ARRRGH.. pre-readings

[gerrardsgirl]

Do you guys read your chapters before lectures? If I do the pre-readings, the whole lecture turns out to be really boring and repetitive.

Is it a good idea to do the pre-readings?

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[sendwich]

seems like it's working for you. i dont get anything out of pre-reading...just mumbo jumbo until a few weeks before exam time (when it all finally comes together).

 

[evade]

There are two kinds of med students: those who do the reading and then don't go to lecture, and those who don't do the reading and go to lecture. I was one of the latter. I've always been. When I was in undergrad as well, I pretty much never glanced at my textbooks, with the extremely notable exception of O-chem. I've always done well.

Many of my classmates, however, prefer to read, but when they've read they then see no need to attend class because it is repetitive and boring that way. I think there's one person in my class who does the reading before lecture AND attends lecture, but she is one of those people who likes to wake at 5 AM by choice. Bizarre, I know.

Choose what works best for you.

 

[ZagDoc]

I actively pre-read the syllabus (definitely not moore) with highlighting and notes and go to lecture. Generally, I find its a great way to reinforce material. After all, they say that you need to see something, what, 5-7 times to have it really stick into long term memory? Between pre-reading the syllabus, going to lecture, reviewing the material later that day, and reviewing that weekend, I've already seen the stuff 4 times. Once I see it another time or so when studying for the exam it seems to be there for good.

But, like said, everyone's brain is different at retention and some things work better for some people than others. I bring other materials to lecture in case its boring so I can study on my own if the lecture turns out to be totally useless (which some do).

 

[Ashers]

I think I intentionally pre-read chapters in Guyton for 2 days. For path I accidentally pre-read for a while. It was accidental because the lectures didn't follow the exact order of the sections in the book during the Heme section. Other than that, I usually went into lecture knowing nothing, but I read just about everything after lecture.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Do you guys read your chapters before lectures? If I do the pre-readings, the whole lecture turns out to be really boring and repetitive.

Is it a good idea to do the pre-readings?

Depends on your class. Some of the prereadings assigned in textbooks in my classes are just ridiculous. Nobody, and I mean nobody ever does them, because who has the time to read 30 pages of a confusing, in depth anatomy text.

For classes like that, I'd say go over the lecture notes beforehand, sometimes it's like undergrad and it contains the info that the prof really thinks is useful/important. You only have so much time to study, don't waste it reading something that can be summed up by a handful of lecture slides.

 

[sprinkibrio]

the whole lecture turns out to be really boring and repetitive.

Isn't that called learning? If I don't read the syllabus, lecture seems like a bunch of random facts strung together. I read before for understanding, then during class soak up those little things that reading for understanding skips over.

 

[trevagandalf]

I definetly pre-read to have an idea of what is going on, so I can stay awake in class (and even that sometimes fail). This way I know which parts I am kinda iffy and confused on and which parts I got to memorize. So, I just pay attention to those parts during lecture.

 

[osli]

I never pre-read. Good lecturers teach me the information I need to know during the lecture, and I only need to review later to brush up and memorize some minute details. The big picture should be made clear to you during the lecture. If it all seems like a bunch of random facts or mumbo jumbo during the lecture without studying before you go, something is wrong. Either your focus, or the lecturer... probably the latter.

 

[MadameLULU]

Most of the time I didnt preread. However, if i preread the lecture I was able to retain the material better compared to when I didn't.

 

[musiclink213]

I do a quick glance over the notes or text before class. I like to go in to lecture having some sort of idea what is going on. I'll usually read the chapter summaries and things like that. Then go to lecture and when I get home, I go back and read the parts that didn't make sense. Or restream it if it didn't make sense but I know they explained it. But that just works for me, if I go into lecture without any idea of what is going on, I ust don't pay attention because I don't understand it. But if i have some idea, then I pay more attention and get more out of the lecture. Of course, this is variable depending on who is lecturing. Some lecturers I can't listen to because they're so dull or just really bad lecturers, so then I ignore their class and read the text as well I can.