Page 180 - Keys To Community College Success

If you read assignments before class and review previous notes,
you may be able to follow along more easily. This technique
may have helped Norton focus on key points more effectively.
■ Focus on understanding. Listen with the goal of being able to
say to yourself, “I get it!” If you miss important material, make
an obvious comment in your notes, such as [WHAT?] and
come back to it later. Your instructor may repeat the point
you missed or another student’s comment may help you fill in
the missing information.
■ Ask questions. Active listeners ask analytical questions, such
as “What is this part of?” or “How is it similar to yesterday’s
topic?”, to clarify understanding and associate new ideas with
Listening to other students can be as important as what they already know. Get into the habit of jotting down
listening to instructors. These students may learn some-
thing useful from their fellow student’s perspective. your questions and coming back to them during a discussion
period so they don’t interfere with listening.

Manage Listening Challenges
Sitting in your classes, you may notice students engaged in activities that interfere with
listening: texting or surfing the Internet, talking, sleeping, and daydreaming. These stu-
dents are probably not absorbing much (or any) information from the instructor, and
may be distracting you as well. Read on to learn how to address this challenge and
others on your path to better listening.

Issue #1: Distractions that divide your attention
Common distractions that interfere with listening include internal distractions (worry,
anticipation, hunger, feeling too hot or too cold, or hungry) and external distractions
(chatting, texting, computer use, any kind of movement or noise). These distractions
prevent you from paying full attention to what is said. As a result, you can easily miss
or misunderstand things.

Fix #1: Focus, focus, focus
First of all, remind yourself you’re risking the effort of college for the reward of educa-
tion, which at the moment means learning the material for this course. You may even
want to remind yourself how much it costs to sit in this classroom. Find practical ways
to minimize distractions, such as the following:
■ Sit near the front of the room.
■ Move away from talkative classmates.
■ Turn off your cell phone or put it in silent mode, and don’t text during class time.
■ Consider writing your notes by hand, rather than using a laptop.
■ If you do use a computer to take notes, stay on task—no gaming, Facebook,
Twitter, or surfing during class.
■ Get enough sleep to stay alert.
■ Eat enough so you’re not hungry—or bring small snacks if allowed.

It’s important to try to put stray thoughts and worries aside while in class. “Switch-
tasking”—switching back and forth between tasks—reduces focus and increases the
chance of making mistakes. In a study at Stanford, people switching between fewer tasks
(low multitaskers) actually outperformed people switching between more tasks (high mul-
titaskers) on all tasks. Even when it is hard, risk keeping your focus on one thing at a time.
1
6 Issue #2: Listening lapses
CHAPTER 142 Even the most fantastic instructor cannot make you listen. Only you can do that. If you
decide that a subject is too difficult or uninteresting, you may tune out and miss what