Serious Uninterest in School Nowadays...

DefaultName

I've been overwhelmed with the amount of homework and projects that I need to complete. It's not necessarily hard, but it's just long and tedious. I spent literally all my time either working on the homeworks or projects. I rarely have time to actually sit and study the material. Usually what I end up doing is just learning the bare minimum of what I can to allow me to do the homework. Believe it or not, this what all of my schoolmates do, so I don't think it's just me in general. I'm not exaggerating either.

I am not complaining, but realizing that I'm not getting the most out of my learning experience and education as I am. I understand that doing the homework problems is good practice (in supplement to learning the material), but I often forget the theory or understanding after a week or so. So, I get the HW grade that I want, but I don't really remember why and how I solved the problem.

I need to fix this.

I also am the kind of person who likes to learn everything that I can before the test - perhaps sit down a week before the test and learn everything in between that week. Using this technique, I have found I perform well in the tests as well as grasp the material as I want to. I've been doing this for the past three years and it's been fine.

However, I need help from anyone who has any suggestions as far as studying even when you don't have a test coming up??? And I mean ongoing studying, not a week before a test studying.

sutupidmath

Well, the deal is that personally i never even start doing the homework assigned before studying the material covered during the lectures.
I personally think that the most important part in math is first understanding pretty well, to the best of your ability, the theory, because the applications(problems to solve) are merely a result of more generalized ideas, like theorems etc. SO if you understand the theorems at first place it is quite less likely that you will forget the logic behind the problems.

DefaultName

That's my problem. I need to do what you're doing, but I can't. I would like to not do the HW in advance without fully grasping the material, but eventually all the work piles up from other classes and I am always afraid that I cannot devote enough time to the homework I want to do.

sutupidmath

Well, i would say that it is natural not to fully grasp the logic behind a theorem or a whole chapter as you are first presented to it, but if you keep trying to understand then as time pases, and as you go further and deeper into the material it complements itself, so it becomes clearer and clearer. But you should always try to understand the material, if you really want to learn and if you want to remember the logic behind the problems afterwards.

It also becomes much more interesting if you know what is actually going on, rather than just writing down formulas without having a clear idea what their meaning is.

lisab

When I was in college, this would happen to me from time to time. Coincidently, during one of my episodes of ennui, for whatever reason I signed up for an Ornithology class. Really I don't know what I was thinking...I mean, the class was once a week at 6 or 7 in the morning, on Saturday!!! What the heck was I thinking?!?

I found that that class sooooo helped me clear my mind. Doing something totally different, so out of my normal mode, really made me more relaxed. No I didn't like getting up in the dark on Saturday morning, but I took that class again and again - it just seemed to help me concentrate on my studies.

So maybe you need something to something out of your comfort zone. Get out of the rut you're in...you probably don't need to make any major changes, just take "mini-vacations" from your routine.

Oh and I learned how to identify about a billion birds. Cool.

DefaultName

I really think this could be it, as well. I've been thinking about how I'm always taking classes relevant to my major and never anything different. It's always the same genre of classes. The last class I took that wasn't related to my major was in my sophomore year... now I will never underestimate the history class I took.

I think you hit the spot as one of my potential problems. I feel like I'm not diversify-ing enough. Hence my other thread: http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=225881 :p

lisab

Yeah, I think diversifying a bit would be good, especially if you're ultimately interested in law or business. Try an economics class - very useful for both of those fields, I would guess. And I don't think it would hurt your employment aspirations, since you're planning on working for a while after getting your BS.

DefaultName

But do you think it would hurt it trying to get a job in the first place? I don't really think so, I don't think one course is going to matter since I will have two internships in the first place.

Thanks for your help thus far.

lisab

Well, I only have my own experience to draw on, but at my work we value work experience far more than coursework. Oddly enough, there seems to be a lot of people who can get an "A" in any course they take, but manage to break any lab equipment they touch!

bravernix

Should have been theorists!

lisab