Category: Your First Job

In the article “Learning” (Your First Job) by Robert Leamnson, he gives his honest opinion on the traditional method of students copying down information created or prepared by their teachers. On page 5, Leamnson states ” I  would like to see the expression “taking notes” removed from the vocabulary and replaced with one often used in Great Britain, that is “making notes.” “Taking” implies a passive reception of something someone else has made.” What Leamnson is implying is that information cannot be truly processed by copying notes. Students are accustomed to taking notes in school, but this way of learning is not beneficial because it doesn’t involve actively learning and full understanding of the work.

The author of “Learning (Your First Job)”, Robert Leamnson, informs readers on the necessary skills and habits that can be taken in order for one to succeed in college. One of these being, knowing the difference between knowledge and information, where he states, “The principal reason, however, goes back to the fundamental difference between information and knowledge. Knowledge is what has the potential for improving the individual and society.  But websites are completely devoid of knowledge; all they have is information (and not all of that is reliable)” Leamnson comes to conclude that unless sense can be made of what is on the website, knowledge will not be gained and therefore neither will the actual learning happen. Leamnson’s point makes sense to me seeing that we more or less define learning the same, being that information is everywhere but knowledge will be found in what you can take from said information. This is important because growth can’t be found happening anywhere if one is ignorant on the principles of comparison between knowledge and information.

“Your first job”
Quote: “In these though courses the first idea you must abandon is that you can sit, “take notes, and worry about it later.” Here’s another key idea to bring with you in every lecture period. Worry about it now. ”
From this quote, Leamnson means that during class period, students should not just sit and take notes without paying attention and understanding those notes. He means that student should not just write down notes and try to understand them later. This statement makes sense to me because the class session is really the right time to learn. As the teacher explains, students paying attention will ask questions if they have some and this is helpful to other students. Class sessions are the most important part of learning. I think that students should be more attentive during class rather than trying to understand after class because lessons do stack up and it gets harder to study. The author’s quote is important because it give students a vital advice for succeeding in college and students who apply good rules and take advices succeed.

In the article “ Learning (Your First Job)” by Robert Leamnson, he talks about the many different ways that are associated with how we learn and how we usually work. Those different ways  include the way we take notes, study, exams, time, habits we have and etc. On page 5 Leamnson states, ” It’s your priorities and not the clock that will determine the of your college experience. If it’s really important, it will always get done, and always at the expense of the less important”. In other words, Leamnson believes that doing your work is the number one priority that you should have. That no mater the time you can get the work done. If it’s really important it would be done in time and be good work. You will leave the things that are less important for last. This quote is important because we tend to do this a lot. We always make the excuse that we have no time to do the work. When there is always time. The questions is, are the other things going as important as the work you need done.

In Robert Leamnson’s “Learning” (Your First Job) he speaks about certain fundamentals ways college students learn and how teachers teach them. Leamnson points out that not all students are the same and some learn differently especially when it comes to taking notes. Leamnson writes “Some instructors compensate by making notes for the students and passing them out. This practice can help the better students-those who already know how to learn-but for many others it only makes matters worse.” In this quote he is saying that different techniques don’t always work for every student. In the Article he further goes into detail on how once students know that everything they need to learn is in the teachers notes that makes them feel like they don’t have to work harder. Leamnson provides a new concept on what he thinks “Taking” notes should be.  Leamnson writes “I would like to see the expression “taking notes” removed from the vocabulary and replaced with one often used in Great Britain, that is “making notes.” Leamnson believes that students need to start making their own notes instead of staring at a projector all day copying down the teachers notes as it just doesn’t help the material to stick to a students brain.

In the article “Learning(Your First Job)” by Robert Leamnson, he breaks down the many misconceptions that are associated with how we learn. Those misconceptions include and are associated with note-taking, study habits, exams, etc. On page 7 Leamnson asserts,”you can pass some tests without learning much at all”. By making this statement, his point is that passing a test doesn’t necessarily mean that you learned and understood the material. You’ll most likely forget everything you were just tested on in a week. After reading this article, this quote really stuck with me. School seems to not be about learning anymore. It’s about passing. The focus is learning ‘what we need to know’ to succeed in whichever examination is next rather than absorbing the material. This quote is important because it shines a light on the underlying issues in the educational system. Although one can also argue that this goes beyond the walls of the classroom and to the homes of the students. Parents encourage their children to get good grades, forgetting that grades do not define their children’s intelligence. This puts pressure on the students and is why many resort to cheating. Then we wonder why so many students arrive to college unprepared. The point is, as also stated in the article,”learning is not something that just happens to you, it is something you do to yourself”.

In Learning (Your First Job), Robert Leamnson makes a very valid point regarding the difference between information, and knowledge. On the bottom of page 9, under the header “Access and high technology”, we learn the “fundamental difference” between info and knowledge. “Knowledge is what has the potential for improving the individual and society.” Leamnson then goes on to say, “…websites are completely devoid of knowledge, all they have is information”. What this quote means  is that information is literally everywhere around us, we tend to “drown” in information, but knowledge is what each of us personally gets from this information. This is why knowledge usually differs from person to person. I whole-heartedly agree with this quote because even though this is something that may seem obvious at first glance, when you ponder on it you see that a lot of us often overlook this simple fact. You can apply this fact to just about everything we use our brains for. In the case of taking notes, we see that if someone simply writes down everything that is said or heard (information), without making it “personal” or using phrases that would help them to grasp the topic; most likely it will not be remembered, and ultimately used, the way he/she intended it to.

Dr. Robert Leamnson wrote Learning (Your First Job), which describes the components of the learning process (understanding and remembering) and several methods to aid this process both in and out of the classroom. Many of Leamnson’s learning strategies ring true, however I do not completely agree with one statement in particular. Leamnson states, “…we have to practice what we understand. Without rehearsal, that fantastic circuitry that enabled our understanding will gradually disintegrate and we can no longer reconstruct what we once understood.” (Page 3) Leamnson is stressing that without repetition, the initial learning that was achieved will be forgotten. Leaving the learner unable to access the knowledge. It is true that without repetition of newly gained skills or information the person will eventually forget. However Leamnson’s statement seems unfounded, that a person can not “reconstruct” and relearn information. On this basis, if a person forgot something they once learned, it is not possible to relearn the material. The saying “just like riding a bike” is commonly used to convey the ease of relearning a forgotten skill. Every three years a paramedic must recertify to continue practicing medicine, and is refreshed on forgotten skills and information. If Leamnson’s statement were true, this practice would be pointless, as forgotten information cannot be relearned.