Loudspeaker (Jan-Aug 1931)

HOW TO LISTEN TO A LECTURE One of the most important aids in getting the most good from any lecture is to think about the subject beforehand. Determine what you already know, and things about which you particularly wish to find out. Pick out the doubtful points which you hope the lecture may clear up. Then listen to the lecture attentively, thinking as you listen. Take notes, but not too copiously. Do not try to get everything down on paper. Pick out the important principles, the fundamental ideas. Watch for key words, which will recall the subject matter to you vividly when you review the lecture. If anything is not clear or if you do not agree with the soea^or. do not try to settle the question in your own mind then. If you think too long on a doubtful point, you will miss the following points in the lecture, possibly losing the thread of it entirely. Merely jot down a word or two to enable you to remember to think the doubtful matter out in detail later. If, after the lecture, there is opportunity to ask questions, do not hesitate to seek to clear up in your own mind doubtful points. The man who is not ashamed to ask questions is the man who learns. Never pretend to know what you do not know. Do not say you understand when you do not. Only a fool is afraid of betraying his ignorance by asking a question. Think over the lecture afterward. Try to make an outline of it, first the main points, then fill in the details and illustrations or examples. Seek to tie up the new knowledge with things already known. Ask yourself why things are so, how they have probably been ascertained, whether a knowledge of them is important, how you can use the knowledge. TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING One of the finest ways of testing your understanding of a subject is to write what you know about it, for clear and logical writing requires clear and logical thinking. Make an outline first. Think the subject over carefully, form clear ideas. Decide where to go to get further material on the subject or to clear up doubtful matters. Finally, put your books to one side and write your ideas in the best English you are capable of using. Include sketches if they will make the subject any clearer. Then read carefully what you have written. See if you can make it any clearer, easier to understand, or more convincing. Think up all conceivable arguments against what you have written, and see if you can prove that these arguments are erroneous. Another test of your understanding of a subject is to work problems illustrating the principles involved. When problems are assigned, try working them in several different ways. Try to devise some way to test the accuracy of your answers. Above all, see that every answer is a reasonable one. It is often possible to guess fairly closely what an answer will probably be. Try guessing the answer before the problem is worked. This often is the means of catching a numerical error in your work which leads to a ridiculous answer. Make up similar problems and work them so as to get added experience. Do not say that you cannot work a problem because you do not understand mathematics. This usually means that you are unwilling to make the effort to think. First formulate the problem clearly. Be sure that you know definitely what is to be determined. Then put down what data is known, also what things apparently must be used to get the final result. See whether you can obtain these necessary data from the data at hand. Determine the logical steps of reasoning to obtain the desired answer. When problems are returned, marked wrong, always remark them. Prove to yourself that you can get the correct answer. The way to clarify your own ideas is to concentrate on correcting your mistakes. The third method of testing your own understanding of a subject is to (Concluded on Page 25) T <iv e n ty -three