Learn how to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university: A virtual tutorial with Professor Derek Rowntree.<\/i> In short: The Egalitarian Professor\u2019s Manual on Learning.<\/p>\n
I hope you don\u2019t mind if I get right to the point. Don\u2019t let the title fool you! While I sense that Adler, Van Doren and Bayard approach the topic of reading and education from an aristocratic position\u2014 i.e. true education is only for the few who were endowed by the gods (small \u201cg\u201d) with the intellectual prowess and resources to succeed\u2014Professor Rowntree approaches education from a broader position. He proposes that anyone can and should learn. In this way, Rowntree is the Egalitarian Professor, the friend of all of those who desire to learn.<\/p>\n
As I read Learn how to Study<\/i>, it became apparent that Rowntree\u2019s educational philosophy is egalitarian in this way: the tools to learn are available to all, and the skills needed to crafts one\u2019s educational experience can be learned by all who wish to learn\u2014even if the only opportunity one has to learn is to listen. \u201cYou need to be involved in making your own knowledge,\u201d says Rowntree. (L 869) To continue the meal metaphor from our weekly chat. Rowntree would say that it is not those wandering in the towers above who feed our education to us, but it is the learners themselves who, with the help of others who have dined before, plan and prepare the meal. It is from this vantage point that he wrote Learn how to Study<\/i> and it is from this position that he advises the student in the tools and skills necessary to take an active part in the learning process. Furthermore, he motivates them to get it done. (L 1843)<\/p>\n
In the first three chapters, Rowntree outlines his educational philosophy. In these chapters Rowntree emphasizes the experience of the active-reflective process of learning and the impact of education on the whole person. For Rowntree, learning is not a \u201cproduct\u201d but an active and reflective experience base on an upward spiraling progression from the fundamental to the more complex, each reflecting and building on the other. This experience follows a pattern in which the student uses a set of core competencies to be actively involved in the educational experience. These competencies include analysis, connecting, formulating, expressing and then beginning again. In the end, the “why and how” of studying is just as important, as “what” one studies. (L 124) The tools necessary for this kind of education are available and the skills learnable. (L 526)<\/p>\n
In chapters four through twelve Rowntree lists the necessary skills for learning with the additional tutorial on how to apply and develop those skills. Of those chapters, the ones that are most applicable for my context are: the chapter on developing a strategy for reading\u2014beoing without a strategy is like the messenger running without a message. \u00a0the chapter on organization\u2014I always need work in developing organizational skills. The chapter on reading critically\u2014critical thinking is the key to knowledge. Finally, the chapter on preparing academic essays\u2014everyone needs to express themselves. Following are a few relevant and motivational quotes followed by one of the more helpful strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to get started is to just\u2014get started. Don\u2019t hang about waiting for inspiration, or you may be waiting forever. Don\u2019t just sit there\u2014do something.\u201d (L 1843)<\/p>\n
\u201cYour job is not to be some kind of sponge or vacuum cleaner sucking up other people\u2019s words. Rather you should be looking for the main ideas behind the written words and testing each one against the author\u2019s evidence, against other experts\u2019 ideas and against your own experience and sense of logic.\u201d ( L 2387)<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any critical reading of a text\u2026you will need to do three things: Understand the text, identify the text\u2019s main ideas, evaluate the plausibility of the text.\u201d (L 2613)<\/p>\n
Of the many helpful strategies that Rowntree presents, one of the more applicable for me is his seven phases for learning via essays. The seven phases highlight his classic reflective process of an upward spiraling progression from fundamental to more complex. They are (1) analyzing,\u00a0 (2) researching, (3) deciding, (4) planning, (5) writing, (6) critiquing and, (7) learning from feedback. ( L 4722). I wish I had learned this strategy years ago. It is timely advice for this stage in the program.<\/p>\n
Learn how to Study<\/em> is worth the time and effort to read and re-read. It\u2019s one I will keep with me through the whole DMin program. Rowntree\u2019s motivational tutorial style is refreshing, his philosophy practical, and his methods helpful and illuminating to anyone who wishes to learn for life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learn how to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university: A virtual tutorial with Professor Derek Rowntree. In short: The Egalitarian Professor\u2019s Manual on Learning. I hope you don\u2019t mind if I get right to the point. Don\u2019t let the title fool you! While I sense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[901,913],"class_list":["post-9640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lpg7","tag-rowntree","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}