Right, so I'm in an American history class this semester, and the teaching style of the class just annoys the living crap out of me. Basically, each class session, we just look over notes from our class website. And the best part is? It's the test. The entire class is taught around the test.

What's the problem?

Well, I don't learn that way. I'm not the type of person to just read things and gain knowledge. It happens, but not so much for this particular class. I'm having difficulty even attempting to pay attention due to my being more of a hands-on learner. So I'm at a loss as to how I can actually gain anything from this class, not to mention how to even study for it.

Anyone else had a similar problem?

Talk to somebody about it. Teach a friend/family member or talk to a classmate. That helps me a lot.

On a similar note, I have a history course that freaks me out to go to class. It's on the campaigns of Alexander the Great and we only look at primary sources or secondary sources from around 400 A.D. and going to class is so nerve wrecking. We have a list of things to answer for preparing for class and in class we go over the questions. Seems simple enough but the questions force us to enter the mind of the Persians or the Greeks or Alexander himself. My Professor can call on you at any point and an "I don't know" will get you in her "black book of death" and you're considered "dog meat." I'm scared to go to class if I'm not properly prepared, but I learn a hell of a lot. For example a question would be, "Why did the people of this small Asian village bury their crops when they knew Alexander was going to come and pillage their them and use their resources?" The obvious answer would be, "They're trying to hide it from Alexander." That is wrong. The correct answer is, "They're hiding it so that when Alexander does find where it's buried, (because he will) they have a chance of not finding it all and thus allowing them to have seeds to plant for the future." It's an intense class but I love it.

You have to teach yourself. Now, I don't know exactly what you mean by "hands-on-learner", but I assume this means you need to engage in some sort of activities to learn, right? Well, think about activities you were given in previous history classes, and set them up for yourself. Write down important events on index cards, and put them in chronological order, group them by significance & geography, et cetera. When you finish with a section of the text / notes, write a little summary of the events that you just read.

Also, from what I've read, its always a good idea to hand write notes. Even if the teacher gives you online notes, you should still take handwritten notes. Physically writing things down just helps things stick in your mind.

As for getting through class periods, this may sound a bit weird, but making fun of everything the teacher says (while keeping the jokes in your head) can make things more tolerable, and help you remember stuff. Whenever you can, interpret what the teacher says as a that's-what-she-said joke. Your brain is just better at remembering funny things.

The second one is just a wordier version of the first... my Classics teacher was the opposite, if I said the second one he would have said I was just waffling to fill out my word count.

In all honesty if you're in college and you don't know how to study for your courses by now you're not in good shape.

Even if the teaching style doesn't match the way you learn you should have the skills by now to adapt the information from your class into a format that you can understand.

Take a study skills course and get some tutoring

Well, yes and no. If that test is the exact same test you get at the end, then there's a problem. If that test is just a generic test, then it's almost perfect.

See the best way to really get something down in your head is to go over your notes, read the chapter, and then put all the notes and the book away and take a test. Or a quiz or whatever. Then you grade it yourself, find out what it is you didn't know, and then go back over the notes until you get it right.

History in particular is a subject that lends itself very well to written tests, moreso than multiple choice I think. If you can't put it in writing, you haven't learned it yet.

I can't help if there's no lecture or anything from the teacher though. That's just poor teaching no matter how you look at it, and you really end up getting shafted on your education when they don't lecture.

C'mon, how else are all studetns supposed to succede?

...for one particular style of learning. What about the kinesthetic learner? What about manipulation of ideas and fact to better imbed knowledge, create more connections for greater recall, etc? What you've proposed I see as a the study and dump method. Doesn't work for me as I'll forget most of the knowledge shortly after the test, which begs the questino about what is education for or how do you know when you've learned something...

Agreed. I had history in high school over 30 years ago. Took a world history course in college 2 years ago, and there was a complete paradigm shift. One from learnign the timeline/cause effect of history to that of looking at artifacts and accounts and writing about said items. Formulaic history to discursive history.

Agreed, sort of. Lecture is just another tool to be used, another way to make connections. However, being set adrift with a problem and information with which you must find the answer is also an effective method. On-line physics class was one where there wasn't any lecture: I was just given some ppts, the text, and worksheets. Taught myself I did, and learned tons because of it. I had to make the connections, make the mistakes, manipulate, etc.

OP, your first step should be to talk with the teacher. After that, perhaps make a study group where you and your friends can bounce ideas off of each other to better learn. Or how about making your own Powerpoint slide show?

Rightfully so but we have to explain everything so I guess wordier is better in this class. She's teaching us to never assume that she knows everything so we have to explain everything as clearly as we can. "Why" gets asked non-stop. For instance I would respond, "They're hiding it from Alexander" My teacher would ask, "Why?" Then I would have to explain the reason why they're hiding it from Alexander and simply stating something like, "So Alexander can't use it" is invalid because he will find the buried crops anyways and use it. However, if we put ourselves in the mind of the Asian villagers the answer (should) come clear. They knew that Alexander would find the crops and the only chance they had to plant future crops is if they had the seeds from some of their current crop hence they buried it all in hopes that he Alexander wouldn't find it all thus allowing them to plant future crops and not die of starvation. This Asian village was located around mountains which doesn't have very fertile ground for planting so trying to find any other type of food or wild life for that matter would be impossible. They were looking out for their future when they decided to bury the crops. Obviously you would have to know about the terrain of this village to fully be able to enter their minds and think like an ancient person. The class is taught in the Socratic Method so we have to create our arguments as if this were a law class.

I do know how to study, yet my methods seem most incompatible with this particular course. Usually I go over what is in the book, yet in this class... There is no book. Every single question needed for the test is detailed in a document which the teacher uses as her lecture during class. It's... Baffling me. Completely and utterly baffling. As I said, all the information is there, yet I just can't get a grasp as to how to study for this because of it. There is no work to find every bit of information which might be useful on the test, it's just... There. The whole class is taught based on what WILL be on the test, nothing more.

And I've no idea why I'm having a hard time studying for something right in front of me. I guess the reason I'm having this much of a problem is because it doesn't involve LOOKING for the answers.

Either way, I hate this class.

Can you make a better connection for us concerning what the notes/test is?

You look at a set of notes, from which the test is derived?

You look at the actual test and then need to find the answers in the notes?

Something's just not clicking.

Also, do you know anyone else who had this class? Can you ask them for study tips? Is the teacher teachign this way for the first itme?

Underlined one is the closest guess. Basically, the questions are on one document, the actual answers are on another. The thing is, the questions ARE the test, they may just be asked a little differently. There's no looking for the information, it's just straight up memorization without anything in between. Here's the answer, remember it.

I'm... Not used to that. At all. It's too easy.

This teacher has been using this method for many years as well.

You could try writing papers that span the time periods you are studying.

Even a half-assed paper will help more than that "read-regurgitate" testing style.

Hmm.

Then I'd say ask the teacher for any tips. Also, can you copy the answers then make falshcards? Other than this and what I mentioned before, I got nothin'

In other words, your teacher only "teaches the test". Ugh, I hate teachers like that. With that method, the material is just too bland to digest. I can definitely see where you're coming from. I learn much better by being forced to actually seek the answers than by someone saying "here are the questions, and here are the answers".

My method for studying something presented in this manner:

Step 1: Get X number of index cards (where "X" is twice the number of questions), then take half of the cards and number them.

Step 2: Pick a question at random and write it on card 1. Pick another question at random and write it on card 2. Repeat until each question has been written on a card.

Step 3: Write all the answers on the remaining cards.

Step 4: Try to match them up.

Step 5: Once you think you have them matched, research the events in question and see if your conclusions match. Do NOT use the original note source for this. Use other history sites, preferably sites that are specifically geared to the period you're being tested on.

Part of college is to learn how to adapt to different situations. This is a skill that will come in handy later in life. You really need to develop this skill because once you enter the working world, you will be continually faced with situations you've never encountered before and you'll have to adapt and overcome.

Whenever I have to do something I don't want to do, I find a way to make a game out of it because games are more fun. I also look for ways to build my level of interest in a topic. There are a number of ways to do this. If you're reading a book you're not interested in, start by reading the table of contents and see if you can find how the story arc will unfold.

Sometimes I set up a reward for myself. If I dive in for a few hours, like 2-3 and really, really dive in....then I'll reward myself with something like a 2-5 hour gaming session, a great meal, sweets, a night out with a good friend, whatever.

One thing that NEVER helps, is complaining.

Complaining simply makes you hold out for someone to rescue you from the intolerable situation. That energy isn't productive and won't help you so don't let yourself fall into this. I usually always tell myself, "Look, I get it, you don't want to do this job. However, the sooner you begin the sooner you'll be finished." Or "This job won't do itself" or something else to just get my mind to shut up.

I use these tricks all the time in my job.