Geography                                                                                                                                                                                Study Suggestions

Adapted from Weightman 1998

Your performance in a university-level course depends on 1) your ability to apply reason to a topic and 2) the amount of effort you expend learning new material. Although many students get by on one or the other, ALL students are capable of performing well. As the instructor, my responsibility is to present concepts in an intellectually exciting manner (i.e., with clarity and focus) which has an emotional impact (i.e., motivates you to pursue independent learning). I cannot MAKE you learn the concepts in my course, but I will offer some guidelines that may HELP you learn the course material and improve your grade.
 

1) Attend all lectures, taking notes during the lecture.

The concepts in my courses cannot be learned entirely by reading the text. All lectures should be attended for three reasons. First, the university mandates your attendance. Second, attending lectures allows you to follow the thought process (i.e., organization and reasoning) which I follow in explaining a concept. Third, you can take note of those concepts I consider most important. The latter reasons also explain why attending lecture helps you to prepare for exams. However, simply attending the lectures will not be sufficient. You MUST record notes that are structured according to the outline of the lecture. Your notes should be detailed, but also marked where I have emphasized certain concepts. In many courses, I provide on-line lecture outlines for you.  Make use of these as they allow you to listen more carefully to lectures and pre-structure your notes.  All you have to do is provide details and points of emphasis. 

2) Read the textbook, taking notes as you read

The material in my courses cannot be learned entirely by attending the lectures. The textbook assignments should be read BEFORE coming to class. Lectures cannot explain all the relevant material in a course. Some material may not be appropriate for a lecture but is in the textbook because it is still important for thorough understanding of the basic concepts. Other material in the text develops concepts more fully (e.g., using examples) than can be accomplished during the limited time of lectures. Moreover, you can read the textbook at your own pace, an advantage if the lecture material seems too fast-paced. However, simply reading the textbook will not be sufficient. You MUST record notes as you read the text. Your notes should be detailed, but also marked where the author has emphasized certain concepts.

3) Combine and rewrite your notes from lectures and the reading

It is helpful to combine the notes you have recorded from lectures with the notes you have recorded from the textbook into a new set of notes. This task will help you tie together concepts from the lectures and textbook and to identify areas that are still not clear in your own mind. The physical action of rewriting notes has been shown to improve learning greatly because it forces you to organize your knowledge of the concepts in a way that is useful to you (which may be different than the organization in lectures or by the textbook author).

4) Take the time to study for exams

In my course, you are expected to understand all the concepts presented in lectures and all the concepts presented in the textbook. How do you study for an exam? First of all, re-read your combined notes prepared in step #3 above. Second, ask yourself questions about the material from the text and lecture, and write out the answers to these questions immediately after the material has been covered in class and you have read the text.

5) Ask questions before, during, and after class or during office hours.

Several situations may arise when you should ask me questions. Perhaps you don't understand my explanation of a concept during a lecture or the lecture is proceeding too quickly for your note taking. There will be times when you don't understand the author's explanation of a concept in the textbook or it seems to conflict with the explanation given in lecture. At other times, you may -have a personal observation to share with the class regarding a concept presented in the lecture questions are always welcome at any point during the lecture, but if you feel uncomfortable asking a question at that time, please see me immediately after class, before the next class session, during my office hours, or make an appointment outside of my scheduled office hours.

Always remember: I WANT YOU TO PERFORM WELL IN THE COURSE

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT GRADES

For some of you geography will be a difficult class. For some, this class will be very easy. You must keep in mind that I do not give grades. If I gave grades, I’d give everyone an A+. My job is to evaluate your performance and record the grade that you have earned .  Some semesters many students earn A’s and B’s. Sometimes many students earn D’s and F’s.

It’s generally very easy to see why some students earn better grades than others. The following observations may help you evaluate your work-ethic and natural learning talent.

Above Average (A or B) Student

·                     -Rarely misses a lecture

·                     -Records lecture notes that follow the outline announced by the instructor, with important points marked

·                     -Thoroughly reads the textbook and takes notes from the text

·                     -Combines the lecture notes with the notes from the text and reviews the new set of notes before exams

·                     -Asks questions of the professor, but is not afraid to disagree on points of opinion

·                     -Understands concepts well and can apply them with little difficulty (correct word usage, clear-concise-complete answers)

                    only makes minor errors on exams and other graded assignments, able to think rapidly under pressure

·                     -Enjoys feeling of satisfaction from challenge of learning new material

Average (C) Student  

·                     -Occasionally misses lectures

·                     -Only records major points in lecture notes with minimal structure

·                     -Skims the textbook and only records a few notes on major points

·                     -Does not combine lecture notes with notes from the text, and does not spend much time reviewing notes before an exam

·                     -Rarely asks questions of the professor

·                     -Is not too sure of concepts and their application so often makes major errors on exams and other graded assignments

Below Average (D or F) Student  

·                     -Does not attend lectures on a regular basis, falls asleep or talks to friends in class on days when attending, leaves class early

·                     -Does not take lecture notes, or notes are very sketchy

·                     -Does not read the textbook

·                     -Has no useful notes for exam preparation

·                     -Does not ask questions of the professor, resentful of professor, and blames him/her for their own poor performance

·                     -Fails to demonstrate any real understanding of concepts on exams and other graded assignments, either because of failure to prepare

                                (too busy? too lazy?), or inability to think rapidly under pressure 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Since I've been teaching, I've found that an unusually high number of students have trouble with Geography.  I offer these observations as a means to help you consider your own difficulties with geography courses at CSUN.  

1.    Few students have had any sort of systematic geography class prior to enrolling in geography in college.  Even if you have had geography in high school, it may have not been much more than learning "crops and capitals".   Geography as a critical thinking skill is rarely offered in high school.  Most students do not know how to "think spatially".  What you need to keep in mind are questions such as: "What is causing this spatial pattern?"  "Why are things where they are?"  "What does this landscape mean?"  "What does this landscape tell me about what's going on here?"

2.   Few students read a newspaper or even consistently watch the evening news.  This undermines their ability to incorporate new knowledge about distance (or familiar) places.  Geography encompasses and incorporates a wide array of economic, social, cultural and religious issues.  You must build your storehouse of knowledge!  Start watching the news, reading newspapers and magazines.  If you can find non commercial sources, you’ll do even better!

3.   Too many students take geography because they think it will be easy.  There's a lot more to geography than learning capitals and crops.  This stuff can be as challenging as any course on campus, so take it seriously. 

If you have questions or comments, please contact me at steve.graves@csun.edu