Lectures are pointless, i don't learn anything?

I started uni three weeks ago and have been attending all my classes. I have come to the conclusion that lectures are pointless for me. I lose attention so quickly and end up day dreaming. When i go back and read the lecture slides independently i understand everything so clearly. I just sit in the lecture for two hours doing nothing, i see everyone else making notes like crazy. I feel that I can get better grades without going to classes and just revising/making notes independently. Does anyone else feel the same?. However i find seminars useful but the teaching is so crap at my uni.

Reply 1

blossomx

20

Yeah I feel the same,but we don't have seminars in our first year, only lectures. I just sit back and listen in lectures and don't make any notes (unless the lecturer says something important which isn't on the slides) and I've been finding it a lot easier to concentrate and actually listen rather than trying to write notes and ignoring the lecturer. I feel kind of lazy though when everyone around me is frantically writing and typing lol. But I just print off the lecture slides.

Reply 2

SecretDuck

19

Same with me. In my mother's old Russian uni, lecturers always engage the students. In my uni, nope? The lecturers just talk and talk.

And the worst part is that one of my lecturers doesn't start simple when going through Maths examples, only the most complex functions :facepalm:

Reply 3

Clip

19

Then you might as well save yourself a whole bundle of money, quit and do distance learning.

Reply 4

InadequateJusticex

18

Lectures are just there to introduce you to new concepts and topics. You're expected to go home and read up on it to fully understand it...

Reply 5

AdvanceAndVanquish

12

Where/what do you study?

Reply 6

CRW1996

10

Original post by LeaX

Yeah I feel the same,but we don't have seminars in our first year, only lectures. I just sit back and listen in lectures and don't make any notes (unless the lecturer says something important which isn't on the slides) and I've been finding it a lot easier to concentrate and actually listen rather than trying to write notes and ignoring the lecturer. I feel kind of lazy though when everyone around me is frantically writing and typing lol. But I just print off the lecture slides.

I wouldn't recommend this as note taking is an important skill to learn for the future.

Reply 7

mhassan

OP

11

Original post by AdvanceAndVanquish

Where/what do you study?

Economics, maths and accounting at Brunel.

Reply 8

samba

6

Original post by CRW1996

I wouldn't recommend this as note taking is an important skill to learn for the future.

In what walk of life is note taking important?

Reply 9

CRW1996

10

Original post by samba

In what walk of life is note taking important?

Any job that involves meetings.

Reply 10

tombayes

12

Original post by mhassan

I started uni three weeks ago and have been attending all my classes. I have come to the conclusion that lectures are pointless for me. I lose attention so quickly and end up day dreaming. When i go back and read the lecture slides independently i understand everything so clearly. I just sit in the lecture for two hours doing nothing, i see everyone else making notes like crazy. I feel that I can get better grades without going to classes and just revising/making notes independently. Does anyone else feel the same?. However i find seminars useful but the teaching is so crap at my uni.

Talk to the people next to you (quietly obviously)

Reply 11

samba

6

Original post by CRW1996

Any job that involves meetings.

That's what the minutes taker and recordings are for. I've been to a lot of meetings with a lot of people and nobody takes notes lol.

Reply 12

SecretDuck

19

Original post by tombayes

Talk to the people next to you (quietly obviously)

Reminds me of the Student Beans list of what to do in lectures if you're bored.

I haven't done any of them, except maybe doodling.

Reply 13

CRW1996

10

Original post by samba

That's what the minutes taker and recordings are for. I've been to a lot of meetings with a lot of people and nobody takes notes lol.

So because others aren't taking notes you shouldn't? Recordings take a lot longer to go through than notes.

Reply 14

Klix88

17

You're given about 10% of the info you need to get a degree during your lectures. They just introduce a topic, which you then go away and research by working through the reading list. If you're not learning anything about your subject, that's down to you not the lectures. This isn't school now. You can't just read lecture presentations and get a degree.

As for note-taking, there are different styles of learning. Some kinetic learners need the physical act of writing information to help them remember it. Audio learners can just hear info in a lecture and retain it - they don't need to take many/any notes. Some people need to use the information in discussions or assignments before it sinks in. You can't compare how you learn, to how others learn - you need to find the method that works for you. Whichever one you use, there's more to uni learning than just retaining lecture information.

Reply 15

blossomx

20

Original post by CRW1996

I wouldn't recommend this as note taking is an important skill to learn for the future.

Obviously I take notes at home but I prefer to listen during the lectures so I understand the foundation of what I'm required to know. Then I go away and do my further reading and notes at home using different books. I obviously don't rely on lecture slides for my course, but rather I choose not to copy the lecture slides during the one hour of contact time I have a week per module lol, as that's something I can do in my free time.

Reply 16

lascelles

15

I find I stay more alert in lectures when I sit at the front. My friends and I all sit together at the front, where the lecturers all gather before a lecture and they engage with us and talk to us throughout discussion.
You need to be proactive in getting what you need to out of lectures.

On a side note, 100% attendance is compulsory to my course and sometimes I wonder if this should be across all universities.

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Reply 17

x-Venezia-x

10

Right. First of all, lectures are definitely NOT pointless. I will give you an example. When I attended a lecture last week (wrote down the notes on the slides and also information that the lecturer was saying) and then received the lecture powerpoint notes online afterwards, everything he was talking about was not on the powerpoint notes, and they was very important & vital information that I wrote down that integrates to the scenario on the powerpoint presentation. If it is so 'crap', then why don't you transfer to another uni, or drop out and reapply to a different uni for next year? You are spending 9k on this, and if you are going to daydream then what is the point going? Think about it!

Reply 18

username1221160

19

Ah, the compulsive note takers. The worst ones are those who unpack an entire stationary shop at the start of each lecture and have an obsessive-compulsive need to use a dozen different highlighters.

Do what you feel is most advantageous to you, there is no fixed formula to doing well at university.