Notesale: Turn your study into money

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BEING SMART
IS NOT ENOUGH
CHAUTAUQUAS FOR
FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
by
David L
...
DiLaura of the
Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department of
The College of Engineering and Applied Science in
The University of Colorado at Boulder
...

The author acknowledges the trust and vision of the students
who oversee the fund and authorized that investment
...
Any remaining blunders or obscurities are the author’s own
...
1
WHY SHOULD YOU PAY ANY ATTENTION TO ADVICE ?
...
2
GOOD ADVICE IS GOOD COACHING
...
2
A CHAUTAUQUA ON GOALS
...
4
GOALS DETERMINE HOW YOU BEHAVE
...
4
SETTING GOALS WITH THE RIGHT SCOPE
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6
LEARNING ENGINEERING BASICS AND GETTING GOOD GRADES
...
11
ACQUIRING THE HABITS OF A GOOD ENGINEER
...
16
A CHAUTAUQUA ON STUDYING
...
18
THE ROLE OF STUDY
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20
LEARNING FROM CYCLES OF STUDY
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23
CAREFUL READING AS PART OF EFFECTIVE STUDY
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25
INTENSITY AND ENDURANCE OF STUDY : MANAGING YOUR ATTENTION
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27
STUDYING WITH OTHERS
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29
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, THINGS TO THINK ABOUT, AND EXERCISES TO PERFORM
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32
THE ROLE OF LECTURES
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32
BEING INVOLVED: LISTENING AND TAKING NOTES
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34
POOR LECTURES
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35
A CHAUTAUQUA ON TIME MANAGEMENT
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36
AN ASSESSMENT
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37
RECOGNIZE TIME AS A RESOURCE
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38
KNOW HOW MUCH TIME RESOURCE YOU HAVE AND HOW IT'S SPENT
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40
MAINTAIN TIME MANAGEMENT HABITS
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41
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, THINGS TO THINK ABOUT, AND EXERCISES TO PERFORM
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43
KNOWING YOURSELF
...
44
ACQUIRING PRACTICAL SELF-KNOWLEDGE
...
48
KNOWING WHEN YOU NEED HELP AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
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51
APPENDICES AND NOTES
...
It will be tremendously
rewarding; it will also be difficult
...
This is especially true in
your first year
...

My purpose is accomplished only if you read these notes; and you’re more likely to read them if you to
know why I wrote them
...
For the last seven of these
years I have paid close attention to the successes and failures of first year students
...
I mean individuals succeeding or failing in their first year of
engineering
...

What did failure mean? It meant individuals, still wanting to be engineers, who hadn’t learned the
basics of engineering very well
...
They found it hard to
understand the more advanced material studied later and had a difficult time raising their grade point
average in subsequent years
...
They flunked out after
their first year
...
It was always something else
...
Evidently, being smart was not
enough
...
They didn’t find it easy, but they did find it possible, even inevitable
...
They understood that they were beginning a new
stage in life, and leaned into (as it were) the difficulties of stepping from high school to college
...
Being smart was not
enough
...
These notes come from
thinking about these things and working out how to explain them
...
But, as Mark Twain said, there are few things in life more
irritating than a good example
...
” You are
already eager to duplicate their performance—simply pointing to it doesn't help
...

I understand that giving advice is a risky business, especially when I need to reach across a
generation and, in some cases, a gender
...
That’s what I remember
thinking anyway, when I got advice
...

As a beginning college student you’ve gotten a mountain of advice
...
Well meaning, certainly, but rubbish all the same
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” What does any of this mean,
anyway? I don’t know, you don’t either
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It’s cheer leading
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It encourages, but doesn’t give you a method
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” You are very likely to mutter such things to yourself early in
your first semester
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Cheering will not help you be a successful student; good coaching might
...
I have written these notes to be so
...

If they impress you as negative, remember my purpose is narrow: to help you, not to make you feel
good
...
But just making you feel good doesn’t give you the tools I think
you need to have a successful first year
...
That’s why I
wrote these notes
...
Just words and a
few graphs
...

The form of coaching I use is a chautauqua
...
Vincent, a Methodist bishop, and L
...
Held on Lake Chautauqua's
shore in upstate New York, it was educational, inspirational, recreational, and an immediate success
...
Other camps in other places were established, (0) and they were all called Chautauquas
...
And so, the name gradually came to
mean not only the place, but also the extended series of lectures themselves
...
The orations are often informal and usually practical—instruction in a process rather than a
theory
...
But there is no special
effort to assure that that happens
...
And that is the case here, so I call
these small presentations chautauquas
...
I
have abused Italics; they help give sentences the dynamics of speech
...
In that case I offer a definition, since I assume it isn’t
your habit to bring a dictionary to a chautauqua
...
I
have assumed you’re not so hurried or so jaded (2) that you can’t consider carefully what you read
here
...
And finally, I have decided to risk lingering over what you may consider to be
obvious, and so risk being a scold
...

Stripped of ornament, these chautauquas are about
setting goals that have the right size and order,
recognizing and acquiring the skills you need to achieve these goals, and
2

knowing and directing yourself so you can use these skills
...
I have explicitly linked
them to student success
...
I have also observed the mischief caused by their absence
...
And, finally, these three activities
are rather “mechanical;” they are performed by following a series of steps—a recipe, if you will
...
But please don’t confuse
mechanical with easy
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To do that requires understanding, courage and discipline
...
Courage and discipline you must provide:
they are the most important components
...
Successful first year
engineering students eventually engage in them—but it takes a while
...
Perhaps you expect “secrets
...
Consider ordinary breathing; everybody does it
...

For these people, simple breathing must become breath control, an integral part of their art
...
If there is any secret, it is to fathom (5)
the power that comes from studying these things, making them extraordinary, making them an integral
part of your art
...


Summary
Summaries are interesting
...
A summary can be a powerful test of clarity
...
If the sentences aren't supportable, then either you're being woollyheaded or your author writes rubbish
...

This is the Greek letter sigma, equivalent to our ‘S’, and the universal mathematical symbol for
summation
...
These appear to
be not just helpful, but necessary
...

Though not common in beginning students, with understanding, courage and discipline, these activities come
to characterize successful first year students
...


3

A CHAUTAUQUA ON GOALS
SETTING GOALS IN THE RIGHT ORDER AND WITH THE RIGHT SIZE
Introduction
You are about to change—coming to college does that
...
By “change” I mean a modification of the person you
are—your character
...
So although it’s true that time passes and you change, it is more
accurate to say this: how you behave determines the person you become
...

Not all aspects of your character are a result of your behavior
...
So I omit a consideration of the secret gamble of chromosomes from which you get
your eye color, your predispositions, and the physical traits that partly define you
...
I also pass over those things that come into your life unbidden and unexpected
...
But these things are usually small and usually
rare
...

So what determines how you behave? Goals do
...
They always determine how you behave
...
Recognized or not, evident or not,
good or not; goals determine how you behave
...
You are your own project
...
These are usually biological, as with the goal to eat and the goal
to reproduce
...
All your other goals are chosen; you either set them or adopt them
...

Setting a goal is a clear and thoughtful action, a willing directive of behavior
...

Adopting a goal is a passive occurrence: a goal acquired without much reflection, seeping in (as it
were) from the circumstances, influences, and forces that surround and act on you
...

Perhaps you think that only a modest fraction of what you do is anything so mechanical as goal driven;
most of what you do seems too spontaneous, accidental, or "natural" to be classified this way
...
Some behaviors become repetitive, almost automatic
...
That is, you have habits
...
But as you start the study of engineering, some must be
...
This
requires new goals
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Some new goals may
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seem foreign, “unnatural”, or inappropriate
...
Please don't confuse new with inappropriate
...

Bad goals have initiated behavior that now works directly against success in your first year of
engineering
...
You need to identify this behavior and change it
...
The
chautauqua on knowing yourself says more about recognizing old goals and behavior, and changing
them if they work against your success
...
It is even more revealing to pick a few seemingly spontaneous or "natural" activities and
to try to identify the goals they help you achieve
...
But watching television instead of working on an assignment is more difficult
to understand
...

That you understand, recognize, and use the relationship between goals and behavior doesn't mean
you believe you're a robot or machine
...
It does mean you recognize the place and power
of choice and that you are dependent on it
...

These chautauquas are about your intellectual life during first-year engineering
...
You are tempted to
think that you needn’t set goals since The College of Engineering has done that for you: you have a
curriculum to follow, courses to take, grades to acquire
...
” This is only weakly true
...
A goal to simply “take the courses” is far too passive and vague
...
Do not float and drift in the water like a cork, paddle
in a direction of your choosing
...
And
how you behave is always determined by the goals you have
...
Like most young people, most of your
goals are adopted
...


Setting goals with the right scope
It turns out that just “setting goals” isn’t always enough
...
It has a weak influence on how
you behave because it’s not clear what you should do to achieve it
...
And, as we agreed, we’ve sworn off
slogans
...

So you need to break a large goal into the smaller goals that comprise it
...
These, in turn, may be too large to help you, and so their component-goals need to be
determined
...
Loftiness transforms to grittiness as small
goals with the right scope are broken out of big goals
...
Component-goals are small enough when they directly affect the way you
spend a week
...
This helps you track your progress, and, if
necessary, helps you understand exactly how you missed a goal
...
That is, eventually goals become
what you write in your calendar or planning book, they become small or short-term objectives
...
You can see that
achieving the small goals is achieving the large goal
...
There is no other way
...
That the link exists is unquestionable; how you behave determines the person you become
...
It will
be easier to get the small things done because you will know you are getting the large things done
...
” We could say: “take care of the days and the semesters will take care of themselves
...
These component-goals will define appropriate activities for having a successful first
year in engineering
...
We’ll use indenting to show this; the components of a goal will be written underneath it
and indented, like an outline
...
Let’s call this structure a
goal map
...
Please follow the details
...
That means
having an engineering job
...
So we
start with a goal map like this:
BECOME AN ENGINEER
GET A GOOD FIRST ENGINEERING JOB
OBTAIN AN ENGINEERING DEGREE
Perhaps your plans are broader
...
Then you might have one of these goal maps
...
Are there other important goals you want to achieve during this time? Likely
...

But these goals are still too remote
...
It’s hardly
helpful
...

What is done with this goal, you will need to do with the others; the process is the same
...
Let’s take the goal OBTAIN AN ENGINEERING
DEGREE and establish its component goals
...
So this part of the goal map becomes:

BECOME AN ENGINEER
GET A GOOD FIRST ENGINEERING JOB
OBTAIN AN ENGINEERING DEGREE
SUCCEED IN THE FIRST YEAR IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
This makes sense
...
But it’s still too
lofty, too large
...
You need to make it more specific, find its components
...
But as you continue to work down to smaller
component-goals it gets more difficult to get them right
...
This
requires some careful thought
...

There are other component-goals, equally important, but I believe these three define the academic part
of “succeed
...

But are these three component-goals small enough? Not yet
...
But this, too, needs to be broken down into componentgoals
...
For example, the first component-goal is LEARN FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING BASICS AND SO
GET GOOD GRADES The “so” makes it clear that good grades result from learning engineering basics
...


Σ

You set or adopt goals
...
To be successful in your first year you need to set goals, some new to you
...
This process is
continued until component-goals have sizes that you can use to help plan a week's time
...
Each of these needs to be divided into finer goals
...

This gives you the background required for more advanced courses, the confidence required to
continue studying, and the grades to show that you have mastered the material
...
No—grades, good or bad, result from understanding the course
material
...


Think about the second one
...
Your instructor
(and the rest of the world) is unable to tell the difference between ignorance and the inability to give
evidence of knowledge
...
So beware when you hear yourself say: “I know this stuff
...

You are asked to trust us, the faculty, to define “engineering basics” for you: Calculus, Chemistry,
Physics and Computing
...
This is usually during a lecture in a classroom, with an instructor who uses various verbal
and graphic methods to introduce and explain
...
Sometimes this
encounter will be in a laboratory or on a field trip or a venue (9) other than a classroom
...

It is your very great temptation, perhaps even your current custom, to attend class in an entirely
passive way
...
Or that you need only be there ready to write: to class on time,
notebook and pencil available, alert but empty-headed; other preparation being unnecessary
...

These notions about passive attendance are mistaken
...
Class notes should result from active listening
...
And lectures do not usually produce on-the-spot
understanding
...

There is material in other chautauquas about study, lectures, and note taking
...
This is
the first component-goal of UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL IN THE BASIC COURSES
...
Your goal map now might look like this
...
The distinction is useful
...
And I reserve the word "practice" for repeatedly applying what you
understand and so making you facile (10) with the material
...
The distinction is useful
because if you know you don't know, you need to study; if you know you can't demonstrate that you
know, you need to practice
...
The
arrangement is perfectly symmetric
...
The chautauqua on studying gives
advice about time, focus, and intensity of study
...
Your goal map is
SUCCEED IN YOUR FIRST YEAR IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
LEARN FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING BASICS AND SO GET GOOD GRADES
UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL IN THE BASIC COURSES
ATTEND CLASSES ACTIVELY
BE PREPARED FOR CLASS
LISTEN ACTIVELY
TAKE CLEAR NOTES
STUDY EFFECTIVELY
PROVIDE SUFFICIENT TIME
DEVELOP FOCUS AND INTENSITY
Finally, your understanding must be more secure, more deeply rooted than the tentative and fragile
grasp that results from just lecture and study
...
Practice also builds your confidence
...
This applies to basic
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engineering material especially
...

Your practice is your assignments
...
” Simply getting the homework done or struggling to get ready for tests is a
kind of short-circuit
...
No, the goal is a permanent and robust understanding, and you get it from
practice
...
”
I have a way for you to think about practice
...
Only practice brings improvement
...
” And this is often applied to sports
...
It is more accurate to say “perfect
practice makes perfect
...

I have another way for you to think about practice
...
Renting is an essential but temporary
arrangement, owning is a permanent condition and usually a sound investment
...
Once you
own an understanding it will always be in your possession
...
But I bet you rented an understanding of the cloud of irregular verbs that
pestered you in high school foreign language courses
...
Can you
imagine losing the understanding of French or Spanish irregular verbs? Has that already happened?
Likely
...

Renting will be the usual condition when you first encounter new material, especially difficult material
...
Paying the price and
becoming an owner is the goal
...
Clearly, PRACTICE is the third componentgoal of UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL IN THE BASIC COURSES
...


With these things in mind, the your goal map now look like this:
SUCCEED IN YOUR FIRST YEAR IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
LEARN FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING BASICS AND SO GET GOOD GRADES
UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL IN THE BASIC COURSES
ATTEND CLASSES ACTIVELY
BE PREPARED FOR CLASS
LISTEN ACTIVELY
TAKE CLEAR NOTES
STUDY EFFECTIVELY
PROVIDE SUFFICIENT TIME
DEVELOP FOCUS AND INTENSITY
PRACTICE
PROVIDE SUFFICIENT TIME
DEVELOP FOCUS AND INTENSITY

10

There is one last step: as we agreed, these things need to be detailed down to the week
...
In each course you'll be given a syllabus
...
Specific small goals involving class attendance, study, and practice can be set from
the syllabus
...
A
later chautauqua offers advice about that
...


Σ

Learning engineering basics means understanding the material from your courses in Calculus, Chemistry,
Physics, and Computing
...
Your first encounter benefits you most if you are active; thinking, taking
notes and asking questions
...
STUDY EFFECTIVELY is the
process of doubt, reading/observing and thinking that yields insight
...
Sufficient time and focus and intensity are the component-goals of study and practice
...

So, before you is the task of setting out to be an engineer, while at the same time learning who
engineers are and what they do
...
But there’s no
practical alternative
...
So I believe the second component-goal of SUCCEED IN YOUR FIRST YEAR IN THE
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING is to become certain and confident about studying engineering and therefore
more committed to it
...

And motivation is what keeps you going
...
You liked math and physics in
high school, or you’ve always enjoyed and wanted to build things, or perhaps you have a relative who is
an engineer
...

But perhaps not enough to make clear what discipline within engineering you should pursue
...
" Perhaps you think becoming certain
about a career happens something like this:
You are walking along the road looking for "the right career" or "the right kind of engineering
for you
...
You need only keep
walking, with your eyes on the ground, and to keep looking until you find it
...

This is not a very accurate metaphor for what usually happens
...
It's more accurate to
see the process as building, as construction
...
You are not following a path, you are making one
...
If you don't know enough about yourself or engineering to make
career decisions, don't make them
...
As knowledge about yourself and engineering grows, directions for you
will emerge
...
Such growth is gradual and incremental
...
It is very likely that you can
be prosperous and content in any of several engineering disciplines
...
I observe that it is the style, care, and passion that an engineer brings to
a career that are important; the precise discipline practiced appears to matter less
...
”
Most courses you take in your first year are not engineering courses
...
But there are introductory and projects courses that do
...
They are your first source of information, so taking one or more is a
reasonable goal to help you become certain
...

A second information source is the many books written as an introduction to engineering
...
A third information source about engineering fields is the student
organizations in The College
...
Others are parts of student government
...
You'll find a listing of student organizations in Appendix
3
...
Confidence is knowledge, not a feeling
...
Confidence is part of your ability to perform difficult tasks; knowing
you can get through them, assured of the positive result
...
Confidence does
not make studying easy
...
Though you can’t get around the difficulty,
you can move through it
...
The charged emotion of failure compromises
and short-circuits intellectual effort
...
If the difficulty remains, but the ultimate accomplishment is reasonably certain, then
anguish is absent
...
The difference between difficulty mixed(12) with the fear of failure, and
“mere” difficulty, is profound
...

Confidence is a knowledge that results from your own observation of your success at performing
successively more difficult tasks
...
It is difficult to make a plainer statement
...
The power that confidence brings comes from the indisputability (14) of the evidence:
you see it; no one tells you, no one interprets, no one between you and what you accomplish
...
Telling you to “be
confident!” pelts you with a slogan
...
No
praise or “support” can substitute for this knowledge
...

To acquire confidence you need to clearly view your own success, in detail
...
You
must review carefully and periodically your progress, and remember yourself before you learned the
material you know
...
A remembered image of
yourself “before you knew” is a striking witness to your progress and ability
...
Becoming
certain about your career in engineering needs to be an active pursuit; things will not simply “become clear
...
Introduction to engineering
courses are the best way to acquire the information you need
...
Reading one of the books that summarize engineering and participating in
student organization are other ways to learn more about engineering
...
This knowledge is built from
evidence of your own success, and not from praise or “support
...
A periodic review of that progress and a remembering of how you were is the
process by which you see the evidence of your own power
...
During these years you will acquire the technical
competence you'll be expected to wield as well as the customs, characteristics and habits of a good
engineer
...
It is these things, mixed with technical competence, that
the public recognizes as engineering
...

Now no one expects you to have all this polish and ornament now or even after you finish your first
year
...
But you can and should make a beginning
...


13

Taking great care is: the conservative, cautious, methodical attention to detail; the presence of mind
required to arrange things so that they are not done in haste; and the repeated and careful checking of
results
...
The enemy and opposite is carelessness, the one sin that cannot be
forgiven an engineer
...
Poor judgment is to be regretted, bad information cause for teeth
gnashing, and missing a deadline a serious lapse of professionalism
...
(16)
You can begin acquiring the habit of taking great care
...
Additionally, your increasing carefulness
will help you achieve the other goals that have been discussed in this chautauqua
...

The third part of your goal map begins with this:

BEGIN TO ACQUIRE THE HABITS OF A GOOD ENGINEER
TAKE GREAT CARE IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL WORK
PLAN ADEQUATELY
NO WORK DONE IN HASTE
CAREFUL REVIEW OF ALL WORK
The next component goal is understanding and practicing ethical behavior
...
During your first year
in engineering, ethical behavior is more a matter of avoiding unethical or unscrupulous actions
...
In addition, a course syllabus often describes what is considered academically dishonest
actions
...
It is believed that infractions corrode the individual and the profession
...

It is very likely that during your first year in engineering you will be sorely tempted to academic
dishonesty: copying a friend’s assignment, letting a friend copy yours, or sneaking a peek of a
neighbor’s exam
...
Rubbish
...
You can achieve
the goal of ethical behavior by avoiding the tight spots that tempt you to dishonesty, and by thinking
about this issue in advance to help you have the courage to control your behavior, should it be
necessary
...
Although
you are beginning to acquire technical competence, many of the habits of a good engineer you are not yet
ready to obtain
...
Taking great care is attention to detail, planned activity not threatened by haste, and
repeated checking of results
...

Avoiding the situations that tempt dishonesty and having the courage to control your behavior help make
ethical practice a habit
...
You have other large goals and they should receive the
same attention and development
...
Few have the power and clarity of mind to
evaluate schemes and work through the details without some type of record
...
If it’s your custom to keep a
diary, that’s an ideal place for this work
...
True, unaccompanied by mechanisms to obtain them, goal maps have the triviality of a
connect-the-dots puzzle
...
And
these skills are the topics of the next chautauquas
...
I list them in the order of how unlikely they are to be found among first year
students' skills
...

Questions to answer, things to think about, and exercises to perform
1) In this chautauqua we said that thee of the components of first year success are learning
engineering basics, developing confidence and commitment, and acquiring good habits
...

a) Consider the other dimensions of your life and add at least two other goals to the list of
component goals for success in your first year
b) Take what you believe to be the more important of these two and, applying the same process
described in this chautauqua, build a goal-map that you think you can use as part of your
weekly planning
...
(This is likely to require considerable thought and
be hard to do, but the value of it should be apparent
...
The following questions may make it easier to identify and understand your own
requirements for contentment in a particular field of engineering
...
” But whatever the answers, they will help you, even before you begin to learn about
different engineering disciplines
...
Now, when working with a large group, only trivial
assessments are correct for every person; important assessments can be correct for most, not all
...
You weren’t
challenged to your full capability, not anywhere near it, not even once
...
You think your full capability is a modest extension of
what you did a few months ago in high school
...
And you think that whatever escapes you or whatever
you don't understand, is simply beyond your capability
...
This simply isn’t true
...
But you feel,
no doubt, that you most certainly do; you feel you have encountered things that were beyond
you
...
That is, it is your habit to give new material a comparatively small, brief dose of
your power to understand
...
Rubbish
...
They helped you pass from adolescence to
very young adulthood—a tough job
...
And high school academics had a broad audience with an aim to reach
most students
...
Now you claim you want to be an engineer, so academics should
be your focus and you need to find your real full capability
...

I push my assessment further
...
Your full capability results
from both, and your stamina is the weaker of the two
...
You know that you cannot change your intellectual power, but you do not realize how
much you can improve your ability to engage it in a sustained and intense manner
...
You believe that you are functioning at your full capability
...


I am not asserting that we all have the same intellectual power
...
I am asserting
that understanding difficult material results from both intellectual power and its intense and sustained
use; that is, study
...
The rest of us must study these same things intently and at length to eventually
18

understand them
...
So I believe that the ability for sustained and intense study is the most important
intellectual skill you can develop in college
...

I push my assessment further yet
...
Indeed, other faculty and I
understand your capability better than you do
...
And that is the tension between you and us
...


Σ

It is very likely that you do not know your full capability for study, that you assume whatever you don’t
understand after you “study it,” is beyond your capability
...
You should not confuse this
inability with insufficient raw intellectual power, because though you can’t change your natural intellectual
ability, you can acquire the skill of sustained and intense study
...
Your teachers
offered detailed explanations and repeated examples that produced understanding on the spot
...
It was, in many respects, a passive activity
...

It cannot be this way in college; there is too much material that must be covered at too rapid a pace for
there to be on-the-spot complete understanding in the classroom or lecture hall
...
There simply isn't time
to work through all the details and all the necessary examples
...
You must understand
that in college most learning takes place outside the classroom, during study times that you must
arrange
...
You must
learn how to learn
...
” Thus,
learning needs to be centered on you and the material, not on the instructor and the lectures
...
As with most skills, study is a process that is learned, and can be improved
...


Σ

The process of learning in high school was teacher and classroom centered, and on the spot learning
was usual
...
The instructor is a guide
and facilitator, and the classroom the place where material is introduced and an overview given
...


19

Effective Study
The need for sufficiently prolonged and intense study can be seen if you think back to some one thing
you've studied, found difficult, but finally mastered
...
For example: 3x2 = 10 made sense only after you understood the concept
of an unspecified placeholder, x, able to be manipulated and “solved for”, taking on values, presumably
for some useful purpose
...
The more subtle concept of algebra as “arithmetic with its
content removed”, required some time and thought to become clear; and once it did, algebra became a
powerful tool that was easy to use
...
Can you recall how strange the concept was? How abstract? And how bewildering all the
various algebraic operations were? But now this material is confidently yours
...
This is certainly true of
understanding The Calculus; as with, for example, the definition of the derivative using limits
...
Here's how you might depict
this process graphically
...
There is usually a certain time you have to spend studying, working, reviewing,
questioning, and thinking about something before you finally "get it
...
After this initial investment, you "get it", you finally understand
...
Surely you
have had this experience
...
This is the limit on the amount of time you study, caused by
fatigue or the surrender to distractions
...
If you think carefully about your own study, you'll detect this relationship
...
" No, there is not a near-linear relationship between study and
understanding of difficult material
...


Pushing this a little further, you can graph the progress you make for easy and difficult material:

understanding

The difference between studying easy
and difficult material

difficult
easy
stamina
limit
time spent studying

For some very difficult and important concepts, you'll spend a lot of time with your understanding
seemingly not growing very much, if at all; this is represented by the first flat part of the graph
...
This prologue to your understanding is necessary, it's when you're
thinking, becoming familiar with the material, making connections—things are "sinking in
...
You will reach the time when the Amoment comes and your understanding jumps
...
Only one
thing at a time can have your attention, and if your study is interlarded (26) with distractions and
daydreaming, it takes more time to reach your A-moment
...
In the worst case,
you put your A-moment beyond your stamina limit; you cease to study before you understand
...


21

unfocused study shifts
your A-moment

understanding

understanding

very unfocused study
puts your A-moment
out of reach

stamina
limit

stamina
limit

time spent

time spent

I describe time on the horizontal axis as simply “time spent” rather than “time spent studying”, since it
includes time spent studying and time for whatever else has captured your attention
...

I am sure you’ve experienced the stamina limit: you become too tired to concentrate; or you’ve
surrendering to daydreaming or distractions and are simply staring at the book with your eyes glazed
and your mind filled with other things; or you’re more interested in what’s on television or the radio
...
And because you can control these things, you
can move your stamina limit, you can increase it
...
The further out you move your stamina limit, the more you are able to
understand, since you are able to study with greater duration
...
You study new material, focus your attention on it, and finally
understand
...
This initial investment is small for easy material and large for difficult
material
...
Unfocused study increases the time it takes to get
to the A-moment, and in extreme cases you reach your stamina limit before you get to your A-moment
...
You
ascribe (27) this to their being smarter
...
It is more accurate and helpful to recognize that their A-moment comes
sooner than yours does
...
Whatever the case, you need to know that
once you get to your A-moment, your understanding can be just as complete
...
You haven’t pushed it farther out, you’ve simply hit your
stamina limit without yet understanding the material
...
In this case
you need more information, or a different point of view, or simply a rest
...
For example, a
mysterious step in deriving a formula, or how the chain rule for derivatives is applied to sin(x(ln(x2))m),
or why O2 and H2 are common but Fe2 isn’t
...
This narrowly defines what you don’t yet understand, and helps limit the
vague and discouraging feeling that comes from the ambiguous “I just don’t get it
...


22

Take your questions to class and ask your instructor, or take them to your teaching assistant (TA), or
take them to your study group
...

Sometimes getting to your A-moment requires getting away from the material for a while
...
Frustration and discouragement about not
“getting it” work against this
...
Returning to study is
another part of reaching your full capability
...


Effective practice
Unlike understanding difficult material, practice has a nearly linear relationship between time invested
and results
...
Each problem is a small step, with its own A-moment; but the
steps are small, perhaps not even detectable, and your progress is nearly continuous
...
You need to devote sufficient time in order
to become skilled
...

A practice graph relates time invested and skill, and looks like this:

skill

The steady increase of skill results
from continuing investment of time
...


time spent practicing

This is also an accurate graph for progress in washing the dishes, doing your laundry, or even working
on some CAD drawings
...
This is why you need to distinguish between study and
practice
...


Σ

“Effective study” is intense and sustained study, a short-hand for study not undermined by distractions
and daydreaming, study that is focused on the subject at hand, and lasts long enough and repeated enough
to bring you to your A-moment
...


Careful reading as part of effective study
Casual reading ranges from page turning through an exciting novel to languidly,(27) even carelessly,
reading the daily paper
...
You do not monitor your grasp of what’s read, the material is usually on a
low enough level that monitoring is not necessary, or even desired
...
You
23

read as quickly as your eye movements and the size of your “visual gulps” allow
...
Usually there are mental images generated, especially when reading very
vivid writing; you can say that your mind’s eye is active
...

Studying involves reading, but reading that is characteristically very active, and it is accompanied by
other activity
...
You are
questioning, thinking, and checking your own understanding
...

Reading brings words into your mind, they may even be “voiced” in your head, but you mind’s voice is
quiet
...
This is different
than just recognizing words
...
For most engineering material an active mind’s eye
and voice are required
...
Careful reading has the following attributes
...

1
...
You are reading at a rate no faster than that at which you understand the small bit of
material in front of your eyes, and not by how quickly your eyes can move and you can
(merely) recognize words
...
Active mind’s voice
...

3
...
You are actively recording main ideas, confusions, questions, or
summaries
...
Here are some
ways to develop these three habits of careful reading
...
Pace
Reading with the aid of a 3" x 5" card will keep you from moving along at a pace driven by how
fast you move your eyes and how quickly you simply recognize words
...
This lets you see only one sentence, equation, or statement at a
time
...
This simple mechanical assistance is useful
whether you’re reading a textbook or studying your lecture notes
...


This kind of reading is especially important when working with a textbook
...
Active mind’s voice
As you move through and think about small sections of material, ask, “what does that mean?”
and give an answer with your mind’s voice
...

24

If you can do this then you have an indication that you understand the material
...

Using your mind’s voice forces you to use your words, which is a good test of what you know
...
Using your mind’s voice prevents you from mistaking mere recognition of the words in
an explanation, for an understanding the explanation itself
...
Writing and note taking
Writing is the third important part of careful reading
...
This applies to both what you do and do not understand
...
Record the main ideas,
important points, and necessary detail
...
This serves as the specific reference for a question to be put to your
instructor or teaching assistant
...


If you mind’s voice is active and you are writing as you study, you should be able to know
when you don’t know and when you need to re-read the material
...
The books you use in your first year are very dense
and almost everything in them in important
...
Highlighting is too
passive to benefit you
...
If you choose to mark in your textbook, write
...


Σ

Careful reading is part of effective study
...
An active mind’s voice is also part of
careful reading
...
Writing and note taking are also part of careful reading, forcing you to summarize your
understanding with words, drawings, sketches, or graphs
...
You don’t know
it because you haven’t ever reached it
...
You should think about your recent study sessions and ask yourself: Was
your mind’s voice active? Were you asking yourself questions about the material? Did you take
additional notes? How often did you catch yourself with your mind on other things? What were the
uninterrupted spans of time during which you focused on the material at hand?
25

The answers I get from beginning first year engineering students are typically these:
Was your mind’s voice active?
Were you asking yourself questions of the material?
Did you take additional notes?
How often did you catch yourself with your mind on other things?
What were the uninterrupted spans of time?

“My what?”
“No”
“Almost never”
“Pretty often”
“3 minutes”

The last answer is interesting
...
Yet this is usually the case, especially for students who have not considered their own
study carefully
...

These in themselves help keep you from being distracted
...
So it’s best to manage or eliminate distractions, even though it can take considerable work
to change your habits in this regard
...
You
should arrange things so that these don’t get in the way
...
I do not mean the dead soundlessness of an anechoic (29)
chamber, but rather an environment having only a background and unintelligible murmur, as in the
library or study hall
...

It is, perhaps, your custom to have “some background noise” while you “work”: music on the walkman,
the radio, or the television
...
Rubbish
...
Working on a CAD drawing in the computer lab is an example
...
So there are things that you can, even should, do with music or
television in the background; studying is not one of them
...
Some students report that their discomfort in this situation is due the silence, a
kind of distracting emptiness
...
But active study should completely fill this empty mental setting
...
” This is the fastest way to your Amoment
...
Studying requires your most acute mental
alertness, and fatigue certainly affects this
...
If you’re too fatigued to study, reschedule your study time and do something else
...
” Your physical environment is important and should be chosen with care to make
sure it’s helping you
...
Naturally, your study place should not present distractions that require
considerable effort on your part to overcome
...
You will find focused study
easiest in a quiet environment
...
Work such as the repetitious yet vigilant activity of CAD drawing improves if agreeable music is
available
...
If you currently study with

26

music or the television, try studying without these powerful forms of sensory input
...
But focused study with an active mind’s voice will fill this
void, and you won’t notice the silence
...
Schedule important study times to avoid these
...
You are daydreaming or your “mind has wandered”, as it’s put
...
Your attention can only be focused on one thing at a
time, so these distractions greatly affect your study
...


Keeping your study active is the best way to avoid daydreaming
...

Your mind may wander because you’re not interested in what you’re studying at the moment
...
Yes, you need to “be
interested” in engineering, but you cannot expect each thing that you must understand to attract you,
especially initially
...
That you find the object of your study boring, even tedious,
should not lead you to behave as if it were unimportant
...
Some things will become interesting only after you understanding something about them
...
Settling an important and distracting personal matter may be the most
efficient thing to do
...
That is, this internal distraction may pose a difficulty only at the beginning of your study
session
...
Easier, not easy
...
Pulling yourself back
from stray thoughts is an act of discipline required if you’re going to reach your A-moment
...
Do not let
the repetition discourage you—it is the very thing that brings you control
...
Extended and intense sessions of study are
exhausting; leaving you a little out-of-balance, even sore
...

Some of the power to manage your attention during study comes from knowing study's value
...
Ending a study session by reviewing what you’ve accomplished establishes a habit of reflection
that improves your studying
...
And recognizing the amount of understanding that study bring you makes you certain of
study's value
...


Studying with your lecture notes
As I describe above, you should not expect to have lectures produce sufficient understanding on the
spot
...


You need to study outside of class to augment the lectures and come to a sufficient understanding of
new material
...
In the chautauqua on
active class attendance, I advise that notes taken during lecture are only the first step in understanding
new material
...

In this second step you complete your notes: filling in details; annotating (28) with words, phrases or
drawings; recording the understanding you've reached; and forming questions about the material
...
This is not "reviewing your
notes", a usually passive process that is mistaken for study
...
Highlighting your notes is a passive process that
merely records that you recognize things
...

It is likely that the lectures are introducing, explaining and amplifying material that is in your textbook
...
Read your notes and the
textbook, alternating as you move through the material presented in the lecture
...
Your assignments are easier to perform if you first have gone over your lecture notes as
described here
...
And so you
risk mistaking a completed assignment for proof that you understand the material; a mistake that only
reveals itself during a test
...
Good performance on a test usually requires an understanding of new
material sufficient to solve problems and proficiency enough to allow you to work quickly
...
” You will be tempted to simply accumulate notes as the weeks pass, and look at
them again only as part of “studying for the test
...

Studying your notes on a regular basis has time management consequences
...
You
need to schedule time for this
...


Studying with others
Studying with others can help you reach your A-moment or push it away
...
Discussion of the problem,
consideration of different points of view, and common evaluation of a solution are benefits of practicing
with others
...
In your eagerness not to hold the group back and
put a momentary but uncomfortable spotlight on yourself, you’re more likely to simply copy results
down
...

Remember: the goal is not to get the homework done, but to understand and become facile with the
material
...

28

I believe that you should study difficult material alone or with only one other person
...
That is, it is more difficult to have an active mind’s voice, to write and to move at the
pace you need when you are in a group of three or more
...
In this case, your mind’s voice becomes your usual voice as you talk to your study partner
...
Perhaps most
importantly, your study activity involves another person with another point of view to the material;
shared explanations can help you both understand
...


Knowing when you don’t know
Part of studying is knowing when you don't know the material
...
It is the clear signal that you need to study more, that you are not
prepared for a test, and that you will not remember or understand enough to do well on an examination
...
Being certain that you don't
know is positive information, not negative
...
" Having it demonstrated that you didn't know was useful, but the information came
late
...
The
key phrase in the quotation is "I thought
...
You
err on the false positive side; thinking you understand more than you do, thinking you have a firmer
grasp on concepts and their applications than you do
...
More starkly: assume you're ignorant until you prove
to yourself that you're knowledgeable
...
There are some practical ways to know when you don't
know
...
If you sit in front of your textbook or
lecture notes, flipping the pages, recalling what you see, you are very likely to mistake mere
recognition for certainty and understanding
...
As with other aspects of study, this fails to reveal what you need to know
because it is far too passive
...

Here are some activities that can reveal when you don't know
...
Summarize the material you've studied
...
Without the aid of your notes or textbook,
write down the facts, equations, formulae or procedures that you've studied
...
(30) Make sure you have no assistance, just blank paper and your own
understanding
...
Be very
critical; if you haven't written it down exactly correctly, then you don't know
...
Compare your summary to what you should have written
...

A second way to know when you don't know is to take a practice test
...
Some of the tests they took have been collected in "test files" and are available
in the Peer Advocates' office on the second floor of the Engineering Center
...
Get a test for your course and take it
...
When you go through this
practice test the first time, give yourself only the time you will have for the real tests in the your course
...
Then go back and try to finish the test
completely
...
Poor performance of this exercise indicates that you
don't know
...
After a homework
assignment is returned to you, review it until you understand the exact reason for each mistake or
omission
...
You
need to make the important distinction between errors caused by your lack of understanding, and those
caused by carelessness or haste
...
It is a great mistake to simply check your score, put your paper in your
notebook, and comfort yourself with "I'll need to review this stuff for the test
...
For these reasons it is important to study your lecture
notes on a frequent basis
...
Study with others can help you, but you
must be careful not to become passive in a large study group if it moves a pace that is inappropriate for you
...
Knowing when you
don’t know is an important part of study
...


Questions to answer, things to think about, and exercises to perform
1) To assess your current study skills it is helpful to look back to high school and answer the following
questions
...
” Think back to an occasion and describe it
...
Describe in more detail the similarities between sports practice (sufficient
time, focus, and intensity) and the intellectual activities of study and practice
...

30

a) Where do you study? Evaluate this place, considering the issues discussed in this
chautauqua
...


31

A CHAUTAUQUA ON LECTURES
ACTIVE CLASS ATTENDANCE
As I wrote in the chautauqua on goals, lectures are an important encounter with new material
...
And
at most universities simple economics requires this efficiency, especially in first-year courses
...
So, barriers to understanding new material will be
as low as you are likely to encounter in your academic career, and your opportunity for success will be
as large as it is likely to be
...

The word there is "contribute", not participate
...
But you
must contribute to the discovery, explanation and learning that begins in the classroom and the lecture
hall
...
You need to see these as your minimum
responsibilities for your education
...
It is
not possible to cover all the material for a course in every detail in a semester of lectures
...
Understanding new material and
familiarity with important details requires study, in addition to attendance at lectures
...
The learning that you do in your first year in
engineering must rely heavily on your own activity; lectures are only part of the process
...
” As I wrote
elsewhere, your learning needs to be centered on you and the material, not on the instructor and the
lectures
...
They explain the most
important concepts and show you how to think about the material
...

To get the very most from your lectures requires three things: being there, being involved, and being
prepared
...
In the engineering industry, being late for a meeting is
a considerable breach of professionalism
...
If this is not your habit, acquire it; and getting yourself to class on time is a good
way to do that
...

Though you won’t always agree, as an instructor I can tell you that class time races by and there is
never quite enough time to cover the material
...
If you’re late, you’re going to miss something
...
It’s also disruptive to the students that are already in class
...

Being late is an all-around bad practice
...
Alert means rested and ready to work at listening and comprehending
...
” So,
you should not be just out of bed and groggy, nor fatigued and ready for a nap; not full and sleepy from
those two quarter-pounders and fries, nor edgy and distracted by an empty growling stomach
...


Being involved: listening and taking notes
Note taking begins with listening and seeing
...
Large class size and lack of preparation will tempt you
to be passive and to put yourself on "intake mode", your mind's voice being silent
...

Careful listening requires full attention, with your mind’s voice and mind's eye active
...
If your mind's voice and eye are active
you won't wander or permit distractions to have your attention
...

So "listening" to a lecture means you are paying close attention to the presentation and thinking, getting
the meaning or information presented
...
Taking notes means recording the meaning or information of the presentation; if you don't
get the meaning, then recording the words of the presentation
...

Notes taken during lecture should be a study aid
...

Notes are your initial assessment of the main points and important detail presented during lecture
...
This initial process is incomplete; you cannot get everything down in your
notebook with a completeness that you need
...
There is no escaping the fact that sometimes you will simply be a
scribe during lecture
...

The second step in understanding new material is a revisiting and studying of your lecture notes;
completed soon after you produce them
...
This second pass over your notes makes them complete and makes them
useful to you
...

Use a spiral-bound notebook
...
Use your notebook in a way that accommodates the second pass
...
On each page, draw a vertical line from top to bottom about 1/5 of the way
over from the right edge of the page
...
Leave the right-hand 1/5 for:
33

•
•
•
•
•

unresolved questions that occur to you in class,
derivations that are provided just for completeness,
signs to indicate that you’re uncertain about that part of the lecture,
tangential things presented in class that might be helpful but not essential, and
writing that you do during the second pass through your notes
...
Whatever method you use
should permit and encourage a second pass through your notes
...

Clarity means your notes convey the order, relative importance and detail of the concepts and
equations that are presented
...
The relative importance
of main ideas and subsequent subordinate ideas or details can be made clear by the structure of your
notes
...
Indenting from there signifies
a related but subordinate item
...
If a process is being presented, number the
steps as you go along and leave enough space between items to eliminate ambiguity
...

Neatness helps reduce ambiguity in your notes
...
Neatness is easy to bring about; it's little more than good habits:
•
•
•

leave enough space between things for later annotation,
use a pencil so you can erase and rewrite if you need to, and
write knowing that you will come back to study what you are putting down, as if a stranger
were going to read it
...
Part of their utility
is completeness
...

You should not assume you'll go back later, remembering with sufficient detail what was said or written
on the board, and then fill in the holes
...

An effective lecture is a real workout for everyone involved: you, your classmates, and the instructor
...
The instructor
evidently needs you to read and understand some material from your textbook to prepare for the next
lecture
...
Do it
...

Showing up to lectures “cold” significantly reduces their effectiveness
...
Naturally, material is
presented in a way that builds; you need to keep up
...
This gradual investment of study is more effective than an intensive, and often frantic,
session when you "study for the test
...
It is very tempting
34

to just take notes from lecture to lecture and not really look at them until you're getting ready for a test
...


Poor Lectures
Even very good instructors have off days, and give lectures that are poorly planned or delivered, or
worse, are inscrutable
...
Or it may be your lot to
have a course taught by an instructor who isn’t very good
...
In this case, stay focused on the material
...
It may be difficult to get to, but it is likely to
be there
...
You should be more willing to ask questions,
even in large classes
...
Never let an instructor get between you
and the material you need to learn
...
It may take some time for you to adapt your
learning style to the teaching style of the instructor
...
Besides, you cannot expect an exact
match of styles, particularly in large first-year courses
...

I remind you again that the center of learning has shifted from the instructor and the lectures to you
and the material you need to learn
...
Some good lectures are
themselves exercises in the vigorous process of learning, demand hard work from you
...

Only further study will bring you to your A-moment, and no mere lecture can substitute for this
...
Analyze how
effective a study aid they are
...

b) It's probably helpful if each of you bring copies of your notes for everyone else
...

d) Have everyone in this small group attempt the describe the process they use to take notes
...
)
2) Identify the course you're taking this semester that has the most interesting lectures
...
You carry 16 credit hours of
courses in the semesters of your first year
...
The
assignments and study for these courses require, on average, between 2 and 3 hours outside class for
every hour you're in class
...
This is 16 x 2-1/2 = 40 a week
...

The 2-1/2:1 ratio isn’t a rule, it’s simply how things are
...
Courses may start slowly, but
they soon require about this much time
...
You are tempted to think I’m exaggerating, hoping to make a dramatic
point
...

Not every week will have 56 hours of academic work in it, but most will
...
And with these hours you must
accomplish many different tasks
...
This is time management
...
If you clearly understand your need to control how you spend
time, and if you summon the discipline to exercise that control, then academic success in your first
year in engineering is likely
...
Time management will have increasing value through your academic
career and will be essential when you begin your career as a professional
...
You cannot have a successful
first year if all you do is study
...
I suspect you don't need convincing about this
...
A subtle thing requires your attention here
...
By this I mean its concentration, its configuration, and its
place in your week
...

Relaxation, exercise and socializing are important enough to deserve blocks of time, rather than just
scraps or bits of time, the odd moments when you're not busy
...
This works better than using small bits, even
if the bits do add up to the same total as the block
...
Bits disappear, even after only
a day
...
Your own leisure is too
important to be only the result of what happens to be going on around you; the default condition
...


36

An assessment
And now, another rather delicate business
...
Essential to this is looking at the recent past, seeing how you
managed your time
...

Based on what I’ve learned from first year students, I can poke your memory a bit:
In high school your homework assignments and tests were neither difficult nor frequent, so you
worked infrequently
...
This lack of serious on-going challenges left you without the habit of steady, ongoing
studying
...
There was not a
significant amount of unoccupied time
...

In high school you had lots of time for all the things you had to do and wanted to do
...
This didn't require
much ability or exercise in planning and scheduling your time
...

So, I safely assume you don't have time management skills
...

You should know that in the very large first-year introduction classes that I have taught recently,
approximately 50% of the students state that they had 1 hour or less (!) of school work to do outside of
school, a week
...

You need to acquire time management skills
...
You will learn that simple resolve is a very weak force
in your life
...
But time management provides a method for
change and for getting the gritty things done that, when accomplished, bring about a successful first
year in engineering
...
It sounds simple—it is
...
You plan how you spend time in a series of steps, and you follow-through by
having the right habits
...

1
...

3
...

5
...


Recognize time as a resource
Understand your current time allocations
Know how much resource you have and how it's spent
Plan and re-allocate your time resource
Maintain time management habits
Stay in control

I'll explain each and give some suggestions for performing them
...
It is too passive to
hold that time is simply something that "goes by
...

•

•
•

Time is spent only once
An hour spent well or poorly is gone all the same
...
I am not
advocating a manic preoccupation with the fleeting minutes, rather a consciousness of
the single-expenditure nature of time—it helps suppress procrastination
...

How time is spent always results from a decision you make
Only choice changes how you spend time
...
The default conditions around
you should have little influence on how your time is spent
...
Consider, for example,
preparation for a test
...
That you
actually use enough to prepare requires scheduling and discipline
...
The time you schedule for studying needs to account for
when you are most alert
...
Not having enough time to prepare is the result of
your decisions to spend the available time on other things
...


Understand your current time allocations
It is a mistake to open a planning book and simply concoct (19) a schedule that you expect to follow
...
Follow-through must be based on realistic
expectations
...
You must begin by knowing your current habits; seeing and then evaluating them
...
Then, since it's
likely that you'll need to change some habits, your planning can include the process of gradual change
...

This accounting step in your time management plan should be performed for a week early in the
semester
...

Complete a daily log for each day in your accounting week
...
" Don’t imagine you
can remember how you spent each 1/2 hour at the end of a long day; do some recording during the
day
...

Buy a very small spiral notebook, no bigger than a pocket
...
Don't let more than 4 hours go by
without recording your activities
...


At day's end, transcribe your activities from the little book to the daily log
...

It is essential to be honest and accurate with this record of your activities
...
Don't record dinner
as taking 45 minutes more than it did
...
Don't lump activities together
...
Record them as “unaccounted for
...
Your friends will, no
doubt, notice your little notebook and make snide references to geeks or Sherlock Holmes
...


Know how much time resource you have and how it's spent
You have a week’s worth of data and unless something peculiar happens, this can be taken as
representative of what you do
...
Use at least
all of these categories, and add others that may apply such as “work” or “church”
...
The same is true for
socializing and watching television
...
You'll find it helpful to convert the times you found in the all the
categories but sleep to fractions or percentages of the hours you're awake in a week
...

Make sure you know much time was unaccounted for
...
If you know how you’ve spent your time, you can look back, make a judgment, and
plan for a change if that’s what you decide to do
...
If you can’t account for 15% of you time; you should
repeat the accounting activity for another week
...
But don’t start muttering "I resolve"; do the next step in the
time management process
...
In another chautauqua I discuss class preparation
...
Then, using your time accounting from your typical week, determine how much
time you need for studying and doing homework
...
The best and least
difficult way to study successfully in your first year is to study in a frequent, steady, regular way
...
It is best if this time is spread uniformly
through 6 days of the week
...
I suggest your log leave one day a
week completely open for leisure and activities unrelated to your courses
...
Leave enough space in the blocks
to record and annotate (28) what you did
...
Then
use the syllabus from each class to schedule the dates for tests, examinations, projects and papers
throughout these weeks
...
Whatever that is, allocate that time, working
backwards from the due date, using reasonable time increments scheduled into parts of the days that
have not already been scheduled
...

A perfectly useful alternative to generating the log pages described here is to transcribe this
information into any one of the commercially available weekly planners
...
These planners can be very
elaborate with places for addresses, notes, and other things you need to record and recall
...
But if money is an issue, your own log pages kept in your
notebook will serve just as well
...
Time for football
games, parties, sports, or television
...
I advise
you to treat television as a low form of leisure, that should be scheduled like other activities
...
Some will be in small pieces
that make it hard to use it for certain things
...
You should keep it free for that purpose
...
Part of it is very tentative, but the important
demands for your time have been recognized
...
The larger the differences, the more vigilant you will need to be about adhering to your
time plan
...
You will need to study
more, assignments will take longer to perform, and the material will increase in complexity and you’ll
need more time to study enough to master it
...
As you learn more about
the semester your time plan should change
...


Maintain time management habits
Your planning book won’t do much good if it isn’t within reach; keep it with you
...
Due dates for assignments you get as the semester proceeds should
be recorded, right in class as you get the assignment
...

40

Consult your week's log often
...
It
will help you to maintain time management habits if you have some feedback
...
This serves as a quick and useful diary of your activities
...

Either is helpful
...
Don't permit yourself to procrastinate
...
Move this study
time forward to a time block that is unscheduled, or displace something that has been scheduled
...

By re-scheduling I mean writing this postponed task into an unscheduled block of time, not just “making
a mental note”
...
This habit of re-scheduling is especially
important for the time scheduled for work on preparing for tests or working on projects or papers
...
When someone suggests something that would seriously
change your time allocation, think about it
...
There's
nothing wrong with spontaneous changes to your time allocation; just be sure you have enough
unscheduled time to use, or have something that can be displaced or dropped without causing
problems—sleep is not one
...
Of course you
encounter some unexpected demands on your time, but those demands are very infrequent
...
An intervention
is likely to be unavoidable; an opportunity should always be evaluated
...
If you find that you have, you should review what happened so that
you know exactly why
...
In the first case you
need to adjust your time allocation
...
You may find yourself not
re-scheduling or not doing some work because you feel that you can afford to let “a few” small things
slip
...
In the chautauqua on goals, the link between large goals and small was made clear;
achieving the small goals is achieving the large goal
...

So, asking yourself if you "feel like working on an assignment" is the wrong question
...
" The answer to the first question
is often “no”, and that to the second is certainly “yes
...
Trouble begins when your behavior is governed only by that immediate
(and temporary) feeling
...
This kind of selfdiplomacy, self-assessment, self-argument is what self-discipline means most of the time
...
I admit that the accounting and scheduling appear excessive, even silly
...
The week
of accounting is necessary, and the scheduling is necessary
...
” But that is only because
they are not your current habits
...
It is something that all busy professionals
do
...
All but a few intransigent (21) students find it powerfully
helpful and are glad to have learned how to do it
...

2) You are likely to be very surprised when you look over your week of time accounting
...
The tube is likely to be a particular problem
...
”
iii) Have you talked about this with your new friends and classmates? What plans, if any, do
they have?
iv) What physical and social things will you need to modify if you what to see your habits
change?
b) Small amounts of time (an hour or less) can be hard to use
...
Some of these don’t require large amounts of time
...

•
In both cases time is spent in the same way
...
Here’s some help:
i) How does the exercise of choice effect you as a person?
ii) How does being passively subject to the default condition around you effect you as a
person?
iii) What personal characteristics does an act of choice exercise?
b) Explain why scheduling time is the link between attaining your goals and the passing of the
days and weeks
...
” I don’t believe that
you need to plumb the depths and listen to the whispers of your soul to have a successful first year in
engineering
...
This chautauqua is about practical self-knowledge,
and not why your favorite color is blue
...
This seems perhaps—well, silly
...
This usually isn't the
case
...
Living with yourself
requires a certain "filtering" of the picture of yourself you keep in front of you
...
And aside from “filtering”, there are some things that you do, or don’t do, that
don’t command much of your own attention
...
For example, you probably
didn't know how much television you watch each week—only the time accounting exercise in the last
chautauqua showed that to you
...

As you read in its chautauqua, time management is an important skill you need this first year
...
As I mentioned in that chautauqua, you need to know your needs for rest, food, and
exercise; you need to know their limits, high and low
...
It is not possible
for you to establish a reliable and practical time management program unless you know your needs for
rest, food, and exercise
...
So you need to observe and understand how you study, how
you read, how you are distracted
...
You also need to know when you need help with difficult
material, when you need help from your instructor or when you need to arrange for a tutor
...
There are new demands
and new opportunities
...
You are on your own—but not by yourself
...
And with these
classmates you can establish a community
...
Part of
building a community is knowing your own needs for it, contributing to it, and participating in it
...

There is another thing you’ll see if you are observant: powerful forces that can reduce the control you
have over your life, forces to conform, to compromise, to give up
...
These should have no place in your life
...
So you need to learn how
to keep in control
...


The view of a stranger; a way to know yourself better
Sometimes family and friends can help you understand or recognize things about you and your habits
...
Looking at yourself “from the outside” is a skill you should acquire; it provides self-knowledge
you can acquire no other way
...
Looking at yourself as a stranger is an important skill
...
This is much more difficult than it seems at first
...
You probably were very self-referent, maybe even self-absorbed, in high school
...
And we all want to think well of ourselves, it's part mental
health
...
A
stranger might say that you’ve made peace with carelessness, and signed a truce with half-hearted
attempts
...
It is now time to look at
what you do with the eyes of a stranger
...
Perhaps you feel you can’t do anything right, your performance
is never satisfactory
...
A stranger might
say that you’ve given up without a very good reason, and are simply feeling sorry for yourself
...
And the view of a stranger is what you need
...

Making sure you see requires that you look at a record of what you've done
...

Looking back on one week is good way to do this
...
" You can
no more do that than you can flap your arms and fly
...
No,
you need to look at a written record
...

I again recommend that you take just one minute at day's end, consult your log, and note in the blocks
for that day whether you did the scheduled activities
...
If you didn't
do your scheduled work, note that and record the reason
...

You may not like what you write, but write it anyway
...
These weekly plan annotations should
include at least the following:
homework assignments
completed on time
performed with care
study sessions
quality: distractions? focus?
sufficient time
test preparation
leisure
44

At week's end take just 5 minutes, read over the record, summarize your observations, and then write
them down
...

Reading them helps you assess their correctness in a way that just thinking about them doesn’t permit
...

Read this summary and make judgments
...
This self defense is
natural
...

I believe you will find that just two weeks of this activity brings you a habit of looking at yourself as a
respectful stranger might, and that your self-knowledge grows considerably
...


Acquiring practical self-knowledge
Here are some practical, fundamental questions about yourself you should be able to answer, and
suggestions about how to answer, if you can't
...
” The answers to these questions can be very helpful in your time management
process
...

How much sleep do you require to be alert during the day?
Successful time management requires you know how many hours you're awake during
the week
...
Please understand
this is not the number of hours you'd sleep if you slept until you woke up, with no alarm
or morning light
...
Everyone has a different sleep requirement
...
Once you've settled into a routine on
campus, try more and less sleep than you usually get
...
It is not
unusual for sleep habits to change a lot when you utterly change your environment
and disconnect yourself from familiar surroundings and people
...
Some active and effective
professionals take naps
...
Would they help you? A nap in the
afternoon may be much more effective for you than additional sleep at night
...
You will need to have the time and this will require some time
management
...

What are your eating habits?
What is your most important meal during the day?
How much time do you need to devote to this meal so that you enjoy it and have the
time you need? Do you like to take this meal in the company of others?
45

Change your eating habits significantly only after some thought
...
Some change is unavoidable
...
Gads! On the other hand, I have a faculty colleague who
says he discovered "dorm food" to be a gourmet delight compared to his mother's
cooking
...
You may find out that because you are studying more than you ever have,
your need for exercise is greater
...
Time management will be especially important here
...
The academic
and intellectual dimensions are probably sufficiently well defined for you as a first-year
engineering student
...
Your social life, in
whatever form, should be the subject of a little thought on your part
...
Because these
things are so important you should make sure that the life you establish in college
makes room for them
...

It is likely that you left family and friends back home; you need to meet new people
...

What role do music, sports, outdoor activities, talking, dancing, and parties have in
your social life? What amount of time do these things require if they are to bring you
pleasure? Spontaneous socializing can be great fun, but organized things like hikes,
meals, and concerts can also be fun
...


How much Television has it been your habit to watch?
Television watching is usually wildly underestimated by students and can be a “silent
demon” that significantly shortens their week
...
You need to be very honest about this
...


46

Are there programs you really enjoy and want to see every week? How many hours is
that? How much of the stuff that you watch can you do without? Is television your way
of combating boredom?
Knowing accurately the number of hours you watch television can be difficult
...
“I just
need background noise while I do my work
...
You need to precisely
understand that it’s still a distraction and reduces the focus of your reading or
studying
...

Do you know how much you've learned, how much progress you've made?
This item is important because it is one way you become confident
...
In addition to confidence, observing your own learning and
performance is a significant factor in maintaining your motivation
...
You
need to look at your homework, your examinations and the lecture notes that you
acquire if you are to get an overview of your own progress
...

Because the pace is rapid and because you're so close to your work, the default
condition is not to look back: you get back homework and examinations, check your
score, and put them away
...
The default condition is to look only forward, since that's where
your next assignment or examination is coming from
...

A backward look is essential to see the result of all your hard work and the hours spent
studying
...
It will help your motivation,
commitment, and stamina
...

•

Every other week, review the notes you have taken during the classes for a
course
...
It will give you the overview of your progress
...


•

Look over the assignments you've gotten back
...


•

Recall from memory a view of yourself as you were at the beginning of the
semester
...
Consider your new knowledge and new skills, recalling the hours you've
worked and studied
...
I think it important
for you to have a remembered vision of you not knowing what you know now
...

Making it personal makes it powerful
...
Knowing the process by which you learn is an essential part of having a
successful first year in The College of Engineering
...

One well documented and widely used method to categorize people and to understand how they learn
is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
...
The mother-daughter team of Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers developed a series of
questions (an “instrument” as the psychologists have it) designed to uncover the preferences of an
individual
...
These types are based on the following ideas
...

b) Both of these basic types of people consciously process information primarily through either
i) Immediate and practical experience (the senses, S), or
ii) Possibilities and the meaning of experience (the intuition, N)
...

d) Behavior is the result of either
i) Adaptation to situations and spontaneity (called perceptive, P),or
ii) Adherence to structure, plan, and order (called judging, J)
...
The two types or poles in each of the four
areas means that this structure has 16 types of individuals
...
Most engineering students are types ISTJ (29%), ESTJ (26%), ENTJ (20%), or
INTJ (17%)
...
Very few engineering students are of type ESFP
(5%)
...

As you can see, most (92%) engineering students are Thinkers (T) and Judgers (J)
...
This is also
true of professional engineers
...
Think about how you learn and identify your
preferences and characteristics from the following pairs
...


Need to begin working from detailed, concrete,
specific information and build up to a large
organization
Are comfortable working through new material
alone
...

Talking and explaining material to others helps
your own understanding
48

Can come to an understanding from things
explained with written words and symbols (like
mathematics)
Comfortable with a process that tells you what to
do
Uncomfortable with equipment until you
understand how it works
Even though it takes longer, you like to be given
just a bit of guidance and then go off on your
own
...

Enjoy tinkering with things, taking them apart,
seeing what’s inside
...

Want and need long stretches of uninterrupted
time to get your work done
Need to see something written down or based on
a figure or diagram
Write slowly
Don’t particularly mind a sloppy, fuzzy, “openended” problem
...

This is the first step in either changing the situation or modifying your custom
...
If
you know what’s missing, you can add it
...
I believe it
important to determine whether you feel that way because you really are overwhelmed or simply
because you feel stress
...
Some help you can provide yourself, some will need to come
from others
...
If these
things are happening, determine the cause
...
In the unlikely event that there
really isn't any more time in your week for study, then you probably really are in over your snorkel
...

It is more likely that you need to study more
...
If you need to study more, rework your daily and weekly time management plans to provide more study time
...
It
sounds easy—it isn't
...
Part of the transition from high
school to college is learning how to shift the center of learning from an instructor to you
...
There is certainly nothing wrong with needing some help during this transition
...
Tutoring can provide alternative explanations for new material, encouragement, and an
environment in which you feel free to ask lots of questions
...

It may be that you are not suited to be an engineer
...
And you should not permit yourself
to reach this conclusion by yourself
...

It may be that you feel overwhelmed, but really aren't
...
Here are
some causes for feeling overwhelmed:
•
•
•

Reaction to difficulty
Stress due to worry
Insufficient leisure or social contact

Obviously, you should not give up because things are difficult
...
As I mentioned before, your talent is such that you
probably went through high school without strenuous exertion—so don't panic during what may be your
first encounter with real intellectual difficulty
...
You probably have evidence that you can do difficult work; you need to
become used to doing it without succumbing to the fear of failure
...

Worry is an irredeemably useless activity
...
You will soon acquire evidence that you can do
the work that is required
...
If you worry and are stressful,
remember to look back at the recent past and note what you have accomplished
...
Doing difficult things is the nature of
engineering
...
Be
careful you don't confuse this with not having enough time to just sit around
...

Things that may get you into trouble
You are going to be asked to go out partying on Thursday night—to stay out late; too late to get up
early enough for class on Friday
...
It will
be a mistake to make this a habit
...
"Greek life," as it is called,
can be the foundation of an active and enjoyable social life, and the source of friends that last a
lifetime—rewarding in many ways
...
I am
academic coach for one of the fraternities on our campus, and have come to know the extra effort men
must make to find the time for "house activities" and their studies
...


50

As important as these organizations can be, they should not come between you and a successful first
year in engineering
...
The temptation to
act unethically will be very great, almost overwhelming: to copy a friend's assignment, to cheat on an
exam, to fudge and copy a lab report, to copy a program and change a few lines of code
...
You can be prepared in two ways
...
The second is not obvious: think in advance
about being in such a situation, as a kind of rehearsal for how you will behave
...
If you find yourself in a very bad spot, do the ethical thing: "take a hit,"
rather than be dishonest
...

You are going to be invited to drink and take drugs
...
Have you thought about what you should do? Have you thought
about what you will do? Drinking, for most readers of these notes, is illegal (yea, right)
...
If
nothing else, you cannot afford the lost time
...
But I will give this advice—and
warning—to the men in my audience: That you are horny entitles you to nothing but perhaps a cold
shower
...
But if a
woman says "no"—no matter how quietly, how indirectly, how tentatively—and you force the issue, you
will not be having consensual sex, but rather be committing rape
...
Wright
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc
...


Introduction to the Engineering Profession
By John D
...


Introduction to Engineering
By Leroy S
...
Shoup
Published by Prentice-Hall
Careers in Engineering and Technology
by George C
...
W
...


Studying Engineering, A Road Map to a
Rewarding Career
By Raymond B
...


Study is Hard Work
by William H
...
Godine

A new edition of a classic address to students in
university
...
David Irwin
Published by IEEE Press

A modern guide to the principal aspect of
engineering activity
...
Watson
Published by Southern Illinois University Press

A spicy and biting little book that talks directly to
you, telling it like it is
...
C
...
S
...
Fry
Published by Career Press

Here are play-by-play, blow-by-blow descriptions
of methods for reading, studying, taking notes,
and taking test
...


Here is a master link that lists links to virtually all major engineering societies in North
America:
http://www
...
com/index
...
A chautauqua was established here in Boulder more than 100 years ago
...
The auditorium and cabins are still in use and
stand on land that is now a Boulder City Park
...

1
...
Jaded: tired, as with boredom; weary and indifferent
4
...
Fathom: to understand and see implications
6
...
Harangue: a long and blustery speech
8
...
Venue: the locality of an action
10
...
Syllabus: summary or outline of a course of study
12
...
Puffery: vain and unfounded boasting
14
...
Circumspect: cautious, aware of consequences
16
...
Flaccid: weak, limp, flabby
18
...
Concoct: made from a mix of things
20
...
Intransigent: unwilling to compromise
22
...
Truncate: to cut off part of
24
...
Schematic: structural diagram or outline
26
...
Languid: drooping as from exhaustion, slow disinterest
28
...
Anechoic: without echo
30
...
Extent: the size, space or limit of a thing
32
...
Satiated: full to the point of unpleasantness
34
...
Template: a pattern for making an exact copy
36
...
Discern: to perceive or recognize clearly



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