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Lectures are still one of the main teaching-learning media at UWA. It has been said that 'Lectures are a means to transferring the notes of the lecturer into the notebooks of the student without passing through the mind of either.' A cynical definition but sometimes all too true. How can you get the most benefit from the time you spend in lectures (and it is quite a lot of time for many students)?
First you need to figure out what each lecture is for. Many think that a lecture is simply a way of transmitting information but there are many objectives which a lecture can aim to fulfil - for example, to train students in methodology, to provide background, to stimulate interest, to demonstrate critical thinking and so on. So it is no use expecting every lecture to conform to your predetermined idea of the purpose of a lecture. You must be flexible.
Secondly, why take notes at lectures? The most usual answer is to make a permanent record which enables you to recall the lecture at a later date (usually for exam revision!). However, I would say that this is not the most important function of your notes. The most vital function of notes is to assist you to understand the topic of the lecture.
To maximise your understanding you need to do more than turn up to a lecture and jot down as much of the lecture as is physically possible (hand in overdrive, brain in neutral).
A preview of the lecture topic is extremely beneficial. If you turn up to the lecture 'cold' it is often difficult to tune in to the lecture, whereas previewing is the intellectual warm up which prepares you for the main event. Previewing need not be hugely time-consuming - a quick skim through a textbook to survey the main features of the lecture topic and familiarise yourself with some of the jargon in which the concepts are couched makes it much easier to comprehend a lecture as it happens. Another useful activity is to preview by looking over your notes from the last lecture(s) in the unit: because lectures series usually have continuity you can make some reasoned estimate of what the upcoming lecture will be about.
Previewing is particularly important if you are having a problem with a particular subject or lecturer, as it is your best hope of overcoming the difficulty.
At lectures do not attempt to get down everything. If you try to do this it is virtually impossible to understand what the lecturer is talking about. The art of note-taking lies in selection and condensation. One crucial distinction is between principles and examples. Most lectures are based on one of a few principles only but use lots of examples, illustrations and demonstrations to help you understand the principle(s). Your main concern is to understand the key principles and make notes about them. Notes on the other content should be very brief and taking them should not be allowed to distract you from your main objective.
However, for full understanding and retention of that understanding, you will need to review your lectures, preferably the same day you attended them. The purpose of a review is to check that your understanding is complete. Just re-reading your notes is not enough: you need to re-construct the significant ideas and grasp their inter-relationships. Making some kind of summary, either verbal or graphic, which clearly structures the ideas is a good way of checking your comprehension and will be of enormous value when you are revising for your exams.
Doing a review is also a good time to consolidate. For example, you can integrate your lecture notes with additional ideas, data and so on taken from your textbook, you can do some of the recommended reading, or so some applications, exercises or problems posed by your lecturer or the textbook. This will help you understand each topic fully and fix the ideas in your memory.
The most important thing to remember is that lectures are only a beginning, not an end in themselves. You will learn much more by what you do after them than you will by what you do at them.
Problems? If you have any kind of problem with your academic studies you are invited to come and discuss it with me and we can try to find a solution. Remember, it's no use suffering in silence!
Geoff Cooper
Learning Skills Adviser
Student Support Service
Free legal consultation for Guild members provided by Dwyer Durack will operate in 1995 on a fortnightly basis. All Guild members may access the Dwyer Durack duty solicitor by telephone. Last year all students were issued with a Legal Services Card, advising them of services available through Dwyer Durack and the Guild. These cards have been distributed to all new financial and voting-only Guild members in 1995.
Students seek legal advice for a wide range of reasons, but the most frequent inquiries student presented with in 1994 related to traffic offences, family matters, vehicle repair disputes, property disputes and criminal offences.
The campus visits are very convenient for students to avail themselves of. Seeking out legal advice can be daunting and many students are uncertain about the procedures involved in approaching the legal fraternity. The Education Office aims to make students aware of other avenues of legal advice available to them, such as the Youth Legal Service at YMCA House and the Parkway Legal Service on campus.
Following the initial consultation at the Guild, if students require longer term advice they then negotiate directly with Dwyer Durack regarding fees etc.
For further information regarding free legal advice, please call the education office on 380 2292 or 380 2289.
All financial members of the Guild may book a free twenty-minute consultation with a fully qualified solicitor. Please see an Education Officer or speak with the Guild Administrator to make an appointment.
The final date for Austudy applications which will include backpay is the 31st of March. Applications made after this date will pay out Austudy only from the date of lodgement.
An Austudy officer will be at the Education Office on Mondays and Fridays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to take inquiries and accept Austudy lodgement forms, until the end of this month. For further information contact the Education Office on 380 2292 or 380 2289.
The Education Office will present a special section on welfare for students in the next issue of Pelican. A full range of welfare issues and solutions will be covered. If you are unsure of what you are entitled to as a university student or an Austudy/Abstudy recipient; if you want to know what help is available to students on the poverty line; if you need to know where to seek assistance for accommodation; or if you want to know where you can obtain advice on employment, make sure you read the next Issue of Pelican.