Purpose Statement
To help students
effectively learn material from textbooks.
Description of Activity
A brief presentation at
the beginning of the semester.
Materials Needed
Spence's "one
minute to better learning" minilecture:
a) Be interested. Studying is worthwhile, even noble. Don't begin until you're
really ready to give yourself to the process. Even if the material is
difficult, there's reward in it for you. Find the treasure.
b) Studying's like eating a meal. Put a healthy amount on your plate. Don't eat
a week's food all at once; you'll get indigestion of the brain. Eat slowly and
savor. Take breaks between courses. It takes time to enjoy and digest.
c) Learning is mind exercise. It's an active process. Stop quite frequently and
ask yourself "what did I just learn?" Write each idea down in your
own words, as though you were explaining it‑to your best friend. If you
can teach it, you've learned it.
Application
The lecture takes only a
few minutes. I have found it most effective to then ask students to read
several paragraphs of the textbook and practice active learning.
Related Student Services
Career center,
counseling services
this web page was created on
11/2/99 at 5:12:26 PM
and modified on 11/2/99 at 5:12:26 PM