We too have a mandatory first year course to help students adjust to college. I'm actually on the committee that is revising the curriculum, and a number of faculty have given me feedback that it is a waste of time teaching students how to take notes. There general argument is that it's a skill that is becoming obsolete. Of course there is also the broader concern that freshman year experience courses are a waste of time and should not be part of an academic curriculum. I disagree with that statement, but some of my engineering and science colleagues disagree.
I guess one of my biggest concerns in the classroom is how to help my students become active learners. My concern with distributing lecture notes is that some students may feel that they don't really need to actively read the text, take their own study notes, attend class, etc. Maybe someone who is a better lecturer than me wouldn't have that problem. I think I'm a more effective teacher when I faciliate discussions and Socratically encourage students to think about the material. What has been successful for me this semester is assigning discussion questions for each class. This means the students are more likely to read the material before class and come to class with a basic grasp of the material. I look for common themes in the discussion questions and structure class discussions around those themes. I'm still playing around with these ideas, but I'm considering assigning directed reading assignments for each chapter which would include questions about the general themes discussed in the chapter, but also would include a question asking what they considered to be the most important topics in the chapter, what they felt they best understood from the chapter, and what they felt they least understood from the chapter. I've also been thinking about using concepts maps more frequently in class and perhaps assigning them for homework. Any one have any experience with this? ______________________________________________ Roderick D. Hetzel, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology LeTourneau University President-Elect, Division 51 American Psychological Association Department of Psychology LeTourneau University Post Office Box 7001 2100 South Mobberly Avenue Longview, Texas 75607-7001 Office: Heath-Hardwick Hall 115 Phone: 903-233-3312 Fax: 903-233-3246 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage: http://www.letu.edu/people/rodhetzel -----Original Message----- From: Gerald Peterson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:22 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: distributing lecture notes I am finding that more students (even upper level students) seem not to be taking notes, have trouble knowing how to take notes, or review notes in a superficial fashion. We have sessions to help first year students learn how to study and take notes. Effective note-taking does involve active listening and thinking as well as composition. While it is often maligned, good note-taking can help with later studying by providing an individual sense of organization to the material and offers the possibility of individually-relevant elaboration and thought about the material/ideas presented. This assumes, that the notes are examined later and thought about. Students may, unfortunately, be reinforced for simply and passively copying material that offers little more than a laundry list of ideas or, at best, someone else's (the instructor's) sense of organization which the student seldom deconstructs or "decompresses" with any insight. I have noticed that students appear to be conditioned to automatically copy the outline notes I put on a transparency, and they seem to do this mindlessly. I am tempted now and then to put some nonsense in the outline and then ask them about the material and engage them in an effort to make sense of the material on the outline. I often put things like "ask the class about this" OR "class ask me about this" and "on the next test" on the transparency. The students copy it down, but seldom ask or inquire, hmmmm. During reviews for the exams I may mention it and they suddenly "discover" it. This Let's me know what they do with their notes in the meantime (some seem to not look at their notes until the day before the exam surprise surprise). I think outlines or class notes or other such things presented can contain useful tips, reminders, and hints that some students will ask about and then class discussion can be developed around these items. Giving them my notes however (like "study guides before exams), may not by itself offer anything more than a security blanket. They need to actively think/study about the class material sometime. Cheers, Gary Peterson Shannon Gadbois wrote: > > Two quick thoughts: > 1. we shouldn't assume that students are "passive" when they are not > furiously writing notes in class. The opposite might well be the > case. Students have no time to think if they are just writing down > notes as we lecture. 2. providing notes does not preclude active > instruction. In fact, for some faculty, knowing that students "have > the notes" might make them more inclined to "go out on a limb" and do > activities rather than just give information. > > At 04:42 PM 02/26/2002 -0600, you wrote: > >Hi everyone: > > > >I struggle with this issue. It seems that when I give out my notes > >before the lecture, then students are more passive in class, don't > >take their own notes, etc. I did this last semester and was > >concerned about the almost total lack of note taking in these > >classes. This semester I don't distribute my notes, but either > >distribute a general outline or put one up on the overhead. Still, > >however, very few of my students actually take notes in class. Does > >anyone else notice that their students are not taking notes? How big > >of a problem is this? > > > >I wondered if part of the problem with lecture notes versus no > >lecture notes is that we are spending too much time lecturing. I > >don't know about the rest of you, but this semester I'm trying to > >lecture less and get the student more actively involved through group > >assignments and activities during class time. > > > >For instance, this morning in my health psychology class the topic > >was cardiovascular disease. Instead of lecturing about the risk > >factors and the methods for modifying the risk factors, I had the > >students divide into smaller groups and assigned them the project of > >developing a community-based cardiovascular health promotion program > >for African-American women. Part of their assignment involved > >identifying the salient risk factors and creatively (but using the > >research cited in their text as a foundation) developing methods for > >modifying the risk factors in the program they're developing. I > >circulated between the groups throughout the class period and helped > >them to think through their decisions, connected their current > >material with concepts from other chapters, etc. They spent the > >entire class session developing these programs. For a homework > >assignment I gave them a copy of an article published in a > >peer-reviewed journal that described a randomized clinical trial > >investigating the efficacy of a community-based cardiovascular health > >promotion program for African American women (the same kind of > >program they were charged with developing). During our next class > >session, they're going to present the programs that they developed > >today and we're going to compare their studies with the program > >described in the outcome study. My role will be to facilitate the > >discussion on these topics, but I'm hoping that their active > >involvement today will help them be more active (and understand more) > >during our next discussion. > > > >I really love getting my students more actively involved in the > >learning, and I think that I'm a better teacher when I do that as > >opposed to lecturing. What this has to do with distributing lecture > >notes, I have no idea! :) > > > >______________________________________________ > >Roderick D. Hetzel, Ph.D. > >Assistant Professor of Psychology > > LeTourneau University > >President-Elect, Division 51 > > American Psychological Association > > > >Department of Psychology > >LeTourneau University > >Post Office Box 7001 > >2100 South Mobberly Avenue > >Longview, Texas 75607-7001 > > > >Office: Heath-Hardwick Hall 115 > >Phone: 903-233-3312 > >Fax: 903-233-3246 > >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Homepage: http://www.letu.edu/people/rodhetzel > > > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: FRANTZ, SUE [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > >Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 2:15 PM > >To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > >Subject: RE: distributing lecture notes > > > > > >Yes, I make my lecture outlines available on my website for those who > >are interested in printing them out. > > > >I've found that several students bring them to class to take notes > >on. It hasn't sped up my lecture as far as I can tell, because I > >still take the time to write my outline on the board as I go along. > >I just get fewer people struggling to make sense of my handwriting. > >=) > > > >I also like to think that students spend ~more~ time mulling over the > >concept when they are not worrying about how to spell it. > > > >Students also use the outlines to guide their reading; they pay more > >attention to the concepts I'm going to cover in class. In some ways > >that's nice (they've at least ~read~ the sections I'm going to > >cover). However, I emphasize that the text is their first source of > >information; I bill myself as an assistant to the text -- adding and > >clarifying information. The students' focus on my outline puts me > >back in front with the text assisting me. That's not enough for me > >to scrap the availability of my outlines though. > > > >With the outlines, I include links to websites that provide more > >information on the topic. I don't have as many links as I'd like, > >but they are being gradually added. (Thanks to Jeff Ricker and > >Stephen Black; I just added the sleep deprivation link to my States > >of Consciousness outline, complete with the little tidbit on Fran and > >Marie!) Eventually, I'd like to include recommended readings with > >each outline for those who have some free time. Ah... things I'm > >~sure~ I would have done last summer had I not moved 1900 miles to > >start a new job. =) > > > >-- > >Sue Frantz Highline Community College > >Psychology Des Moines, WA > >206.878.3710 x3404 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >http://flightline.highline.ctc.edu/sfrantz/ > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To > >unsubscribe send a blank email to > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >--- > >Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > >Version: 6.0.325 / Virus Database: 182 - Release Date: 2/19/2002 > > > > > >--- > >Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > >Version: 6.0.325 / Virus Database: 182 - Release Date: 2/19/2002 > > > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To > >unsubscribe send a blank email to > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Shannon Gadbois, M.Ed., Ph.D. > Brandon University > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Phone: (204)727-7306 > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. 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