1. Academic Skills Advice
Getting the Most Out of Your Lectures
This workshop will:
Provide advice and tips on how you can prepare for your lectures.
Explore strategies for optimum engagement during a lecture.
Examine ways to maximise the information gained from a lecture.
Complete register and LHS grid on feedback sheet
Is aimed at Level 1 undergraduates
Louise Livesey
Academic Skills Adviser
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

2. Academic Skills Advice
Today’s plan…
Your current expectations of lectures
What to do before a lecture
What to do during a lecture
What to do after a lecture
All text appears
Today we will be looking at helping you understand what lectures are all about, and ways in which you can get the most out of lectures.
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

3. 1.Your current expectations of lectures
TALKING POINT
A way to share your ideas. No
To give all the information on a set topic.
To raise more questions than they answer.
Yes
Allow tutors to show off
To bore you.
To test you.
To be thought-provoking.
To give you help for essays.
Yes.
To make you experts in the subject.
All text appears in one click
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

4. 2. What to do before a lecture
Activity 1: Before a lecture and take with you
Look at the title
Look at the other titles in the series
Do some background reading.
Think about what you already know about the topic
Locate, download and/or print the lecture slides
Paper or a device
A pen or pencil
Spare pens or pencils
Cornell note-taking template Different coloured pens or pencils
A dictaphone
Different coloured highlighters
You have a better chance of understanding the lecture and remembering what you’ve covered if you’ve put what you are about to listen to into a context.
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

5. Academic Skills Advice
2. What to do before a lecture
You will definitely need:
Plenty of plain or lined paper or a notebook-style device
Pen or pencil
Spare pens or pencils
You may want to have:
Different colour pens or pencils
Highlighters
Dictaphone
Laptop
Cornell template
Left block of text on one click, right hand side another click
Organising yourself
You are likely to understand or absorb the lecture better if you are paying full attention from the start. This means you must make sure you have all the kit you will need at your fingertips.
A4 paper is best as it gives you more space to work with
Consider that you will be taking notes, possibly at some speed – a fountain pen might not be the best thing, a pencil might wear down etc. – choose a suitable tool
Click
Dictaphone/ mobile: say a bit more in a few minutes
Laptop: some people can make notes on a laptop but don’t try if you are not confident about your tech & typing ability and be considerate of other people
Always try to attend the first and last lectures
First: course outline given; lecturer may explain how he/she views lectures; important documents might be distributed; assessment deadlines, essay questions etc.; contact details
Last: revision help; sources of advice; course summary
Consider your position in the lecture theatre:
Can you see and hear well enough?
Are you comfortable? – out of draughts/air con, avoiding sun in your eyes etc.
Who are you sitting near? It can be good to sit near a friend who might make occasional intelligent comments, but not such a good idea to be on the back row in the middle of a conversation about the pub last night!
“Study buddies”:
It can be very helpful to have a colleague’s notes if you must miss a lecture but this isn’t an excuse for not turning up! Lecture notes are personal reminders, and whilst your friend’s notes, in conjunction with the handout etc. will be useful, they are not a substitute for your own notes.
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

6. 3. What to do during a lecture
Make decisions about what you note down – be selective.
Listen out for the lecturer’s ‘signposts’.
Highlight in your notes:
Ideas, facts or concepts which you don’t understand.
Ideas, facts or concepts with which you agree or disagree.
The difference between lecturer’s arguments and viewpoints
Note any questions or comments that occur to you whilst listening.
Note if there is a gap in your knowledge.
Blank and each point has a click
Make decisions:
Use abbreviations: some are conventional but it’s fine to use your own – as long as you remember what they are! Used + for and, lit for literature, missed out ‘the’
Signposts:
Think about lecture plan, handout headings etc.
Definitions: “I’ll first define the term…”
Examples: “Let’s look at an example…”
Summaries
Descriptions of sequences/processes: “The first step…”
Connections: “Therefore”, “It can be seen that…”
“Critical” “Essential” “Crucial”
Stress and emphasis/ repetition
Conclusions: “take-home message” “bumper sticker” “key aspects”
References: to text books or other sources – these will often provide a useful starting point when you come to research for essays etc.
Highlight:
* don’t understand
Tick or cross for agree/disagree
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

7. Academic Skills Advice
3. What to do during a lecture
Think about what you do whilst the lecture is in progress.
Annotate the PowerPoint handouts?
Not rely on hand-outs and compare them to the handouts?
Use diagrams, symbols, mind maps?
Record the lecture?
Rely on the materials being available electronically?
Think about on first click and then each ? has click
Ask student opinions:
You can’t possibly write down everything and you shouldn’t even if you could
And 3. Think about the handouts – if they are not copies of the PowerPoint slides then you might have to make decisions about what you need to note and what you don’t – golden rule = never waste time noting something that is already available to you: in the handout, on the VLE, in a textbook etc.
Use whatever system of note taking works for you – more info available from LDU and in Note Taking workshops
Most lecturers are happy to have you record the lecture on a Dictaphone etc. but it is polite to ask beforehand – and that way you will usually be able to position the microphone better! Again though, recording is not a substitute for listening!
You will rarely, if ever, get everything in the lecture on the VLE/ handouts. Remember that PowerPoint slides tend to contain key words and reminders – they are not, in themselves, an accurate record of the lecture’s content
Sometimes, for copyright reasons, images from the lectures might not be available on the VLE
However, don’t bother making notes of the content of slides, if these will be available afterwards – and make sure you check whether this is the case
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

8. 3. What to do during a lecture
“Taking lecture notes effectively not only helps you to keep track of what was covered in class but also improves your ability to think about your subject while you are being taught.”
(Moran,1997: 43)
All text appears
This is very important – lectures are not about ‘learning’ parrot fashion but rather about learning to assimilate ideas and think about your subject – your assessment results will not depend on your memory of the lectures so much as on what you have done with the information given there.
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

9. What NOT to do during a lecture
3. What to do during a lecture
What NOT to do during a lecture
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice 1

10. What NOT to do during a lecture
3. What to do during a lecture
What NOT to do during a lecture
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice 2

11. What NOT to do during a lecture
3. What to do during a lecture
What NOT to do during a lecture 3
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

12. 4. What to do after a lecture
Activity 2
Review your notes within 24 hours.
Go for a coffee with a friend and talk about the lecture.
Do follow-up reading
Use notes as a basis for assessment
Write down new questions that arise
File notes
Write summary
Click for all answers
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

13. Academic Skills Advice
Summary
Lectures are a starting point, not the end
Before lectures: Mental and physical preparation
During lectures: Active listening and good note-taking habits
After lectures: Processing and reviewing
All appear on one click
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

14. Academic Skills Advice
References
Marton F. and Säljö R. (1976) On qualitative differences in learning – Outcome and Process’ British Journal of Educational Psychology. [online] 46, pp Available at: [Accessed ] Moran, A. P. (1997) Managing your own Learning at University. Dublin: University College Press.
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

15. Academic Skills Advice
References
Visuals: 1. 2.
3. Shutterstock [Accessed ]
4. Clip art - question
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

16. Academic Skills Advice Service
Where are we? Chesham Building B0.23. Give us a call or come speak to us Monday- Friday 9am-5pm (closing at 4pm Fridays).
Who am I? Louise, the dedicated workshop adviser.
Who can help me with study and writing skills? Lucy and Russell run Instant Study Skills Advice sessions every weekday and Writing Skills Clinics three times a week. You can also access self-help resources on our webpage.
Who can give me maths advice? Helen and Michael specialise in Maths support for students though clinics and pre-booked appointment.
How do I get in touch? Telephone:
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice

17. Academic Skills Advice
Any questions?
Produced by Louise Livesey May 2014 4
28/11/2018
Academic Skills Advice