Pedagogical Procedure

I need a method for this coming semester's madness. I have the benefit of a semester's experience, and one thing I learned is that consistency wins the race. If I had been doing the good things I was doing at the end of the semester all throughout, then I would have performed much better on finals. What worked? What didn't?

The test I did best on was the one I had the most time to complete, and the test I did worst on was the one I had least time. In addition, the course that I spent the least amount of time preparing for outside of class was the one that I did worst on. Unfortunately, the course I did worst on was also the easiest and the one I felt that I understood the best. But apparently, I did not understand it as well as I thought I did, because when the time came to explain what I knew, I had trouble articulating my ideas in a logical and coherent manner.

The takeaway is that I must not only understand what I have read, but I also must practice explaining what I understand. At first impression, this seems like it means that I will have to do more work. But I'm not so sure about that. Under the "read it until you understand it" method, I spend a lot of time re-reading and trying to think about the context, as well as struggling with the poor wording of the text. I think that if my reading was done with more of written end-product in sight, it would be easier to skip over the unimportant details to narrow in on the truly relevant information. At the same time, briefs are a monotonous and ineffective use of study time, because they are not written with the benefit of class clarification. In Contracts, I wouldn't know what the rule was to take away from a case, or what issues were important, until after I had the benefit of the professor's questioning. By the end of the semester, I would type up the class notes and reformulate them into an outline format by incorporating the structural organization and contextual background of the hornbook and commercial outline. I believe that this is the most effective way to study:

1) Find the assigned reading in the hornbook and read the relevant section.

2) Make an outline of this section.

3) Read the case; type the issue/rule/reasoning (no more than a few sentences) into the correct place on the hornbook outline.

4) Note in class what aspects of the hornbook the professor explains. Modify case summary so that it is in line with professor's explication. Flesh out elements of hornbook outline that professor alludes to in class.

5) Read E&E cover to cover. Work ahead. Start taking practice exams by April 1st.