If you wish to record the lectures in some way, apart from cost, utility and meeting your needs, you must also bear in mind other factors. It is impor-tant that you get permission to use your machine. This means that you might need to e-mail lecturers before the start of their unit to ask for per-mission. It is also worth briefly reassuring your lecturer about the purpose to which you intend to put the recordings. Some students explain that they are auditory learners and take in information more readily if they hear it while reading handouts and notes. It might be that you need to request a temporary use of a recorder because you have broken the hand/arm with which you write. Many lecturers are uneasy about students recording their lectures. Some are openly hostile. You need to be aware of this so that you are not frustrated or upset by responses to your request. The reasons some lecturers do not want you to record their lectures often relate to copyright of intellectual property or the fact that they can no longer control how their information is used.
‘What are they going to do with this information?’ is a question frequently asked by lecturers. Some academic tutors are wary of giving permission because a lecture may contain off-the-cuff comments and responses which the lecturer would not want to be used for future purposes. It may be a reflection of the litigious society in which we live that lecturers are on their guard concerning recording of lectures because of the notion of ‘evidence which could be used, etc.’ That is not to say that this is commendable, but it is certainly understandable.
If you seek permission at the beginning of a unit, this usually means that you do not have to make the request at each lecture. Of course, if there is a stand-in lecturer, it is only polite to inform them that you have been given permission to record the lecture.
At university you will be expected to cope with the recording and the machine so that it does not interfere with the smooth-running of the lecture.
Academic tutors do not expect to be given the machine so that they can turn the recording on and off. This may have been the system at school but it is different in Higher Education settings. You will need to think about the ethics of selling your recordings to other students.
Summary of this chapter
Getting the most out of lectures Skills for optimising effortsPre-lecture preparationSeven main skills involved Post-lecture tasksConsolidating
Reviewing Reflecting
Online information
Handbooks Downloads
Critical listening skills Note-takingCornell Method Frameworks Using a laptopRecording lecturesDevices Protocols
Listening for key words
What to listen for Listening for key points Verbal cues and signals
LecturesDifferent lecture outcomes
Types of lecture
Purpose of lectures ëReading’ the information signposts How to increase capacity
10 On reflection
Organisation and management are key factors to success. Getting the most out of lectures is up to you. Preparing properly, organising your note-taking and developing effective listening skills will help you to gain the added value you need to ensure that your understanding and knowledge of your subject is deepened.
ACTIVITY 6 Update your personal development planner
Now reflect upon how you go about getting the most out of lectures and how you intend to change and adapt your habits so that you can spend your time more effec-tively. You may want to transfer this information to your own institution’s personal development planner scheme.
Grade your confidence on a scale of 1–5 where 1 = poor and 5 = good.
Date: _________________________________
Getting extra help
Go to the Students Union to find out where to go for skill development.
Many universities and colleges have tutors who provide this service.
My developing skills Confidence Plans to improve
level: 1– 5 I know the skills needed to get the
most out of lectures.
I know the different types and purposes of lectures.
I can listen effectively and differentiate the information I am listening to in lectures.
Feedback on activities
ACTIVITY 4 Listening for key words The talk: ‘The Dangers of the Sun’
Sample notes
Dermatologists warned about the dangers of overexposure without protection.
1. Sun damages layers of the skin, changing appearance:
(a) texture – leathery with a loss of elasticity
(b) result – premature ageing of the skin, causing wrinkles and brown blotches.
2. Secondly, over-exposure – skin cancer:
(a) brown blotches indicator of cancer (b) appear as moles.
3. Extreme exposure – skin’s natural protection from the sun’s radiation destroyed:
(a) effects of UVA and UVB more well known
(b) tanning shops – UVA is a lower level of radiation and therefore less harmful.
Not true!
(i) UVA responsible for damaging the deeper layers of the skin (ii) structural proteins destroyed
(iii) immune systems damaged.
Jot down what you would anticipate you will hear about this topic:
1. Problems of over-exposure 2. Skin protection and radiation 3. Skin cancer
4. Ageing process
Now jot down the key words/terminology which you would anticipate:
1. Skin cancer 2. UVA/UVB 3. Dermatologist 4. Skin layers 5. Over-exposure 6. Cancerous moles
Reference
Pauk, W. (2000) How to Study in College, 7th edn. New York, Houghton Miffin.
Text extract: ‘Is a bulky diet of eucalyptus leaves the best option for the tiny Koala?’
Should Koalas change their diet? Are eucalyptus leaves a sensible choice in the changing environment? Is the Koalas’ diet appropriate for the modern world? All these questions and more have been asked by biologists in their study of this diminutive and appealing little animal.
Koala diet: limited – eucalyptus leaves.
+ & – to restricted diet
The size of the Koalas’ digestive system, their metabolic structures and chemical make-up of eucalyptus leaves combine to provide a fascinating forum for discussion.
Leaves and the digestive system
Leaves rich in fibre
fibre not easily digested by Koalas
but high levels of indigestible, woody lignin Digestive system gut volume to energy needed = animal mass
Koala capacity = small
eucalyptus nutrients poor so large quantity needed System adaptations
1. Koala can regulate food in system:
(a) differentiates types of food (b) expels coarser indigestible matter
(c) left with smaller, more easily digested particles.
2. Cut down on energy requirements:
(a) slow-moving (b) needs less energy
(c) unlike other small animals (d) like three-toed sloth.
3. Koala extracts energy fuel carbohydrate from eucalyptus:
(a) lipids – rich source of energy (b) expels phenols
(c) gets starch and sugar for energy.
2.3 Working in a real team
Working with others is always a balance between maintaining our own individuality and becoming a member of a group to which we are proud to belong. The more we join with people ‘like us’, the more confident we feel in being able to maintain that balance. This balance is often a result of being able to predict how each of us will behave which in turn builds up trust within a team. However, once we work with people we don’t know or with those from different cultures, we are less able to comfortably predict how we will react with one another or what our expectations are. Many companies work in multicultural environments, with flatter hierarchical structures on
increasingly complex issues, where you will be expected to work in very diverse teams. Being a member of such a team therefore needs more skill and you need to know the components of team building in order to make this work. Hoping to muddle along because you have had experience of working with your friends on many projects is no longer sufficient.
In this chapter you will learn how to:
1. understand what a real team is
2. identify the learning styles of your team in order to allocate key roles 3. engage with the mechanics of setting up a real team.
U S I N G T H I S C H A P T E R
If you want to dip into the sections Page
1 Introduction 130
2 What is a team? 131
3 Getting started as team 137 4 Becoming an effective team 141
5 Tools of the trade 146
6 On reflection 147
If you want to try the activities Page 1 Annoying things about working
with others 130
2 Understanding team patterns –
what’s your view? 135
3 Establishing ground rules 138 4 Identifying your team’s profile 139 5 Allocating team roles 142 6 Being your own troubleshooter
when teams go wrong 143
7 Update your personal development
planner 148
ACTIVITY 1 Annoying things about working with others
Below are a series of statements that students often make about group work. How would you deal with these annoying things? Answer these questions now but you may want to change your answers after reading the remainder of this chapter.
Estimate your current levels of confidence. At the end of the chapter you will have the chance to re-assess these levels where you can incoroprate this into your personal development planner (PDP). Mark between 1 (poor) and 5 (good) for the following.
Date: _________________
1 Introduction
We work and play together in many groupings which are brought together for a variety of purposes, such as: sports teams, informal learning groups, mentoring groups, buzz groups for creative solutions, virtual groups and project teams. We generally lump this all together as ‘group work’. However, each of these groupings operate differently. This chapter will develop our understanding of working in a team project as opposed to a loose gathering of individuals; a key employability skill for your future.
The Association of Graduate Recruiters’ chief executive, Carl Gilleard, talk-ing to BBC News (2006), said that ‘Employers are likely to be looktalk-ing to graduates who can demonstrate softer skills such as team-working, cultural awareness, leadership and communication skills, as well as academic achievement.’
There is generally no doubt that being an effective team player and/or leader of a team is an important skill and its development starts during your studies.
However, you undoubtedly have a view of group work that may not be all that positive, so let’s start by revealing that position now (see Activity 1).
I understand what a real I can identify the learning styles of I can engage with the mechanics team is. our team in order to allocate of settng up a real team.
key roles.