In need of some study advice

[LittleWaySoul]

Hey everyone! As many of you know, I just began grad school about a week and a half ago and I have a question for any of you study-experienced people out there.

A problem that plagued me in my undergrad studies was reading assignments: when I got behind on the reading assignments, I felt obligated to catch up by reading what I should have read prior. This put me way far behind on my work and ultimately discouraged me from doing any of the readings because what's the point anyway if I'm never going to catch up? Horrible mentality, I know. 

Clearly the best solution is to not get behind on the reading in the first place (I'm aiming for this!) but in the inevitable instance where I miss a reading or fall slightly behind at some point, would it be better for me to skip the reading assignment I missed and simply move on to the next or later assignment? That way, despite missing part of the reading, at least I'm staying on track and ultimately getting some reading done rather than falling so far behind that I get none done? Does that make sense?

I'm open to all advice here! I'm trying to be better about some of the things that I majorly sucked at in undergrad. So far it's going well! I just wanted to get input on this issue which I've been thinking about a bit lately. Thanks everyone!

[Peace]

Hmm. It might depend on what you are studying. If the topics are distinct why not skip a reading or two?

Some topics like math maybe you would want to catch up, since each lesson builds on the previous lessons.

[LittleWaySoul]

4 minutes ago, Peace said:

Hmm. It might depend on what you are studying. If the topics are distinct why not skip a reading or two?

Some topics like math maybe you would want to catch up, since each lesson builds on the previous lessons.

I think in most humanities degrees, while it is ultimately beneficial to read everything, missing one or two won't ultimately kill you.

Latin, on the other hand..... I'll be very sure not to skip any of that, ha.

[PhuturePriest]

I am far from study experienced. However, in seminary, I've quickly learned that 1) you should never ever ever ever get behind on reading (I have avoided this so far, thank goodness), and 2) the seminary schedule will do everything in its power to prevent you from having enough time to do all the reading. There have been several assignments that were just too much (UD takes pleasure in inflicting 50-70+ page assignments per class due in just a few days) and since I'm not a normal UD student I simply don't have enough time, so I skim and move on with my life. More often than not the content is covered in the class itself anyway.

[Seven77]

 Don't. That's advice right there. "in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." –Ecclesiastes 1:18 

J/k... that's taking care of Scripture out of context.

 

[truthfinder]

1 hour ago, PhuturePriest said:

 (UD takes pleasure in inflicting 50-70+ page assignments per class due in just a few days)

Sorry, but this grad student thinks that's laughably cute - but it's good discipline  (Although if I were setting the readings for a first year class it would me more in the 35 page zone per class).

LWS - didn't catch it - what are you studying?

In my opinion, the great goal of grad school is to sift out those students who are not able to skim effectively. This means learning how to figure out what's important: maybe you're only reading the topic sentence of every paragraph, or only the first and last page of a chapter. Figuring out what your profs want you to read is important too - I've spent plenty of time putting lots of attention into reading an article or book that was never covered. When you get behind, sometimes you just have to cut your losses; you might be able to pick up what you need from the class discussion, a review essay, or a few book reviews. 

Edited September 8, 2016 by truthfinder

[LittleWaySoul]

9 hours ago, Seven77 said:

 Don't. That's advice right there. "in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." –Ecclesiastes 1:18 

J/k... that's taking care of Scripture out of context.

Heh, I love Ecclesiastes  

8 hours ago, truthfinder said:

Sorry, but this grad student thinks that's laughably cute - but it's good discipline  (Although if I were setting the readings for a first year class it would me more in the 35 page zone per class).

LWS - didn't catch it - what are you studying?

In my opinion, the great goal of grad school is to sift out those students who are not able to skim effectively. This means learning how to figure out what's important: maybe you're only reading the topic sentence of every paragraph, or only the first and last page of a chapter. Figuring out what your profs want you to read is important too - I've spent plenty of time putting lots of attention into reading an article or book that was never covered. When you get behind, sometimes you just have to cut your losses; you might be able to pick up what you need from the class discussion, a review essay, or a few book reviews. 

Canon Law! So far all but one of my classes have had really easy reading assignments (in the ~5-40 page range each; several have been 5-10). I haven't really gotten behind on anything just yet; I guess I'm asking for the future. Thanks for the advice! Skimming well is something I need to be better at. I'm also working on somewhat retaining info from the readings instead of forgetting it once I'm done with them.

And @PhuturePriest, in undergrad I had classes that would assign 100+ pages to be read in 1-2 days (one time it was ~1000 over a weekend, but that was an odd circumstance. One kid actually read it for a bet; he won $20). Plus papers on each reading assignment. So far, comparatively, grad school has been a piece of cake.  Hopefully it stays that way, ha. 

[Luigi]

Various techniques are beneficial for various types of reading; they can also be combined, depending on how much time you have.

1. Abstract - if the article has an abstract, read that first.

2. Intro & conclusion - This works well if you're already familiar with the topic & its terminology; if you're not, it still helps to "bookend" the material before you delve into it.

3. Skim - read the full intro (or first paragraph), the first sentence of each paragraph, and the full conclusion (or last paragraph). This is good as a catch-up technique - if you don't need to catch up, it's a good first-read-through technique before you delve into it.

4. Annotate as you go.

 

For retention:

4. Paraphrase as you go - after reading a topic sentence (or paragraph), look up from the book and restate what you just read in your own words. Prefer Anglo-Saxon words to Latin/Greek terminology - it'll be more meaningful and you'll remember it better if you say it in "plain English" even though you DO have to learn the standard terminology of the topic.

5. Book notes -

a. Use Cornell note paper to take notes as you read - http://lsc.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Cornell-Note_Taking-System.pdf

b. Type a one-paragraph summary for the text in each heading, or maybe chapter, depending on how familiar you are with the topic. I make a template document with text boxes - for literature, the boxes are labeled Plot, Character Development, and Style. For Canon Law, you might use columns marked Number  (or Year), Canon (summarize it, list the page reference), See Also (related canons). You can customize them any way you want. You can use them during class, or for review before a test, too.

[LittleWaySoul]

18 hours ago, Luigi said:

Various techniques are beneficial for various types of reading; they can also be combined, depending on how much time you have.

1. Abstract - if the article has an abstract, read that first.

2. Intro & conclusion - This works well if you're already familiar with the topic & its terminology; if you're not, it still helps to "bookend" the material before you delve into it.

3. Skim - read the full intro (or first paragraph), the first sentence of each paragraph, and the full conclusion (or last paragraph). This is good as a catch-up technique - if you don't need to catch up, it's a good first-read-through technique before you delve into it.

4. Annotate as you go.

 

For retention:

4. Paraphrase as you go - after reading a topic sentence (or paragraph), look up from the book and restate what you just read in your own words. Prefer Anglo-Saxon words to Latin/Greek terminology - it'll be more meaningful and you'll remember it better if you say it in "plain English" even though you DO have to learn the standard terminology of the topic.

5. Book notes -

a. Use Cornell note paper to take notes as you read - http://lsc.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Cornell-Note_Taking-System.pdf

b. Type a one-paragraph summary for the text in each heading, or maybe chapter, depending on how familiar you are with the topic. I make a template document with text boxes - for literature, the boxes are labeled Plot, Character Development, and Style. For Canon Law, you might use columns marked Number  (or Year), Canon (summarize it, list the page reference), See Also (related canons). You can customize them any way you want. You can use them during class, or for review before a test, too.

Wow, this was super helpful! Taking notes in that style could be really beneficial. Thank you!

[Sponsa-Christi]

@LittleWaySoul You're studying canon law? 

My advice would be to prioritize readings that allow you to gain a basic grasp of the topic at hand, rather than readings where someone is delving into really subtle nuances or expressing their canonical opinion on a disputed point (though with that being said, nuances can still be very important, and are often very cool!) Also, if you fall behind, I'd lean towards doing the readings that would prepare you for your next class, rather than feeling duty-bound to do your back reading first. Canon law is very integrated and there are many cases where you need to understand preliminary concepts before more advanced ones, but if you're behind anyways it often makes more sense to get the most out of your current classes, and to do whatever catching up you need before the exam. 

Also, I know it's expensive, but when I was a student I found that it was more than worth it to invest in my own set of the Navarre commentary. If you do fall behind, it can save you a lot of time and confusion, and it's also a great resource to have on hand even as a full-fledged canonist.

Also...canon law is NOT a skimming-friendly field! Very minor details in canon law can have huge consequences, and when you're studying a given topic in canon law you need to be very aware of the specific things you don't know or don't yet know.

If you're really pressed for time and the assigned readings are really long, it's much better to read summaries and/or focus on the Code (or the pertinent juridical document) itself.