I really don’t know…
“For many students essay-writing is the bane of their lives. They question the usefulness of essays, make heavy weather of writing them, and generally try to put off the task for as long as they can get away with it” [1] This is how I felt about Derek Rowntree’s book, Learn How to Study: A Programmed Introduction to Better Study Techniques. I really did not want to read another “How To” book, I feel like I need to read something else to qualify my time spent. That being said, there are things in this book that are worth the reading. You just have to be willing to look for the nuggets.
Chapter three. How to tackle a textbook, is one of the nuggets I found. lI do realize we have read two books on this subject but Rowntree’s treatment was worth the time. “Clearly, you just haven’t go time to read everything” [2] This is the truth in our journey through LGP as elite 8 (sounds a bit narcissistic but hey whatever fits right). If we tried to read everything in every book we are assigned, every book or journal article we need for our dissertations, our Time Table [3] would be filled with nothing but reading. There would be no more time left for ministry, sermon preparation, families, or just plain down time. Following the idea of a time table, timing is an important aspect Rowentree covered which can be an effective use of this book. There is only a limited number of hours per week 168 to be precise. In trying to figure out our use of time, the author gives us examples, such as seen on page 17. You have sleep for 56 hours, eating 21 hours, travel 12 hours, classes 24 hours and regular recreation of 20 hours for a total of 133 hours, which leaves 35 hours to study.[4] Of course, this is for a full time student with no family, add in 60 hours for work, 20 hours spent with family, another 20 thrown in for miscellaneous activities and now we have to figure out how to stuff 268 hours worth of stuff into 168 hours. A daunting task I know but we can do it!
So you may be asking yourself, how does one stuff one hundred extra hours into a week. That’s the point of learning how to read effectively. If a student can cut off hours by not reading a book, instead the student skims, finds ideas and other useful things to use out of a book, then the time can be cut. The three or so hours to read a book that is approximately 20o pages long, and has aspects of things you already have studied can be squeezed into an hour of skimming and writing. There I just saved you 3-4 hours. Do this on a macro level and you will find yourself with extra time on your hand and wondering what else you could do to fill the boredom with.
I know this has been hashed over before in our books but the three approaches to a text were well put.
1. tasting: referring to isolated passages of the text.
2.swallowing: skimming lightly and rapidly through the whole text.
3.chewing and digesting: studying the whole text carefully with close attention. [5]
There will be some things we will read which call for a carefully reading of the whole text. An example of this would be our reading on apartheid. Without reading the text, I do not think I would have been ready to see and hear the things we were exposed to in Cape Town. There will be some readings where reading the whole text would not be as important, but to find what we need from that book or article to satisfy what was intended for us to learn. An example could possibly be the book we read before this book, How to Talk About A Book You Have Not Read. There were plenty of chapters to write an entire essay on without having read the whole book. This is not to say you did not have to the the whole book, but if necessary you could have picked different sections to write on. Then there will be books where just skimming along, finding something remotely interesting and trying to put together one thousand words on it to satisfy the requirements given to us by Dr. Jason Clark and the staff of Portland Seminary have chosen to give us.
It was good to see the SQ3R discussed again. I do not feel I adequately understood it when it was discussed in our advance in Cape Town. That is, it was covered well but to have a source of the material will be helpful in the months to come. Being able to survey a book correctly and to be able to get what we need in an efficient way is helpful. I especially appreciated Rowentree going through an aspect of SQ3R with his own book.[6] In all likelihood, this will be a chapter I will refer back to throughout the next three years.
I know that it may seem to some as if I have been cryptic on whether I enjoyed this book or not. Well I will leave that up to you dear reader. There are some things in life left better unsaid. Such as “Do I look older with all the grey in my beard and hair?” That question like this one is probably left unanswered. There are times where we can discuss the merit of the book we have read, and there are some times when the better question is “How is life treating you, and how are you doing?” Otherwise, enjoy the adventure we have set before us and use the materials we have been given to further our quest God has been gracious enough to put us on.
[1] Derek Rowntree, Learn How to Study: A Programmed Introduction to Better Study Techniques (London: Macdonald, 1986),65.
[2] Ibid. 39.
[3] Ibid. 23.
[4] Ibid. 17.
[5] Ibid. 39-40.
[6] Ibid. 43
About the Author
Jason Turbeville
A pastor, husband and father who loves to be around others. These are the things that describe me. I was a youth minister for 15 years but God changed the calling on my life. I love to travel and see where God takes me in my life.11 responses to “I really don’t know…”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Jason,
I like your attitude, trusting LGP8’s choice of books to non-read enough to “look for nuggets.” But really, who sleeps for 56 hours a week, 8 hours a night and gets 20 hours of recreation? Not me. I’m eating a take-a-way breakfast with cold simulated scrambled eggs while reading and writing comments for your post! I applaud your creative use of time for numerous ways of multi-tasking. If we are all honest, I think each of us has had to figure ways to leverage time from other areas of our lives to increase our efficiency and effectiveness in our work, ministry, family, and study time.
It looks like you have a good handle on Rowntree’s ideas and the SQ3R method. However, I do not think I saw anything connecting this post with your dissertation. What’s up? If you want to double down on your time-saving measures, you might think about looping your research question into your post. Each time it will help you inch forward and reinforce your “recall and review” on where you are on your dissertation. Great post!
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Mike,
You got me, there is no way I am sleeping that much, just used Rowentree’s assessment. I guess how I would apply this to my dissertation is getting myself out of my comfort and putting me in a situation where God can use me.
Hi Jason,
I have to go back and review my book after reading your blog. Somehow, the title of my book isn’t the same as yours. Maybe he changed the title during one of his many revisions. I am not even sure my edition contained the tasting, swallowing, chewing and digesting metaphors. Or maybe I skimmed too quickly that part…
Skimming is not always a bad thing my brother and after 50 years of being in print changes are not a surprise in a text. Hope all is well.
I appreciated your discussion on time. I think in our life and ministry, that could be universal as a complaint given by us or by our loved ones; we need more time. Any time life (and reading) can be broken down to eating, thats gets my attention. Rowntree knows we all love food and might remember it with reference to our favorite pass time, eating. The SQ3R is something that I personally will need to review from time to time. The one page version is much more helpful to consume and digest. This was a book that, as many said, needed grit to read.
We are suggested to ask an engaging question in these responses. The one I am truly curious about is, “If you colored your beard to make you look younger, what color would it be?” I won’t ask that as it doesn’t engage in the conversation on the book. So…where are the areas in the life of a minister that should be reduced in order for a well rounded life to exist?
Greg,
Red definitely red on the beard. The other questions answer would be this, most pastors do not know the meaning of the word no. We have to learn to say no to endless meetings and useless things and focus on what God has given us in our family and ministries. I need to learn that word really quick if I am going to survive.
Hey Jason, thanks for your post and for sharing the nugget you found with us. I appreciate your gift of finding the good in another. You did that a lot in South Africa and now in your reading. I’m wondering if this is something that comes naturally for you or if you are intentional about it. Also I appreciated you drawing out the three approaches to “eating” a text. 🙂
Chris,
You know eating is never a bad subject for a fat man. As far as finding good, it has been a journey for me. I have been a very cynical man for most of my life and got tired of being that way. I would rather find the good in something and see God in that moment in any situation. Easy to say hard to put into practice.
I appreciate your example on how to approach a textbook and the metaphors around eating are always welcome as somehow I seem to remember those best. Also, the breakdown on saving time is helpful and sounds a little like Rowntree in the style of tutorial to assist others in their approach to reading. I am curious as to how you approached Rowntree’s text. Did you feel the need to chew and digest it or did you more or less taste the content? I found myself wanting to swallow it but then as I read I would focus in and really taste a passage or text which caused my reading to slow down and then made me spend a lot more time than I had hoped on the text.
Trisha,
I will be honest I snacked mostly on this text. It has been an long and difficult week and this book did not help my demeanor throughout it all. I was just grateful to find something I could hang on and see usefulness.
Good job Jason. I especially thought it was interesting how you said you thought reading the book on apartheid prepared you for Capetown. Since I came in a week late, I read my book after our trip to Capetown. For me, I realized that I probably would have had no desire to read about apartheid had I not first experienced what I had experienced. In fact, our journey made me have a desire to read that I had never had concerning that topic before, which can show that experience can change desire for learning.