell phone, don't get on bluelight on your laptop or something.... turn it all off and just listen. You'll remember shit so much better if you heard it really well the first time. So much better than if you just read the notes later on.