Culture of Higher Education

Class Plan

• Introduction
• Syllabus
• Reading strategies and skimming
• Jackson "The Liberal Arts: A Practical View"
• Class Debate/Discussion
• Previewing homework

Rank According to Your Opinion

Compare your answers with a partner

Introduction

Syllabus

What do you do with a lot of reading?

Not uncommon to have weekly reading assignments of 25-50 pages per week (per course) in undergraduate courses and 100-250 pages per week (per course) in graduate courses

Common Reading Myths

• Read every word.
• One reading is sufficient.
• Don't skip passages.
• A faster rate means less comprehension.

MYTH 1: READ EVERY WORD

Many of the words in grammatically correct sentences actually convey no meaning. Trying to conceptualize meaningless words takes up far too much time. It will impact your reading speed and ability to comprehend. Try to take brief notes.

MYTH 2: ONE READING IS SUFFICIENT

Skim first to obtain the main idea and to identify parts that need careful reading


Reread more carefully to fill the gaps in your understanding.

MYTH 3: DON'T SKIP PASSAGES

Read selectively – good reading is selective reading. Only read the sections that are relevant to your purpose in reading.

Read and learn what you need to!

Take notes as you read – annotating is best

MYTH 4: FASTER MEANS LESS COMPREHENSION
Research shows there is not much of a relationship between rate and comprehension

Good comprehension depends on your ability to extract and retain important ideas, not on how fast you read
Focus on how quickly you are able to locate the facts and ideas that you need

Lets Apply

Skim Once

• Focus on the intro/conclusion
• Look for the author’s main arguments - consider the 1st sentence of each paragraph
• What's the overall structure?

Skim Again for the following:

• How does Jackson begin the essay?
• Where is Jackson’s statement of purpose (thesis statement)?
• How is the article organized?
• How does he deal with opposing views?
• How does the article conclude?

Create Questions

Example

• What does Jackson think is the purpose of knowledge? How does this differ from what others think?
• True/False: The best argument, according to Jackson, for a liberal arts education is that it makes a person well-rounded.
• Which of these does Jackson indicate he values most? Knowledge Money and power Moral Character Versatility

A Debate

Next Class

Note:

• Vocabulary
• Main idea and detail questions
• Main idea: remember from the reading
• Detail question: refer back to the reading
• NOT enough time to refer back for everything, so you need to read the chapter first.