I am trying to become more effective in my study habits and in my case, I feel that attending classes is a huge waste of my time. The lecturer just keeps writing formulas on the board and to be honest, I am simply too busy just rewriting all those symbols to really understand what is being taught. I only really understand when I slowly go through the textbook and do the exercises.
Perhaps it is just my learning style, but I have the impression that only one or two students are really following the math lectures (and they are probably the ones who carefully read the material before the lecture), and the rest are just a bunch of robots attending because they have been told that they have to, or are afraid to miss some important hints for the exam. But I feel that spending that much time in class just to get an edge in an exam is quite ineffective.
It seems to point out that the best way to take advantage of the lectures is to get acquainted with the material first. But I am not sure if this is the most effective way to go. Isn't that more time consuming this way because once you understand the concept from the book, you would not need another hour to expose the same concepts and examples again. And reading a book is much more time consuming than an lecture. Or does it really help to reinforce the material and fill some gaps in understanding? Hard to say.
So, is a lecture meant mostly as a complement or substitute for reading the textbook?
Do I have to admit that I am too stupid to follow the lectures and write what is on the board at the same time?
Best Answer
This is a common problem, particularly perhaps in mathematics. Lecturers suspect the students expect the lecturer to write everything needed on the board and thus end up writing things on the board that are already (usually much more clearly) written in a textbook. When I was a student I tried to read the material for the lecture (if that was known) before the lecture but I did not bother taking any notes during the lecture (with a few exceptions). I just listened and later photocopied notes from any of the tons of other students who were copying word for word what was said. I used my time reading good textbooks I found (at times I would bring them with me to class as well and read the books while the lecturer was speaking).
I completely agree with you that there is little point in just lecturing by neatly reproducing existing textbook material on the board (though I'm sure some will disagree with me). Today when I lecture I declare a textbook to accompany the course and demand all students bring it with them. I do not reproduce on the board anything from the book, but instead I explain theorem, proofs, work out examples and exercises etc.
I also find that listening to a lecture where the lecture actually uses chalk or whiteboard is very slow and I find it less effective than reading a good book. Listening to a lecture where the lecturer uses slides can often be too fast and is also not highly effective in my view.
Of course the biggest advantage of attending a lecture is the ability to ask questions on the spot and not having to figure out something complicated on your own. I guess my advise would be, if you can get a hold of good lecture notes taken by a classmate so that you know exactly what went on in class and if you manage well on your own reading a book then skip the lectures and spend your time reading the relevant material from (preferably more than one) textbook.