<p>I try to read the assigned chapter before lecture is held, but sometimes I find that the things that I read are not even covered by professors in lecture, and thus I am wasting my time. Would it be better to read the text before or after the lecture topic is covered? How do you guys approach this? Sometimes I hear that professors will lecture and put book material on the test, sometimes vice versa... So how do you know what to focus on?</p>
<p>Well, for my Bio class, my professor posts the lecture slides online before each class session, so I just print them out, bring them to class, then take notes directly on the slides and use a red pen to underline important points and a blue pen to write down additional info that the professor mentions that’s relevant to whatever slide we’re looking at. </p>
<p>For my Calculus class, I just show up and take notes. Same with my Animal Science class (and a book isn’t required for that class–everything we need to know is covered in lecture).</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you expect the text to be covered in the lecture? This is college, so you can do the reading by yourself, and go in to office hours if there is something you are not clear on.
Lectures…readings…all are fair game for exams.</p>
<p>I almost always read before lectures, but some for some subjects I find it more useful than others. Chemistry is a must-read-before-class-or-die situation, whereas I can waltz into Physics and learn everything I need to know for my upcoming assignments or exams. For me it’s based off of what the class covers and how difficult my professor is. Other than reading the text, I don’t do any other preparation besides leave my room 10 minutes before class starts.</p>