HOW TO USE THE TEXTBOOK

HOW TO STUDY THE TEXTBOOK

Often I get asked how to study for this course, especially how to study the textbook, which is rather large.

… Ok, I admit it, the textbook is HUGE.

But it is an excellent textbook, with lots of great information about American Politics. It will serve you well, both in this course and in your life in general. So, I am keeping it in the course and you will have to study it.

So … how to study this huge textbook? Fair question.

Here are my suggestions:

1) Read the material more than once. My advice would be to read it twice at least:

a. The first time, read all of it BEFORE the class in which we discuss it. This reading will be for overall comprehension, to understand the general concepts, to get a sense of the topic.

Download and bring to class my on-line course notes and use these … both as you read the text and listen in class. This will help you understand what is important to study and memorize.

But remember: my on-line notes are only a take-off point for my class discussions. You will still need to come to class to hear what else is brought out … and that may be on the exams.

b. The second time, read it before the exam in which you will be tested on that material. Ask yourself: what are the key points? Critical information?

It is often hard to decide what “critical information” is. This is as it should be: part of being an educated person is deciding what is important or not important about information that is coming at you, what you should pay attention to and what you can afford to ignore. All your life you will be bombarded with information … in fact, it has been found that if you read a newspaper every day you will be getting more information in one year than the average person in the 17^th century got in a lifetime … an incredible amount of data. What is important to know?

There are clues to discovering what is critical to know in the textbook:

· What did I highlight in my lectures? It will take awhile to get used to my exams and what I ask of you, but you will get clues when you come to class. Do I emphasize concepts more than specific dates? Ideas more than people? If I discuss people, which ones are the more important?

o Note: because it takes time to become familiar with my exams, I put less percentage value on the first ones … it will give you a better chance to adjust.

· What do the authors highlight in the text? How do they organize the chapters? When do they use headings, boldface, graphs and pictures? What key vocabulary words do they list at the end of each chapter? Can you define these words?

· And finally, you will have to check your gut and decide what YOU think is important to know. That kind of decision-making is critical to your education.

I am sometimes asked: “should I highlight text information with a marker or take notes?”

This is entirely up to you … everybody is different in how they study effectively.

Personally, I preferred taking notes because I recall information better when I

have to look away from the material to learn and then write notes on it. It also

helps me to reduce material to concise note form when I study for recall.

(Well, ok … it helped when I took the clean, unmarked book for resale, too …)

But, as I say, everybody’s different …

2) Use everything at your disposal to help in your studies:

· Download and use my chapter notes on-line <http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rrobyn/>. Use these along with the book to help you follow class discussions and to study for exams.

· Attend EVERY class. Pay attention. Read along with my notes and add important information that is discussed in class. Some of this may be on an exam.

o Also: Ask questions. Participate. You tend to recall more when you get a little more involved in the discussion.

· Start or join a study group. Get to know others in class and ask if they would like to study together.

o If American Politics is tough for you, be sure and choose your group wisely: get people who are better than you.

o If American Politics comes easy for you, please consider joining a group anyway: you can recall material better when you discuss it with others, and you may be helping a classmate get through a tough course.

Don’t cram for the exam. Keep up your studying as we proceed through the course. Study hard just before we have the exam but don’t pull all-nighters to do that … it will only make you more exhausted when you take the exam.