To go or to skip lectures?

[medlet]

I keep having this problem where if I go to uni, I feel like its a complete waste most of the time for the following reasons.
1) the content is too advanced and the lecturer is going at a faster pace than I can comprehend
2) the content is too simple and the lecturer is going too slow

in both instances, I get bored and distracted and just procrastinate on my computer.

I have tried staying home/going to library and skipping lectures and studying and I feel soo much more productive.
But would I be missing something by not going to my lectures?
(my lectures arent recorded  so i cant playback to see if I have missed anything)

[hobbitle]

For the first problem, yes, you'd be in idiot (assuming you want to pass) if you stop going to the lectures. Instead, do pre readings. Read the lecture notes and any textbook references before the lecture so you have more chance of understanding it when it's delivered.

In the second instance , if the pace is really slow and the lecture notes provided are good, maybe you don't need to go. But it's risky without recordings because you never know what additional info the lecturer will give you.

[Aaron]

I guess each individual has a different thought process about this. I did a whole semester not going to 1 out of 2 lectures for a subject - and I did above-average in it (but it had recordings).

I agree with your point - I personally find lectures quite pointless. Majority of the content I learn (being an IT student) is done in the computer lab classes or practicals, where you put the theory to practice. It's very rare that you understand the content completely and thoroughly right after the lecture, and it can take alot of consolidation after it to get used to the content and to understand it.

Majority of the time I find myself on my phone or tablet during lectures too. Don't get me wrong, if the topics are interesting, perhaps i'll listen to the presentation.


Now in direct response to your question: Would I be missing something by not going to my lectures?.

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: The interaction that is contained in the lectures is something that you can't get off lecture notes or a recording. There may be examples, practice etc. that are only in the lecture. Students may also ask questions that a recording may not pick up, and it may be a question you have as well (now, provided that you have said there is no recordings, you won't get access to any of this).

All in all - If you think you're confident with the topics and can score well just by going off a PowerPoint, then I say it's doable. However this is in no way encouraging you not to attend..

If you think you are being more productive by staying home/going to the library and studying, perhaps you should try it for a few weeks and see how well you feel after it? If you can't do tutorial/prac questions, you could consider this a benchmark and try going to the lecture and observing whether there's a change.

[roger.]

I think the best way to deal with this, is to study the way you think is the best way for your learning. No one person learns the same way and there's no point thinking that you will do as good as someone who attends every lecture and every tutour if you don't gain much from doing so. From personal experiences, make tough decisions and calls about whether you are going to go to a lecture or not, if you think you are going to learn way better and more by watching it online, do so, but maybe try not to have that approach with every subject, be selective and honest with which subjects or topics. Because some topics and subjects may be better for you to go and watch the lecture but some may be better to watch online when there is so much content and information to take in. So I think that it will come with experience, to know which lectures to go or not, while you know which way you learn and study better All the best with it, good luck!

[cameronp]

It's much easier to sit bored through a bunch of slow-moving lectures than it is to skip them, then realise too late that you're now behind in what's being covered, and have to put in extra time catching up. I find this especially frustrating at the start of semester, where often there isn't much new material covered, but it can lead to a false sense of security if the pace starts to pick up a bit in week three or four.

In both situations (too fast or too slow) I think actively taking notes and thinking about the material can help. If you're not understanding something, write big red question marks next to it and come back later. Or if it's boring and obvious, at least writing it down will keep your mind anchored on what's going on around you.

I may be in the minority here, but I don't like using laptops or tablets during lectures, and I try to resist the urge to play with my phone when I'm bored. It's too easy to find something shiny on the internet to distract you, and I take notes better with pen and paper.

I also agree with Aaron's comment that (in science, anyway) you learn more from labs / tutorials / problem sessions where you are actually attempting to apply your knowledge and solve problems yourself than you do from being in a lecture. But if you don't have the underlying knowledge from the lectures, you usually won't get anywhere trying to apply it.

Edit: just realised that this thread was from July and had just been brought back from the dead. D'oh.

[sparked]

I am not in University yet - but I just feel, as a serial procrastinator/high 'efficient' do-work-in-my-own-time person, skipping lectures might set a bad precedent in your head that attendance is negotiable and potentially could lead to you just not going to lectures because they're 'boring' or you don't like the subject any more.

Which would have, obviously, other negative impacts on your GPA etc.

[Chazef]

I've been watching recorded lectures on my laptop at 2x speed all semester and I did well on all my subjects (95.75 WAM right now). Because my trip to uni is 1 hr 40m in public transport I watch lectures on the trip to uni and then listen to my ipod on the way back. I've been using last semester's lectures so I can go ahead whenever I want but that comes at the cost of potentially missing something new in the current semester. Anyway I recommend trying out some sped up recorded lectures because 2x speed is a really comfortable conversational pace and if you ever find that you need to absorb something properly you can always pause/slow down. This probably doesn't apply to lectures where you can't keep up but for everything else I think it's great for keeping you engaged the whole way through.

[sparked]

I've been watching recorded lectures on my laptop at 2x speed all semester and I did well on all my subjects (95.75 WAM right now). Because my trip to uni is 1 hr 40m in public transport I watch lectures on the trip to uni and then listen to my ipod on the way back. I've been using last semester's lectures so I can go ahead whenever I want but that comes at the cost of potentially missing something new in the current semester. Anyway I recommend trying out some sped up recorded lectures because 2x speed is a really comfortable conversational pace and if you ever find that you need to absorb something properly you can always pause/slow down. This probably doesn't apply to lectures where you can't keep up but for everything else I think it's great for keeping you engaged the whole way through.

But also, this guy seems to know what's up. Inspiring.

[Shenz0r]

I am not in University yet - but I just feel, as a serial procrastinator/high 'efficient' do-work-in-my-own-time person, skipping lectures might set a bad precedent in your head that attendance is negotiable and potentially could lead to you just not going to lectures because they're 'boring' or you don't like the subject any more.

Which would have, obviously, other negative impacts on your GPA etc.

Obviously it demands some discipline to get around watching the lectures but it's very time efficient in my experience. You cut down on travel time and can speed up the lectures, giving you more time for review. Also good for juggling other personal commitments if you do things at your own pace. Echoing what Chazef said, I hardly went to any lectures this year and got a 93 average. What I felt was most important was to do what is most efficient and comfortable. Simply attending lectures doesn't mean you'll learn better, especially if it's at 8AM in the morning and you just spend the whole lecture half-awake

[Chazef]

nice ATAR there Shenz0r, are we the same person?