1 What is this?

This is a checklist of items and ideas to get ready for a new semester, particularly one where I (Tak) am one of the professors!

2 Time budgeting

Time is one of the most important logistical resources. To put simply, each lecture unit translates to 18 lecture hours in a semester, and for each lecture hour, two additional hours should be budgeted for studying, note reviewing, homework, reading ahead, etc.

This means that a typical class that has 3 lecture units has 54 in-lecture hours, and 108 hours of additional out-of-class time to be allocated. This is a total of 162 hours. For a 16-week full-semester class, this means an average of 10 hours should be allocated to this example class.

Note that each lab unit translates to 54 in-lab hours. This means that for a class that has 3 lecture units and 1 lab unit, a total of 216 hours should be allocated!

3 Reading comprehension

Higher level STEM courses require reading comprehension. The course material can be abstract, complex, and concise.

American River College has a RAD (Reading across the Disciplines) program. The associated courses, ENGRD 314, ENGRD 315, and ENGRD 316 are small unit count courses that help improve class performance, focusing on reading and study strategies, as well as note taking techniques.

These RAD classes are specifically scheduled to start shortly after most classes start to maximize the enrollment opportunity. Since the reading material of all my classes are accessible from the beginning of a semester, a person can assess whether additional training may benefit in the first two weeks in a semester.

4 Note-taking

Taking notes in a higher level class is critical to the absorption of material, which is, in return, critical to achieving a good grade.

A search engine or chat-bot can find many strategies of taking notes, as well as various templates of notes. Some people are visual, so a map of concepts can be helpful. Others are fast typers, using text on a computer may be more effective.

Note-taking can be done on paper or an electronic document. Some advocate handwriting notes, while others suggest electronic media. Taking notes on paper is time-tested, and it is relatively inexpensive!

Note-taking has been compared to building a second brain. While there is much about being catchy and making money, note-taking is certainly one way to enhance learning.

When exams are open-book and open-notes, then note-taking is really a gradual process to develop one’s study guide.

5 Rabbit-hole studying

Yes, this is a term that I just invented (as of 2024 July 26). Rabbit-hole references the rabbit character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

In a sentence, rabbit-hole studying is a strategy to look up and understand unfamiliar terms or concepts in a recursive way. I wrote another module that explains how this works, using learning quantum computing as an example.

Rabbit-hole studying is, essentially, the only way to succeed in a class that involves abstract and complex concepts.

Rabbit-hole studying requires note-taking as a tool. This is because after drilling several levels into the definition of terms, it is not unusual to be lost and not remember which concept necessitates the drilling to begin with. A nested bullet list (handwritten or otherwise) is one effective way to maintain a map of rabbit-holes.

6 Do I really understand a concept?

Many people use exercises to verify the understanding of concepts. In reality, exercises tend to overtrain and lead to a narrow view of concepts and how they can be applied.

Understanding is about the connection of concepts. As such, a feeling of “I don’t know how this concept C1 relate concept C2” may be revealing some holes of understanding. Of course, it is possible that concepts C1 and C2 are really not connected. However, if C1 and C2 are mentioned in the same context, they are probably related.

This is where a graphical concept map can be helpful.

In STEM, most concepts have associated definitions. To have a clear view of the concepts, it is helpful to put definitions, especially ones mentioned in the same context, to one place. Again, note-taking is an important tool here!

7 Reading ahead of lecture

Because all the reading material is linked from Canvas, reading ahead of lecture is entirely possible.

Well, not just possible, but highly recommended.

Reading ahead of a lecture can help pre-build a partial concept map, and also note questions to ask during lectures. When a lecture is not the first exposure to a concept, the interactive session helps concepts to “sink in.” Sinking-in is another way to say “understanding”, or a rigorous way to make connection among concepts.

This is a good use of the 2 extra out-of-class hours per hour of lecture!

8 Office hour

Utilize office hours! This means you may want to allocate time for visiting the professor during office hours.

Your professor has in-person office hours scheduled conveniently before or after the in-person classes. You can talk to your professor regarding any class-related topics.

If the scheduled office hours are not convenient, you can also schedule specific times to talk to your professor. In-person meetings are preferred because it makes it possible to talk about content that is electronic or on paper.

There may be some reasons why students do not utilize office hours.The time conflict reason is moot because of the previous paragraph.

Let’s take a look at the additional reasons:

• “I don’t want to use my professor’s time.”
  • Your professor is paid to hold office hours. So don’t worry about this!
• “I don’t want to annoy my professor.”
  • Your professor is paid” to be annoyed in office hours! Think of your professor as a server paid to serve*. What do you do with a grumpy server? You ask for the manager! In this case, it may be best to first check to see if the professor is actually annoyed.
  • Some people have a natural expression that looks slightly angry/annoyed.
• “I worry about my professor’s opinion of me.”
  • Some professors may be judgmental, but many are not. Many professors really want to help students succeed.
  • Some professors may not be warm and fuzzy, but they have their own way to offer help by focusing on objective issues.
  • Even if a professor is judgmental, the limited knowledge of the professor of a student really does not validate the professor’s opinion.
• “I worry about the professor may think my questions are dumb or somehow expect better of me.”
  • Expectations are, surprisingly, good. The lack of expectation is actually more worrisome.
  • In a career and/or STEM field, your professor’s expectations are likely based on employment qualification. This means the expectations originate from a desire to help students become employable.
  • Each question sheds some light into the reason(s) of why the question was asked. “Dumb” is a judgement. The question itself cannot be dumb, however,…
    • “Where do I find the definition of …?”
      • If the definition is in the reading material of a class, this question is consistent with a student not reading the material and taking notes.
    • “I am lost!”
      • This is not a question. While a professor may understand the frustration and want to help, the statement is too broad and does not provide a good starting point.
      • It is better to be more specific. For example, “I cannot make connections between concept A and what was taught before, can you explain how concept A relate to the earlier concepts introduced in this class?”
  • A professor may respond to a question in a way that may be interpreted as “judgmental,” but the intention is to find out more about the reason behind a question or to guide a student to find the answer.
    • Student: How do I compute the value of A. Professor: What definitions do you think may be applicable here?
      • The professor is helping the student to think. Coming up with a list of definitions that are related to a question is often a reasonable first step.
      • This response can be interpreted as the professor being annoyed and not wanting to help the student.
    • (Follow up of the previous conversation.) Student: I don’t know. Professor: Alright. Let’s start with the definitions introduced in this chapter. Do you have a list of these definitions?
      • The professor is assessing how well the student has “studied” the chapter in question.
    • (Follow up of the previous conversation.) Student: I don’t have a list of the definitions. Professor: have you read the chapter?
      • The professor is trying to confirm whether the lack of a definition list is because the student not reading the chapter, or not making a list while reading the chapter.
    • (Follow up of the previous conversation.) Student: I read the chapter, but I did not make a list of definitions. Professor: I see. Having a list of definitions would have helped you answer the question. How about this: you review the chapter and make a list of definitions, then come back, and we will proceed with answering the question?
      • The professor wants the student to exercise best practices when studying. This is a part of study skills that will help the student not only in a class, but all classes as well as at work.