Getting the Meaning Four Ways
With an assignment before you, how should you treat it so that it will be meaningful? The first thing to do is to shim the assignment. Read over the material rapidly before starting intensive study. This bird'seye view will provide a general idea of what the assignment is about and will add greatly to the meaning of the parts to be examined later. As you skim through the material, pay attention to the section headings; they tell you how the material is put together and what the main subject of each section is going to be.
Another obvious, but \isually neglected, practice that con· tributes to meaningful study 1s to use a dictionary. Don't pass over unfamiliar words. Whenever you encounter a new word or expression, look it up in the dictionary or in ark it for later investigation. You thus clear up the meaning of an otherwise obscure word or passage and you add a new word to your vocabulary.
Meaningfulness is also enhanced if you relate new facts to old problems. When you meet a new fact, ask yourself how it affects your attitude on some issue or belief with regard to some proposition. For example, do the facts and principles of perception support the como. mon belief that what we see, hear, and smell are entirely a matter of the structure of the eyes, ears, and nose? Do the facts and principles of learning support the old adage, "Practice makes perfect"? Does your study of habit formation give you an under~tanding of why habits are so hard to break? Talk these questions over with fellow students.
You can also make what you have studied more meaning:ful if you summarize in your own words. No amount of mechanical copying of text material will aid learning so much as a preparation in your own words. In summarizing, try to hit upon the essential material, neglecting the anecdotes and illustrations. They tend to stick of themselves Emphasize the principles in preparing your summary.
