Learning more effectively

This course will focus on skills necessary to learn and remember information. Critical reading skills are emphasized in order to capture the main points. Note-taking strategies organize information so that it is easier to remember. Writing clearly will express your knowledge so that you can effectively communicate your thoughts.

There are some basic tasks that you can do in order to understand ideas better. Understanding ideas means linking them to other ideas in your own head and in the larger culture’s discussion of these ideas. In order to do this, express these ideas in your own words. Identify the main ideas and the basic supporting details that explain these ideas. You can do this in point form in order to remember them more effectively. It is often helpful to structure the ideas using a table or other organizing device. This puts the ideas into a structure for your mind to remember better.

This kind of learning helps you to process information not just memorize it. Your ability to solve problems and analyze situations will be improved by coming up with your own ideas and responses. The following steps of thinking are activated by questions and exercises included in order to help you practice.