The identification stage prepares you for lecture. You should prepare yourself for learning in lectures with the question in mind, "What don't I already know about this topic?" Don't worry about the amount of the material you actually do know or don't know because it's your state of mind that's important. The act of looking for terms and concepts gives your mind a way to actively involve itself in the material by giving you something to identify. By looking for what you don't know, you are also evaluating what you do know. Every term or concept that you identify constitutes a thoughtful decision about the material. You can't decide on what you do or don't know in a passive state of mind. Also, identifying what you don't know takes advantage of your unique background by making you more aware of what you already know. For example, if you are a biochemistry major, you will have a smaller list of topics to learn in your medical biochemistry course, sparing some extra time for learning anatomy. Likewise, if you have had prior courses in physiology or vertebrate anatomy, you may be able to trim a little of your workload in gross anatomy and medical physiology. The goal of the identification stage is to produce some type of list that represents all of the terms that you don't know something about. This list can be handwritten on a notepad or highlighted in the text. [Author’s note: It is important to be selective when highlighting. Many sensing type students are uncertain about what should be highlighted, so entire sentences or even paragraphs are highlighted. Try to pick the most important words or groups of words, even if you change your mind later. When you have to decide on what to highlight, you are in active learning mode.] It is important to limit your time spent on this stage in order to have enough time available for the organizational stage discussed below. You should only spend about 5-10 minutes for each hour of lecture on this stage, and you should do it either the last thing in the evening, or the first thing in the morning. This activity is not learning yet, but it will make meaningful learning more effective later. Identification accomplishes several important things: • • •
It establishes a starting point. It sensitizes you to the terms and concepts to listen for during the lecture. It gives you an opportunity to take advantage of your unique background.
Chapter 10
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