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The internet has and still is making getting an education easier, sites like Khan Academy especially.

BTW, LordofHats, have any tips for slow note-takers? I could use 'em.

_Tim?

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:BTW, LordofHats, have any tips for slow note-takers? I could use 'em.

Part of it is honestly recognizing what needs to be written down and what doesn't, which sadly takes experience and isn't something high school preps many for. Teachers spend a lot of time repeating themselves, or babbling, and you don't need to write it all down. Mostly I use notes less to tell me information I can look up on my own and more to remind me of the subject and aspects of it I need to know.

Basic guidelines:
-Write the subject
-Don't bother with complete sentences you don't need them
-Break the notes down as much as you can into small phrases and sentences
-Just write down the key terms not their definitions
-Focus on dates, key terms, names, and general points (if a teacher says the same thing more than once be sure you have it written down in some way) EDIT: Sometimes a teacher will say they want to use 'this definition' for the class in which case you should write it down cause that means the teacher is using the term in an uncommon or special way that you might not find elsewhere.

I did some peer tutoring for the history department and one thing I really noticed is people write down way more than they need to. Entire sentences, even paragraphs which is way more than you really need. For key terms for example don't bother writing the definition. You can find it again later when you need it you just need the term so you know what it is and how to spell it. You can get the definition of Wikipedia or other online resources (Yahoo!/Google) when the time comes.

For example:

Ottoman Land Code
-1858/Tanzimat
-Land reform
-dissolve waqf/make lands taxable
-account for land ownership/increase state control
-abused by community leaders/merchants
-disliked by peasants
-rise of absentee land lords

I can go to the internet to figure out pretty much everything I want to know about that, go back to notes, or just remember. I ended up taking a lot less in notes than other people because my memory is usually pretty good so all I need is a reference point and I can recall most of what I need to know. That might not work for you and you may need to write more which will need to be determined by you yourself rather than by me.

Think of it as a stupid tax.

so typical of the FED

here you go everyone, take this money and do this. Then when you are unable to pay us back we take this money we have been gaining intrest back from you and charge you interest..

The FED and the banks are destroying The American People. Straight up murdering the people who support it.

Melissia wrote:Hell, for lower level science classes, sometimes you don't need the books there, either-- bio one and two I didn't need the book for, felt like a waste really...

so true on bio. I never went to class nor opened the book. Just went to lab and on test days and got an A. And this was supposed to be bio for science majors (aka bio from 7th grade).

The only reason things like chem textbooks are nice is I still find it the best laid out for ease of finding the information. Only time I had my chem books open was to see reaction mechanisms.

LordofHats wrote:

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:BTW, LordofHats, have any tips for slow note-takers? I could use 'em.

Part of it is honestly recognizing what needs to be written down and what doesn't, which sadly takes experience and isn't something high school preps many for. Teachers spend a lot of time repeating themselves, or babbling, and you don't need to write it all down. Mostly I use notes less to tell me information I can look up on my own and more to remind me of the subject and aspects of it I need to know.

Basic guidelines:
-Write the subject
-Don't bother with complete sentences you don't need them
-Break the notes down as much as you can into small phrases and sentences
-Just write down the key terms not their definitions
-Focus on dates, key terms, names, and general points (if a teacher says the same thing more than once be sure you have it written down in some way) EDIT: Sometimes a teacher will say they want to use 'this definition' for the class in which case you should write it down cause that means the teacher is using the term in an uncommon or special way that you might not find elsewhere.

I did some peer tutoring for the history department and one thing I really noticed is people write down way more than they need to. Entire sentences, even paragraphs which is way more than you really need. For key terms for example don't bother writing the definition. You can find it again later when you need it you just need the term so you know what it is and how to spell it. You can get the definition of Wikipedia or other online resources (Yahoo!/Google) when the time comes.

For example:

Ottoman Land Code
-1858/Tanzimat
-Land reform
-dissolve waqf/make lands taxable
-account for land ownership/increase state control
-abused by community leaders/merchants
-disliked by peasants
-rise of absentee land lords

I can go to the internet to figure out pretty much everything I want to know about that, go back to notes, or just remember. I ended up taking a lot less in notes than other people because my memory is usually pretty good so all I need is a reference point and I can recall most of what I need to know. That might not work for you and you may need to write more which will need to be determined by you yourself rather than by me.

I could see myself using a longer version of your method: you obviously have really good associative memory, whereas things are always slipping out of my brain if I don't make enough effort the keep them there. Thanks for the tips, though! I'll definitely be using your general approach if I can get it to work for me.

_Tim?

LordofHats wrote:
That's honestly kind of my point though. At party schools it certainly works wonders, but at my school there was probably this extremely small minority of students who actually had real medical conditions that required the clinic. Other than that, I was paying so the aholes two doors down could screw their girl friends (and their not-girlfriends) and so the girls could get their pills. It pissed me off that I had to pay $120 so that they could keep me up all night with all their ing .

Extreme statement yes, but I seriously hated that so much. Some of us actually go to school to get a degree. Not get drunk, party all week, and screw girls whose names we'll never remember.

There's no reason that you can't do both, plenty of people I went to school with made a habit of it, and I didn't go to a party school. Hell, that was pretty much my lifestyle every year except Junior year when I dd the majority of my internships. Granted my grades could have been better but they still weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination.

LordofHats wrote:
That pisses me off though. Again, I hate paying $150 so the guys down the hall can get drunk as hell and keep me up all night. That said, my student government actually just brought in bands to do concerts about once a month. Concerts I never went to but a fair number of people did and they used them for fundraising. Other than that though I never saw my SG do anything useful.

The beer was usually for fundraisers. We had several benefit galas and festivals every year. Basically show up, get drunk, and the money goes to whatever charity the students voted to support; usually something related to gay or women's rights when I was there.

LordofHats wrote:Room and board at some schools is exhoborant.

I think I paid right around 9,000 my last year, which is still not as high as I've seen elsewhere. Of course, all but one dorm had AC, our cafeteria was professionally catered, and numerous other amenities were provided. It was definitely cheaper to live off campus than on, but it was also less convenient.

LordofHats wrote:
And yes. Text books are a scam. Especially when you realize you honestly can get by with most classes without ever using them! The only classes where I actually used my books were my biology class and my history classes. The rest I skipped on.

Yeah, I don't think I bought books at all after my freshman year. If I needed one I would just go get it from the library, which was rare because most of our courses were taught out of journals.

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:
I could see myself using a longer version of your method: you obviously have really good associative memory, whereas things are always slipping out of my brain if I don't make enough effort the keep them there. Thanks for the tips, though! I'll definitely be using your general approach if I can get it to work for me.

Another thing to remember is that, if your notes are incomplete, you can usually fill in the blanks by doing some quick Goggle searching guided by the information that you do have, as well as the syllabus.

Or, if you're really stuck, there's nothing wrong with talking to your prof.

They are getting around the text book avoidance by going with lots of online coursework you have to by a code key for. I talked to a few starting college (both last and this year) and they had to buy a code key for online coursework that cost almost $100 for each class. You can learn the quadratic equation without a specific book, but to do the homework you have to have to do the online portion. There was even one for a Freshman Year Orientation class all new students had to take.

Ahtman wrote:They are getting around the text book avoidance by going with lots of online coursework you have to by a code key for. I talked to a few starting college (both last and this year) and they had to buy a code key for online coursework that cost almost $100 for each class. You can learn the quadratic equation without a specific book, but to do the homework you have to have to do the online portion. There was even one for a Freshman Year Orientation class all new students had to take.

That's just evil.

_Tim?

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:

Ahtman wrote:They are getting around the text book avoidance by going with lots of online coursework you have to by a code key for. I talked to a few starting college (both last and this year) and they had to buy a code key for online coursework that cost almost $100 for each class. You can learn the quadratic equation without a specific book, but to do the homework you have to have to do the online portion. There was even one for a Freshman Year Orientation class all new students had to take.

That's just evil.

_Tim?

At the same time its really nice for some things. For physics it was great because we got instant feedback on problems, great tutorials, and learned how to google (turns out all the answers are somewhere online, just a matter of how you google it). Although for other subjects, it was nothing but a pain in the butt and an excuse for the teacher to not do any work.

My favorite is online classes where all the content is online. I just took soci 100 online, and stupidly bought the book. I think I only used it twice, on very specific questions on the test that related to the authors viewpoint and wasn't covered in powerpoints. I learn better copying a powerpoint then trying to read a book and pick out what is important.

And how is this different from a debtor having his or her wages garnished?