- Show up. Pay Attention. Sit in the front of the class
- Take notes. 1 page is slacking, 4 sides is about right.
- Do the problem sets.
- Studying? What's that?
- Rock the tests.
If I sat in the first couple rows, my grade would be an A. Back row, I'd be lucky with a B. Back row in a large lecture at lunchtime was a C. Then again, I was known to be able to answer questions when obviously snoozing in the front row of an 8am class. (Steel design, IIRC. "What's wrong with all you? He can answer the questions and he's asleep")
I needed the notes, and specifically the ear - brain - hand - eye loop to make sure that the info got in my head and processed. If I slacked on notes, then the slippery slope started and I'd end up losing the thread of the class for minutes at a time. I didn't really need the notes later, I might go over them before a test, but not often. Mostly when it was an open note or 'one sheet of notes' test. Though, one time my one sheet of notes was "Don't Panic" written in letters large enough to be be seen by anyone glancing at the sheet.
Problem sets were key. As were the bigger design projects and the labs. You could fake getting the problem sets done, but you couldn't fake understanding them.
I needed the notes, and specifically the ear - brain - hand - eye loop to make sure that the info got in my head and processed. If I slacked on notes, then the slippery slope started and I'd end up losing the thread of the class for minutes at a time. I didn't really need the notes later, I might go over them before a test, but not often. Mostly when it was an open note or 'one sheet of notes' test. Though, one time my one sheet of notes was "Don't Panic" written in letters large enough to be be seen by anyone glancing at the sheet.
Problem sets were key. As were the bigger design projects and the labs. You could fake getting the problem sets done, but you couldn't fake understanding them.