I just thought I'd say right out, I really hate going to lectures and sitting there and listening to someone teach about something. Give me a book on the same subject any day of the week and I'll finish it within 2 days if it's required.

Oddly enough, lecturing (without a lot of encouraging class involvement), on top of being boring, is one of the least effective teaching methods known. :P What I do, then, to get myself through lectures is either ask a lot of questions or take detailed notes, or both.

If it's one of the least effective teaching methods, then why are most college (and high school, for that matter) classes set up that way? And haha @ asking lots of questions and taking detailed notes. That's what I *should* do. I usually bring a book or magazine to read during the class. :P

Supposedly, lectures aren't meant to be sufficient to understand the material without spending at least as much time on outside class as in class reading up. There's reason the word "lecture" comes from the lating word for reading. Incidentally, the lecturer who told me that is one that goes at a reasonable pace himself and provides adequate handouts so you don't have to scribble furiously for an hour.

Even if I think I don't remember a single thing from a lecture, when I go back over it, it still has that "this is new" effect while being slightly easier to pull together than a lecture that I ended up not going to at all. But if I really don't see a point in turning up, I don't. Simple as that.

after years and years of studying, I finally discovered that it is easier to concentrate in lectures when you eg have a boring glossy magazine to leaf through, so you can look at the pictures whilst listening. Maybe this will help others.


The only thing that really helps in lectures is lecturers who speedtalk, unfortunately they are few and far between.

Well lectures are how I learn... I don't know about all of you... if it weren't for those i'd be SOL... I can sit and listen to a 3 hour long lecture and never get bored :/ But in order for me to learn the material I need a combination of lecturing and note taking... Once I do that the material is easy as hell to me... GOD BLESS LECTURES! :) I think theres people who learn threw reading and theres people like me who learn from examples... I noticed something amazing about myself the other day... I was sitting in class and the teacher asked a question from the material she covered a day before... and no one else knew the answer but me... lol I feel so out of place :( But then again I think I got a natural talent of bull****ting my way threw life :) But the only problem is once the class is over at the end of the sememster it's like were the hell did all that memories go :confused: :mad: I can almost swear to you... that out of a class that lasted 3 months i'll only remember a few key points here and there and no hardcore detail information... It's like with my math classes... I gotta relearn all the material I've taken in the past... I just got out of MAT 102 and i'm in college Algebra now and I gotta relearn all that freaken information... and it's VERY annoying... I start my meds on the 28 so i'm hoping there will be a big differance....

Sometimes I tape record lectures so I can listen to them later when I feel like it. I'll wear headphones and listen to them while I'm in a cafe at night, and take notes. I'll also wear headphones at the gym...it's a good way to get the info from the lectures ingrained into your head.

Mystic, is attendance at lectures compulsory?

Mystic, is attendance at lectures compulsory?
YES. Teachers at my school take very strict attendance.

If it's one of the least effective teaching methods, then why are most college (and high school, for that matter) classes set up that way?
Because it's easy. How else do you "teach" 150+ students at a time? :soapbox: Lots of intro classes at the college level actually have this many students in a section.

Mystic, is attendance at lectures compulsory?
Compulsatory = mandatory

Sorry if I sound rude, but I'm going to be blunt here. At what school is attendance at lectures *NOT* mandatory? Serious question.

Mystic,
Way back in the dark ages I attended a university where attendance at lectures was not compulsory in several courses.

None of my lectures are compulsory, bar personal tutorials and practicals. Once classes start getting smaller it may however become obvious to the lecturer, if you're only there twice a semester. I've only missed a handful all year though. I know that, however often I make plans to catch up in my own time, chances are I'll conveniently forget to do so and start panicking before the exam because I've realized my set of notes is incomplete.

It's your own responsibility to learn things at University. No one will take you by the hand or spoon-feed you and if you want advice, you have to go and get it yourself. Even so, the support system is quite good, and my University only has a dropout rate of 3% compared to the national average which is over 14%. Oxbridge probably have about 2%

Oh wow, I forgot about people being in different countries. LOL. My bad. Okay yeah, the national average dropout rate in the UK is LOW LOW LOW compared to that of the US...

What a relief it is not to have to deal with lectures of the mostly listening type in an animation program. Though we still have lectures, luckily it's usually just stuff that you can find in a book or get instructions from the professor later on with. Back in high school my main problem was having to take notes, I cannot write fast enough to pick the important things up. When I write my fastest, I found I couldn't read my notes half the time. Dexedrine really helped things, though. But still, glad not to have to deal with the note taking anymore.

I hate lectures too especially if they are just talking about what's in the text. Luckily for me I am in a very hands on program now.