For the first class I allowed the students to use their laptops. In theory, they were taking notes. I gave a final I thought was ridiculously easy, but what the hell? It’s supposed to be a fun class, and I didn’t care if everyone got A’s. Much to my surprise, a good portion of the class did horrible on the final. B’s and C’s. If you were awake in class you should have aced it.
The next year I did not allow computers. There was a lot of grumbling. This former student said, “Yes, the class was pretty pissed off at you.” But what I said to them was “People got C’s last year. And you have to be a fucking moron to get a C in the Foundations of Comedy.” This former student said people were unaccustomed to taking notes longhand. This apparently was a major hardship.
I gave the exact same final. Practically everybody got an A.
What a difference it makes when you’re not texting, playing video games, watching TikTok, surfing the web, competing in on-line poker.
So if you’re currently a student, you might give this some thought — especially if you’re currently reading this while in a Calculus class supposedly taking notes.
I have always felt that the physical act of taking notes was an important part of my learning process.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I'm a dinosaur....
There was a recent study that proved that very thing. To learn successfully, it was better for students to write as opposed to typing out notes. It was concluded that writing triggered areas of the brain that typing doesn't.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the questions on the qwiz? Or at least some of them? Thanks -- Mark
ReplyDeleteP.S. I wrote this on my laptop.
I used to audio record many lectures in early-80s college. The more difficult courses. I still took notes, but was able to add more detail later. Of course, people always wanted to borrow my notebook.
ReplyDeleteMy kids were allowed laptops and phones during Covid, even while attending in-person school. They were in grades, 2nd, 7th, 10th, and 12th. The schools basically gave up and let them do everything open book. I'm not here to say anything on the issues with this part, or non-issues if that's your take on it. The BIG problem was this...
ReplyDeleteEVERY kid was getting poor grades, not just mine. I kept an eye on them during all their homework assignments and noticed each of them just not doing it at all. It was tik tok, youtube, chatting, etc etc etc. Not a single one of them realized they could just 'google' all the answers and have the assignments done and with an A+ grade. Two of my older kids STILL don't understand the PROs to using a laptop in class to this day. All the kids are busy with other things apparently, just not learning. One of my sons, now nearly 20, uses his laptop at work, and still manages to screw around with it instead of take advantage of the downtime he has at his job. Instead of looking up information, they just ask very common sense questions online. They don't seem to realize it takes MORE time to post a question and wait replies on social media than it does to simply look it up.
Any chance of teaching an online version of YES! SCORE! An online version of this Foundations of Comedy lecture?
ReplyDeleteHeh. Get it? Was that comedy or what?
What.
It's the new reality. On MOM, phones were always in characters' hands and were often important to the story. Yet on the program they leaf through magazines while speaking lines. Only waiting rooms have magazines, and the patients spend their time on phones.
ReplyDeleteThere's an episode on Mom where Bonnie and Christie need to cut back on the internet so Christie can afford to apply for law schools. Bonnie tries reading a book and says, "How come it doesn't get bigger when I click on it?"
DeleteKen: I've written my witty comment in longhand on a legal pad, and will be mailing it to you shortly.
ReplyDeleteEven if they were taking notes on the laptops and not surfing the net, it's an established part of psychology (and linguistics) that you remain more engaged with a subject when writing longhand.
ReplyDeleteIt resonates with some of the insights in an excellent book by Donald Murray, A WRITER TEACHES WRITING. But I can't think of them at the moment, haha.
ReplyDeleteYou should teach another sitcom weekend class!
ReplyDeleteI went to high school, class of 79, with a guy who has been dabbling in stand up comedy the past few years. No idea how funny he is, but he has done the Comedy Store and is also a professor at USC in a graduate program. Former city council member of Carson. Usually funny politicians are not intentionally funny.
ReplyDeleteAnother tip - sit toward the front.
ReplyDeleteI teach history, and my university students want to use computers. And I tell them, if I find you're not using it to take notes, I'm the new owner of your computer. How much does that help? Probably not much at all. I'm tempted to ban them, but we also have disability issues to deal with--and I'm not minimizing that at all.
ReplyDeleteUnilike Leighton, I was a mediocre college student - better at readin' and writin' than STEM. No one wanted my STEM notes.
ReplyDeleteBut, in particular, in Indian Lit, we nerds (freshmen) would meet up pre-test and go over the "material". One guy would just listen. He did zero reading, wrote the one required paper, and got an 'A" for the course.
@ Michael - History Prof
ReplyDeleteAt my little engineering school we had Dr. Smith for History.
He had a nice "teaching method". At the start of a cycle he would write, longhand, 12 essay questions on the board. Four of these would appear on the next test three weeks hence - and on the final.
One could literally prepare 12 answers and scribble out four of them on the little blue books for the test - a guaranteed 'A'.
My college-professor wife liked that and used it for some of her courses.
ReplyDeleteTwo observations for Ken:
1) How interesting that students cheat themselves like that.
2) You podcasted a studio exec who commented that twenty-somethings now have undeveloped communication skills.
How are students going to write notes when, as I understand it, they don't teach handwriting (cursive anyway) in school anymore? My friend's sister had to teach the daughter how to create her signature.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm curious how many of us who read your blog frequently can ace the exam.
ReplyDeletewg
I guess they don't sell Lecture Notes anymore.
ReplyDeleteI knew it was time for me to retire from teaching that day in 2019 when I got done writing something on the board, turned around, and my entire college level class was on their phones. When I pointed out that they should put them away, one of the students said (without looking up), "What? We're listening." Except they weren't.
ReplyDeleteI also realized that students coming out of high school no longer have the skills to listen to a teacher and take down notes. They just want to be on a computer doing some kind of self-directed project. Different times.
I had to drop out of comedy school after I broke my funny bone.
ReplyDeleteNever could get my timing and delivery back...
Computers in class? HAH! When I was in school, I was the first one to have a calculator; plus, minus divide, multiply, the only functions it had but EVERYBODY wanted to see it. Even called to the office to show the principal, asst principal. They called the superintendent to come down and look at it. Big debate whether I would be allowed to use it in class. Nowadays, they issue every kid a Chromebook from elementary on up. New school they built has a "library" but NO books, it's called a "media center" now.
ReplyDeleteI read this and thought of you…then todays post seemed to allude to it in an odd way
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wsj.com/articles/saying-goodbye-to-my-parents-library-11661572861
When I was in high school I was failing algebra because I hated math and spent most of the class doodling or spacing out. Teacher told me I was going to fail if I didn't get an "A" on the final. I read the book, studied all weekend and got an "A". Just gotta open the book.
ReplyDeleteMy Friday Question - what show do you think hasn't aged well. I'm going with Seinfeld. I can't believe I thought it was funny years ago.
Truly a great 21st-century study habit is to write your notes in longhand, shorthand, chicken scratch, or whatever works for you, then type them up within 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteThe muscle memory you get from translating the thought into handwriting is huge. Typing, not so much, but doing it to make your notes searchable is doing yourself a huge favor too.
Now, could I convince a 20-year-old version of me to do all this? Not a chance.
Handwriting notes and typing them onto a computer uses different neural pathways, which is the reason people often learn better/integrate the material by writing notes down.
ReplyDeleteOn another note....PLEASE don't refer to Deadline Hollywood again. They cannot post a SINGLE item, without a typo. EVER. That is inept on so many levels. Oh, and they skew Right Wing, if you didn't notice.
ReplyDelete