3.1 Skimming Did you read the Layard article quickly enough, or perhaps too quickly? Reading speed is a persistent worry when you study. There always seems to be much more to read than you have time for, so you feel a tremendous pressure to read faster. But then, if you go too fast, you don't learn much. So what is the ‘right’ speed? The answer is – it depends on what you are trying to achieve. It's surprising how much you can pick up if you push on quickly through a few pages. 2.5 Poor environment Were you held back at all in your reading by the environment you were reading in? Were you reading in bed, in the bath, sitting at a desk, on the bus, or in the park? Any of these could be a good time and place, but did it actually work for you?
Were you able to maintain your concentration fo 2.4 Disagreeing with the author It is clear from Kate's responses that from the outset she felt hostile to Layard's article and to Layard himself. As she later explained in a seminar, she felt that he looked down on people with low incomes, such as herself. She felt she was being told that she wasn't happy with her life and that she envied people with lots of possessions. In her philosophy, she said, happiness had nothing to do with wealth. She was just as capable of being happy as the richest people in the country. Because 2.2 The ‘academic’ style You might also be put off by the ‘academic’ style of writing. In everyday life, what you read is usually written to grab your attention and get a message across quickly before you ‘switch channels’. By contrast, academic texts often raise broad, abstract questions and are unconcerned about arriving at quick answers. For example, where a newspaper headline might say:
2.1.1 Should you stop reading to look words up? It depends. Looking up words slows you down, and you may be able to make reasonable sense of their context without having to. For example, I found it fairly easy to guess the meaning of ‘habituation’ in paragraph 8, from the way it was discussed. However, I looked it up on the internet anyway, as I happened to have my computer on. I also looked up ‘real income’ and ‘marginal tax’ and found useful clarification of their meanings. You have to decide how important a word seems Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: ask questions to make yourself think about what you read; think about what the key concepts and issues are; detach yourself from disagreements with the author's views. Introduction Reading is easy, isn't it? On any ordinary day without even noticing, you read shop signs, newspaper headlines, TV listings, a magazine, or a chapter of a paperback. So why would a message like this one appear in an online student chat room in the early weeks of a course?
Clearly, readi Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence courtesy of For Inspiration Only at Flickr 1. Join the 200,000 students 10.2 Sources of help The internet There is a wealth of useful information on thinking on the internet. Putting key words (such as thinking skills, clear thinking, critical thinking, analysis, argument and so on) into one of the available search engines (e.g. http://www.google.com [accessed 10 October 2006]) will produce many useful links. American university websites contain some particularly interestin 10.1 Further reading There are many relevant books available from libraries and bookshops. Here are some suggestions to start you off. de Bono's Thinking Course by Edward de Bono, published by BBC Books, 1999 An interesting general consideration of thinking skills with tools and techniques for developing thinking in a general way. Use Your Head by Tony Buzan, published by BBC Books, 1995 Lots of useful information on how to mak 8.1 Balanced argument In many instances, we are not just concerned with arguing a particular case or taking a particular point of view, we are interested in looking at all sides of an issue and producing a balanced argument. This can be helpful in drawing conclusions on an issue. 7.4 Visual tools Organising thought can be assisted greatly by the use of visual tools. These can include diagrams, mind-maps, tables, graphs, time lines, flow charts, sequence diagrams, decision trees or other visual representations. The process of making visual representations can itself involve using and developing a range of thinking skills, particularly higher order skills. So, whether you need the resulting product or not they can be worth doing. However, the resulting product can also provide an 7.3 Systematic approaches Having a systematic step-by-step process for thinking about certain academic tasks can be particularly useful so that everything is done as efficiently as possible. For example, the DANCE system (Rose and Nicholl, 1997) is one of many tools for solving problems. D - Define and clarify what the problem really is (sometimes it is not initially clear). What are your goals? A - Think of a range of alternative ways of solving the p 7.2 Other ways of structuring thought Distinguishing between generals and particulars can help you in reading, note taking and writing for your course. But, looking at things in a hierarchical general-particular way is only one approach to giving structure to ideas and information. 7 Giving structure to thinking Two common thinking problems are: a feeling of not being able to 'see the wood for the trees', and difficulty in being logical and orderly. The key to solving them is being able to think about ideas and information in a conceptual and systematic way so that you have ways to structure your thinking. This can involve: looking at the broader context developing mental models and frameworks to hang ideas and information on 3.2 Looking at the thinking a further education course involves A further education course will provide many practical opportunities for developing thinking. These will be integrated into activities such as: reading texts; doing in-text activities and self-assessment questions; listening to tapes; watching videos and TV programmes; making notes; doing assignments and reflecting on assignment feedback; doing exams; participating in tutorials; attending day schools, workshops and residential schools; participating in self-help groups; talking to a tutor; pl 5.6.1 Using a CV to present yourself A CV is a document that you draw up in order to ‘sell’ yourself to a prospective employer. You might object that your current plans are unlikely to need a CV. You may not be looking to change your career or your job. However, the work involved in putting a CV together can be useful to you personally. Creating your CV gives you a clear idea about what you want to say about your qualities and skills. It can be useful in helping you recognise and appreciate these. It might start you thinking 5.2 What have I learned about my knowledge? It is worth spending some time thinking back over what you have learned from the unit materials. The text and video have presented you with some challenging ideas and a wide range of perspectives. You have been asked to apply this to your own learning for change. As you look back over these, and at your responses to the activities, you will be reminded of the ground you have covered. It may be helpful to think briefly about the perspectives that were the focus of each section: 5.1 Introduction You have almost reached the end of Learning to change and we hope that you will continue to use learning to achieve change in your life. This section is an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned as a result of doing the unit. ‘Reflecting backwards’ is an important part of learning because it helps you to be clear about what you have learned. Looking back also enables you to hold on to what you have learned after the unit finishes. This means that you can ‘reflect References
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Activity 14
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Caruso, D.R. and Salovey, P. (2004) The Emotionally Intelligent Manager: How to Use and Develop the Four Key Emotional kills of Leadership, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Cochrane, A. and Pain, P. (2004) ‘A globalizing society?’ in Held, D. (ed.) A Globalizing World? Culture, Economics, Politics, 2nd edition, London, Routledge/The Open University.
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