Learning by doing 5 doc

I N S HORT The first step in studying is to recognize what you know.. Once you’ve identified what you already know in your study material, you can find out what you don’t know.. Those wi

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Now you have a general idea of what the new word could mean For

example, crumpet could mean a small piece of food that’s not important.

To be sure, you may want to check your definition with the dictionary’s

definition For example, the dictionary definition of crumpet is “a light bread, often toasted.” By coming to your definition first, you’ve made what you learned meaningful to you And you’ve used cognition You used

what you already knew!

I N S HORT

The first step in studying is to recognize what you know You know when

you know something when:

• You can make clear images in your mind of what you’re studying

• What you’re reading or listening to follows a clear order

• You’ve answered all your own questions

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Practice Tips

The next time you study, test if you really know a paragraph:

• Draw a picture or a cartoon of what the paragraph was about

Then, write a paragraph describing your picture or cartoon

How are they similar? The more similar your paragraph is to the

paragraph you’re studying, the more you know the paragraph.

• Make a timeline, showing the order of events in the paragraph

Check by going back to the paragraph

• Draw lines connecting the pictures to the events listed on the

timeline

C H A P T E R 8

You can only find an

answer when you have a

question Once you’ve

identified what you

already know in your

study material, you can

find out what you don’t

know Then you can

create questions, and

then look for the

answers And then,

you’ll have learned

something!

H ow often have you heard someone say,

“I don’t know”? That phrase is the key to studying What separates experienced students from inexperienced ones is awareness of what they know and what they don’t know Those with academic experience know enough to ask the specific questions that will help them find the answers Once they’ve found those answers, they’ve learned something new

Separating Known From Unknown

George was studying geometry “I know the answer!” he exclaimed when Abe asked him to work on a problem with him.

“How do you know it?” Abe asked “Well, I know what an

equi-lateral triangle is because I see the word equal in it That clues

me to the fact that an equilateral triangle is a triangle with three equal sides.”

“I know that, too,” Abe said, “but I still don’t know how to find the area of the equilateral triangle.”

“Oh, you’re right; I don’t either,” George said, looking at the problem again “I jumped ahead too quickly; I only recognized what I knew about the problem, not what I didn’t know Let’s look at this together Maybe we can find something else we know that will help solve the problem.”

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FINDING OUT WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW

After each study session, and after each class or lecture you attend, your final step must be to reflect on what you learned in that session or class Thinking about the session lets you check what you know for sure and what you don’t know

The writer of your textbook, or the lecturer in your class, is taking you on a trip to some place you’ve never been before, and that “place” is

a new piece of knowledge or a new set of facts When the trip is over— when you’ve read the chapter or heard the lecture—you need to ask your-self the following questions:

• Where was the writer or teacher trying to take me? That is, what was the main idea of this reading or lecture?

• How did I get there? What were the steps that led to this main idea?

• Have I arrived? Do I understand this main idea and all the steps that led up to it?

Chapter 7, “Knowing What You Know” showed you how to know

when you know for sure You know that you know the material when you

have:

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• A clear picture in your mind

• A clear sense of order

• No remaining questions in your mind

The problem is that sometimes you can think you know more than

you do That is why it’s important to actually draw your picture and write

down the order When you come to the point that you can’t

proceed with your drawing or list, you’ve hit the point where you should

start asking questions

Another way to find out what you know and what you don’t is to role

play Pretend you are the writer of your textbook, or your teacher If you

have a study buddy (see Chapter 16, “Working with a Study Buddy”), one

of you can be the writer or teacher and the other the student Explain to

your study buddy what you just read or heard If you don’t have a study

buddy, explain it to yourself Make sure you don’t leave out any steps!

When you come to any point where your explanation is unclear,

when it might not make sense to another person, you’ve found out what

you don’t know That’s when it’s time to start asking questions Once you

have questions, you can find the answers, and then you will know

something that you didn’t know before

THE QUEST IS ON!

Finding what you know and then finding what you don’t know is

some-thing you already know how to do If you were in an unfamiliar town and

wanted to get to Adams Street, you would know that you don’t know how

to get there, and you would ask directions

Those directions would be based on what you already know—

your location at the time You’re in the park, and you’ve been told Adams

Street is near the park, but you don’t know which direction to go So you

ask And someone tells you to walk north till you get to the end of the

park and then turn left and walk one block to Adams Street

You might have one more question: Which way is north? And if

you get an answer, you’d follow those directions, walking to the end of

the park and turning left So then you get to a street, but it doesn’t have

a street sign How do you know if you’ve arrived? You stop someone

passing by and ask again

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