Study Skills: Lecture Hall Courses
by Anik Singal
In your lower level courses, you will usually find yourself in a lecture hall sharing your class time with anywhere from 50 (if you are lucky) to 1,000 other students. These types of general requirement courses needed in most majors are known to be very large.
In my experience, I have found most students are excited about lecture hall courses because it gives them a better chance to hide. This is somewhat of a subconscious relief. But is it really a better scenario for really learning?
Cautions of Lecture Hall Courses
- More students in the class means more distractions. Staying focused in class is absolutely critical to your learning. Increased distractions make it a challenge to keep the focus you need for maximum learning.
- More students in the class increases the chance there are more of your friends in the course. That may not seem like a disadvantage at first glance, so what’s the caution? In the long run, sitting with your friends or in a big group together presents temptations of goofing off and not paying full attention to what the professor is teaching.
- Lecture hall courses are impersonal and reduce you to be one of many students. This means you will receive very little personal attention. Your professor will not get to know you unless you make an effort. This requires much more initiative on your part. If you are thinking that is fine with you actually prefer not to have any contact with your professor at all, think again because they can be incredible resources to help you in completing your assignments and truly grasping and learning the subject matter.
- The lecture hall setting makes it intimidating to ask questions. Asking questions to clarify misunderstandings are key to learning and engaging with the subject. You CANNOT be shy; you MUST ask your questions.
- There are fewer ways to earn an “A” in this type of class. Most lecture hall courses tend to be graded mostly on exams and maybe one large project or paper. Make sure you do not take this lightly – study a little bitevery day and avoid the horror of cramming.
- Classes can get boring. Lecture hall courses are exactly that – lectures. You have to make sure you take active notes and listen attentively. This requires some discipline.
- There is not much room for hands on learning. If you are a “hands on” type of learner, you must adapt in these courses and find ways to study and engage with the material outside of lecture time.
Benefits of Lecture Hall Courses
- Lecture hall courses can offer more freedom. Because these courses are more impersonal, your professor will rarely know if you are there or not. Also, you will feel more comfortable at times knowing that you are not being watched closely. This can be a good thing if you are an independent learner. The freedom to be anonymous is not always a good thing with the temptation to slack off.
- Lecture hall courses are less likely to have multiple smaller assignments and homework. Most lecture hall courses will not have regular and smaller homework assignments. Granted this is beneficial for the lazy college student, however, how beneficial is it for you if you are a student who wants to do well and truly learn? Once again, lecture hall courses create more freedom, which can be beneficial but also has the real potential to be harmful if that freedom is abused.
Of course there will be times when you will have no choice but to enroll in a lecture hall course, especially if you are at a large university or especially for your lower division classes. If you have a choice to avoid such a course to another option or format of a course, consider carefully the non-lecture option as there are a few factors in these courses that work against you.
Learn how to take the negatives of a lecture hall course and turn them into positives. Go to the “In-Class Studying” section of the BetterGPA Study Success System” . Visit www.BetterGPA.com/student.htm to find out more about the BetterGPA Study Success System and subscribe to our free “How to Ace your Next Exam” course! Learn to study better now!