Lesson 3: Going to Class; What to take, What to do, What to know
You will be spending a big chunk of time in class, or you should be anyway. It is important to know what the benefits are. I will also discuss specifics with regards to efficient note taking in this lesson. This is a lecture on your lecture! Because it might well be the most important thing you will do to ensure success in college!
The importance of attending class
Let’s start this lesson out with the importance of attending class. It is crucial to realize this early on because nobody is going to be taking attendance in a lecture hall of several hundred students. You will have to determine yourself if you want to go or not, but I am going to tell you why it is important to always go!
First of all I’ll give you a bit of stats101: most people who fail the course did not attend classes regularly. A professor usually gives hints on what will be on the next test or the exam in class, these things are not written down in online notes if those are provided for the course. By no means are the notes a professor can post online a substitute for the class. They are usually a very limited representation of what he/she discussed. The notes comprise a something like 30-50% of the actual class material. They are useful for cross referencing and in case you were really sick and really could not go to class. However if that is the case always copy someone’s notes! They will never be as good as you own, but they are better than nothing.
You usually notice something will be on the exam if a prof really emphasizes it in class, make a note of those points in your notes so that you know when you are studying what was emphasized. Apart from that test dates can be changed, and professors can be sloppy; if there is a course webpage they often do not change the dates on it, even if they have mentioned it in class.
Some professors are very textbook oriented; they basically read up the book, and sometimes hardly even change around the wording. They give you the general idea you are wasting your time; but you are not! While he is reciting his speech up front you are (hopefully) absorbing parts of it in your brain, decreasing your study time later on. If you understand a concept in class fully, you will be surprised how much that can cut your study time later on. No text book will explain something to you like another person can.
More importantly: some professors are absolutely not textbook oriented. They will lecture their own material and the text book is merely there for additional information if you did not understand the concepts in class immediately. This kind of professor will hardly base their test questions on the book; they will base it mostly on their lectures. Good notes are the only thing that will save you in this case. If you have a professor like this it is even more important to attend every single lecture and write down every possible important thing that is said in class.
Be aware that sometimes what seems like a casual remark or a discussion in class can show up on a test! Be extremely cautious, and consider even taping the lecture. Most professors do not have a problem with that, but ask just to make sure. If you hate listening to the same lecture twice, then try and write fast. However for some people taping it does help them work out their notes later. For others it doesn’t work, you’ll just have to find out what suits you best.
Regardless of what kind of professor yours is, the lectures are a continuation. You can compare it to a soap opera; if you miss a few episodes you are lost and have no idea who married who and who cheated on the other. It’s the same with lectures; one follows the other so if you miss one and don’t get the notes you are missing chunks of information. Considering most material is cumulative this can lead to you not understanding what is being discussed anymore, because you missed that chunk. People who attend every lecture tend to do better on average. That does not mean sit there and literally fall asleep. Take coffee if you had a late night, or do whatever, but it is really embarrassing to start snoring in public. Especially if you are sitting right at the front! The professor is not going to take it as a compliment, and you’d be surprised how well they can remember!
Even if you miss a lecture or two it is not a disaster; more important even than lectures are labs and tutorials. Labs specifically usually require a medical statement if you do not show up or you will get a zero grade for whatever work you were responsible for. That is also the only place in university where it is common to take attendance. Adhere to the lab protocol and lab safety; don’t wear open shoes or shorts, and always wear safety goggles. Most people’s goggles end up on their head and the policy enforcement varies from college to college, however it is essential for your own safety to wear them. Even if you are not handling something that seems dangerous, another person could be (even in an adjacent lab) and you don’t want to suffer for someone else’s mistakes.
