Reading and Remembering
The best way to begin any reading assignment is to skim the assignment to get an overall view of what information is included in the assigned material.Aftering skimming, read the material in detail highlighting or taking notes If there are headings/subheadings, rephrase them as a question. Examine the subheadings, illustrations, etc which will help identify the significant matter of the materials. Read the first sentence of every paragraph - this is generally where the main idea is found. Evaluate what you have gathered, write a summary encapsulating what you have learned. Based on your evaluation, decide whether or not a more thorough reading is required
RONDA, many students come to class thinking that like previous courses in other schools, they just need to memorize. You are right, that will not teach them a job or how to think like a professional persona and problem solve when appropriate. Thanks for valuing and planning multiple repetitions.
Michele Deck
I usually have my students read ahead of what I will be going over in lecture in class. I will then stress the topics that i want them to pay specific attention to. At this point they should have been subjected to the material twice. I then try and come up with a visual mneumonic of some sort to help them remember the more complicated aspects of the material they are going over. This is usually where I see light bulbs go off on those students that may have not been getting it. I then provide them with pre-tests and we have classroom discussion to review the material covered. By the time they study their course material to prepare for my exam the have been exposed to the material so much, they do quite well. Retention of the material learned occurs here and is necessary in the medical field. Regurgitation of material on test day just will not cut it when what you are learning can make the difference between life or death.
Jon, I hope you teach this to all your students. Many of them have not been taught study skills.
Michele Deck
