c omprehension of a cademic l ectures. learning objectives evaluate listening & note-taking...
TRANSCRIPT
COMPREHENSION OF ACADEMIC LECTURES
Learning Objectives• Evaluate listening &
note-taking abilities • Evaluate ability to
note numbers• Reflect on areas of
strength & weakness • Develop strategies
to improve listening & note-taking
• Pre-Coursework Evaluation1
• Looking at Lecture Transcripts2
• Note-taking Basics3
Learn to Listen & Listen to Learn - Overview
How listening to academic lectures differs from everyday listening
Languagemay be more formalmay use subject-specific vocab
Interaction -unidirectional-listeners – no control-speaker – no feedback-speaker “holds the floor”
continuously
Expectations - take notes; retain info. for later use
What to do in order to comprehend an academic lecture more efficiently.
Be aware … Add information… Predict… Evaluate…
Be aware of the parts of language that convey meaning:
vocab stress rhythm intonation body language
Add information that the lecturer expects you to add
Don’t attempt to record word for word what the lecturer says
Use other sources: your own knowledge of the subject-
matter your own world experience
Reinterpret lecturer’s words (in ways that make sense to you)
Make predictions while listening
Predict what?• content• organization of lecture
Why?• To overcome “noise (internal &
external)• To gain time to process info and take
notes
Evaluate constantly – decide how ideas relate & what’s important.
Why? So you know what to pay attention to
(and possibly take notes on) So you can better retain the information
Looking at Lecture Transcripts
Objectives:Increase awareness of how lectures are
formatted Increase ability to predict information:– content (and)– organizational direction of a lecture
How is the language in lectures different from that which you find in magazines or books?
Lecture Excerpt
• There are more words.• The sentences seem to go on and
on.• The speaker uses words like “all
right” and “hmmmmm.”• There is more repetition.• There’s no punctuation.• The speaker sometimes goes off
the topic.• It seems more informal.
Magazine Excerpt
• There are fewer words.• There are clear beginnings and
endings to sentences.• Words like “all right” and
“hmmmm” aren’t used.• The ideas are presented more
succinctly.• There is punctuation.• The speaker stays on the topic.• It seems more formal.
Possible Answers - Exercise, p. 8
Recognizing CuesWhen taking notes, it is important to recognize two major differences between the language used in lectures and that found in writing:
the introduction of new ideas
a change of topic, the conclusion of an idea the intended organization of
the lecture
Lecturers also use more:
paraphrasing, repetition exemplification
Lecturers use verbal and nonverbal cues to indicate:
Getting the Main Ideas Using Context & Prediction
To understand the main ideas, you do not need to catch every word…You can use logic, your knowledge of the subject, and your understanding of lecture cues to make good guesses about information that you might have missed.
Try doing the exercise on p. 16 of Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn
Answers to Group Activity p. 16-18
1. The “players” change.2. You’re out to win something.3. Everybody has his or her own
style.4. You can change your style.5. There are rules.
Predicting Content and Lecture Direction
Do the exercise on p. 18 of Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn by Roni S. Lebauer
• Predicting content and lecture direction helps you to organize your notes in advance and to listen more selectively and efficiently.
• Predicting does not mean knowing the correct answer; it means making an educated guess.
NOTE-TAKING BASICS – Noting Key Words
Do the exercise on p. 23 Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn by Roni S. Lebauer
Note as much information as possible in the fewest words.
Omit words that are not important
Write down only those words that carry meaning
Develop your own symbols and abbreviations.
The important thing is that you understand your notes and are able to read them a day, a week, or a year later.
Visually Representing Relationships
See examples on p. 24 of Learn to Listen; Listen to Learn by Roni S. Lebauer
Do the exercise on p. 25
Use the space on your paper to show relationships and the relative importance of information
Indentation is another way to show the relationships between pieces of information and their relative importance.
8 Dos and DON’Ts for Improving Lecture Comprehension and Note-Taking
1. DO note key words.2. DO use abbreviations
and symbols.3. DO evaluate as you
listen. Decide what is important and what is not.
4. DO Use the space on your paper to organize information and visually represent the relationship between ideas.
5. DO be an active listener. Predict lecture content and organization.
6. DO make gueessees if you miss information. Remember that lecturers usually repeat and paraphrase information.
7. DO listen for the lecturer’s main points and for the general organizational framework
1. DON’T note every word.2. DON’T write everything down.3. DON’T note indiscriminately.4. DON’T take notes as if you were
writing a composition.5. DON’T be a passive listener.6. DON’T give up if you miss
information.7. DON’T lose sight of the forest for
the trees. (Don’t listen for details before getting the larger picture.)
8. DON’T forget about your notes when you leave the lecture.
QUESTIONS?