NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

1. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

2. studySMART@GCU Today’s Session • Types of classes • Note-taking activities • Getting the most from seminars and tutorials

3. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • Lecture: large class where one lecturer does most of the talking • Seminar or tutorial : smaller class which goes into more detail on a topic and in which students are asked to prepare and participate • Lab: where teaching takes part not in a classroom setting but in a simulated laboratory.

4. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • Lecture: Listening and note taking • Seminar or tutorial : preparation, participation, presentation • Lab: watching, listening, active learning

5. studySMART@GCU Listening Skills for University Take notes on this 10 minute lecture about listening skills

6. studySMART@GCU Listening is a thinking skill • Listening v hearing • Key skill to get the most from lectures • Active listening

7. studySMART@GCU ‘The purpose of attending lectures is to understand and record this understanding for future use in essay writing, thinking, and preparing for exams. If you are attending lectures and not thinking, you are basically wasting your time by postponing the learning of your course until a later date.’ York University, Learning Skills, Note Taking at University, http://www.yorku.ca/cdc/lsp/skillbuilding/notetaking.html#Learning NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

8. studySMART@GCU Lecturer’s Style • Provides overview at beginning? • Reviews previous lecture? • Powerpoint? Handouts? • Repetition of important points? • Use of examples? • Voice and body language NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

9. studySMART@GCU Features of the lecture • Introductions and conclusions • Repetition - rephrasing of ideas • Linking expressions • Elaboration NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

10. studySMART@GCU Hints and Tips for Lectures • Prepare in advance – know the topic and do background reading • Arrive in plenty of time and sit near the front • Note down anything you do not understand – ask questions at the end or email the tutor • Keep asking yourself whether you are concentrating – it is really easy to drift • Do not become emotionally involved with the content. It will stop you listening to the next section • Do not dismiss a subject as uninteresting. NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

11. How did it go? • In small groups, discuss how you found taking notes from someone lecturing • What do your notes look like? • Did you have a strategy? • Would they be useful to you in the future? • What could you do to make them better afterwards? • What did you find difficult? What do you need to work on? NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

12. studySMART@GCU Note-taking Techniques

13. studySMART@GCU Note-taking Systems 1 Verbatim – word for word Outline – heading and side-heading

14. studySMART@GCU Note-taking Systems 2 3. Cornell System Picture taken from University of Maine, Cornell Note Taking Method, http://www.umfk.maine.edu/acserv/tips/notes.cfm

15. studySMART@GCU Note-taking Systems 3 4. Mind Mapping Picture taken from Tony Buzan, Buzan World Mind Maps – Health http://www.umfk.maine.edu/acserv/tips/notes.m

16. studySMART@GCU Hints and Tips • Start notes with subject of lecture, lecturer’s name and date. • Experiment with different note –taking techniques. • Do not try to copy down everything the lecturer says. • Leave plenty of spaces to fill in more details later. • Use headings and sub-headings – helps with structure • Read over notes after the lecture – fill in gaps with extra reading, ask lecturer. • Organise notes into ring binders with dividers . Be organised from the very start – different colours, folder and sections for different topics. • Develop your own shorthand - ↑ ↓ ≠ pa

17. studySMART@GCU Introduction to Reflection Pick another form of note-taking from the one you used before. Try taking notes on this 5 minute lecture. Do not worry too much about the content – we will go over reflection at a later date. It is more about your note-taking than the particular topic. NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

18. studySMART@GCU What is reflection and why do I need to use it? • Helps students and practitioners make explicit links between theory and practice • Many different definitions • Essentially, refers to learning from experience and using that learning to improve your practice in the future • ERA cycle • Schon’s (1983) reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

19. studySMART@GCU Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (1988) NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk

20. studySMART@GCU Reflective skills Johns’ Model of Structured Reflection (2000) • Looking in • Find a space to focus on self • Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions • Write down significant thoughts and emotions • Looking out • Aesthetics: What was I trying to achieve? Why did I respond as I did? • Personal: Why did I feel the way I did within this situation? • Ethics: Did I act for the best? (ethical mapping) • Empirics: What knowledge did or could have informed me? • Reflexivity: Does this situation connect with previous experiences? How could I handle this situation better?

21. studySMART@GCU Rolfe’s Framework for Reflective Practice (2001) • What? • So what? • Now what?

22. studySMART@GCU References Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods, Oxford Further Education Unit: Oxford Johns, C. (2000) Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: a Reflective and Holistic Approach to Clinical Nursing, Practice Development and Clinical Supervision, Blackwell Science: Oxford Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning as the Science of Learning and Development, Prentice Hall: New Jersey Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection in Nursing and the Helping Professions: a User’s Guide, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action, Temple Smith: London

23. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • Seminars and tutorials • Tutor-led discussion • Students asked to prepare and then participate in discussion • Sometimes students will be allocated or choose a topic and present to group • Sometimes entire group will consider a scenario together (problem based learning (PBL)) • Remember the 3 Ps – preparation, participation and presentation.

24. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • In groups discuss: • What kind of preparation would you do for a tutor-led tutorial? • Why do you think it is important for everyone to contribute to a group discussion? • What kind of barriers do you think there might be in discussions? • What different types of role might there be in a problem based learning exercise?

25. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • Hints and tips • Read as much as you can to help you feel confident and enable you to participate. • Note down any questions you may have. • Get to know points where you can raise a point: look for a gap in talking, make eye contact with the tutor, agree with someone else’s point and add your own perspective, disagree with someone and tell them why or raise a new point or question.

26. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • Confidence • Start small – even saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will show that you are engaged. • sit next to someone you feel comfortable with. • Give off an air of confidence (even if you’re not!) • Take along notes you have prepared • Speaking and working in a group is a skill – it will take time to develop!

27. studySMART@GCU Making the most of classes • Summary • Be prepared! • Be organised! • Be part of a team! • Be confident!

28. studySMART@GCU Vic Boyd Stephanie McKendry Academic Development Tutors NMCH NMCHstudySMART@gcal.ac.uk