It's Due When?

I looked around, what did I see? Time itself was escaping me.

"Are you managing your time wisely? If the work is spread out it is not excessive, but do not let it go until the night before it is due." Professor's words startled me. I smiled and flashed my computer camera a peace sign, you know, just in case she was watching. (kidding) Seriously though, it seems that lately I have been chasing my tail. Assignments pile up, reading, study, note taking, quizzes, tests, chores, errands, home, hearth, family and pets all want a piece of me, and they want it right NOW! 

Is this an Adult Learner specific problem? No, but how I choose to resolve my time management issues does reflect in Malcolm S. Knowles' Core Adult Learning Principles Principle three: Prior Experience of the Learner; Resource and Mental Models. I know what has worked for me before; I just forgot to keep up the good habit(s).

Eternal clock by Robert van deer Steeg

In my first post, I spoke of a wonderful class called College Success. This class dedicates an entire chapter to time. The Time Monitor/Time Plan is rather extensive and very involved. It also helps "transform time into a knowable and predictable resource (Ellis).

Everybody, no matter who they are or what their station in life, has only168 hours in each week. Take away eating, sleeping, travel time and other human necessities and there's not much left. Use this worksheet to see exactly where your time is going. Keep in mind that for every Undergraduate class hour taken, (or spent in class)  two to three hours of study is required if you wish to succeed.

As simplistic as it may sound, use a Calendar. Better yet, use Google Calendar and share it with your co-workers, friends and family. Even if your family lives under the same roof, seeing your schedule in black and white lets them know just how precious your time is. Who knows, you might even get lucky and a family member may volunteer to help out with an errand or two. It's worth a try. Bonus: Set Google Calendar to send alerts to your email or phone. 

Make a To Do List. Adapt the list to your style. Do you like to make a weekly or daily list? Perhaps you even like long term planning. Whichever you choose, keep these strategies in mind: Rate each task by priority. Cross off your tasks once done - It feels GREAT! Schedule some "Me Time." You're no good to yourself or anyone else if you don't take time to breathe and/or reward yourself for all the hard work and study you have invested.

Also Useful

Becoming a Master Student by Dave Ellis Companion Site 

Study Guides and Strategies: Time Management

Now, if you'll excuse me; I think I have a paper due.

 

Textbook Treasure Troves

I can't part with my textbooks. Each and every one, even from non-favorite classes, is a part of me and a part of my ever growing, vast and varied library. I hold onto them because I am semi-mental, er, sentimental and each is a great reference. What I failed to realize until just recently, is how valuable these 'old' texts really are.

My first time around in college, I don't remember a www anything in any of my texts. Now, you would be hard pressed to find one without a web address. Even my favorite Literature Book, A World of Ideas by Lee A. Jacobus, has a companion website.  Admittedly, Jacobus had me, when in his preface he told of a student that had written to him and "demonstrated that every one of the selections in the book had been used as the basis of a Star Trek episode" (Jacobus).

If you followed the link to A World of Ideas, you will find the other reason I hold onto my texts. Granted this is an older edition, but the value it holds for me now and in the future far surpasses any sell back price I could get. Knowledge I absorb from each class, is at best, cursory. It is my responsibility to cultivate and reinforce what is given me if I am to make use of it in the future.

Companion websites are the venue for the Adult Learner. The second principle of Malcolm S. Knowles' six Core Adult Learning Principles is the Self Concept of the Learner: Autonomous and Self-Directing.  Perhaps the Adult Learner wants to know more about the time and time period of a particular author's setting. Living conditions, social status, or lack thereof, gives the author a perspective on life that the reader, the inquisitive Adult Learner, can relate to. Companion sites hold annotated author and idea links, podcasts, tutorials, exercises, power-point presentations, quizzes, and a plethora of rich and varied multi-media. Some even have 24-hour interactive tutors or links to discussion boards on your topic of interest. E-Gads! I'm giddy at the thought of it all!

So, grab your old text, blow the dust off, look on the back cover, inside cover, or in some texts, on the bottom right hand side of the pages for the www, or as I like to call it: the Wide World of Wonder.  Happy Treasure Hunting!

No Text on Hand? No worries. Use these to get you started

Bedfordstmartins.com

wwnorton.com/rockhistory  (the two w's are intentional)

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/harrison/

Lippershey, Schmippershey

I failed Astronomy. How could a Star Trek fan, Science Fiction fanatic, meteor shower and moon phase follower,  Nasa.gov and Astronomy Picture of the Day addict fail Astronomy?  I learned the hard way that more than fifteen class hours is far too much given my familial responsibilities and other obligations.  As  College textbooks are notorious for changing editions every other year or so, and with some rudimentary Astronomy still lurking about in my head, I promptly signed up to retake the class this semester.

Photo Courtesy of NASA

Of the six Core Adult Learning Principles by Malcolm S. Knowles, number six, Motivation to Learn: intrinsic value and personal payoff, seems most applicable. Knowing that we are all made of stars and my affinity for all things space, is in itself, my intrinsic. Passing this class and passing with a better than average grade, well that, is my personal payoff.

In class, I hang on every word, furiously take notes, refuse to let my mind wander and I refrain from asking too many questions.  It was in this quasi-maniacal state,  during a lecture on Gallileo and the telescope, that I fell of the wagon, so to speak.

"Does anybody know who invented the telescope?" Professor asked the class. "Lippershey?" someone responded. "That's right, in the 1600's." "Wait a minute!" a voice in my head screamed "Didn't I see something on The History Channel about Ancient Astronomers and wasn't there glass making technology in ancient times?" And yes, to my horror, that voice escaped my head and flew right out of my mouth. My poor patient Professor just looked at me and said "Yes, but they would have had to been able to make convex lenses." "I'll look it up." I said sheepishly.

Enter Knowles' Principle one: the Learners Need to Know. Why did I know something different than what was being taught in a college classroom. What is the actual truth? And how will this added, albeit oppositional information, benefit me? That night I came home and did some serious research on ancient astronomy, ancient observatories and glass making techniques.

The information I found was startling. Most notable was an article from The Astronomical Society of New South Whales. An ancient observatory was discovered in Baghdad, circa 600 B.C. More importantly, there was evidence of a Herschellian telescope. The finding of this and other information gives me, the Adult Learner, a sense of control of my learning. According to Knowles, "...individuals want to have control over their learning based on their personal goals... learning will increase as a result" (Knowles, p 123).

So, does all this added information benefit me? I'll let you know after my first "A."

Look What I Found

Use these links to draw your own conclusions. As my Oma always said "God gave you a brain, use it."

"The oldest fragments of glass vases (evidence of the origins of the hollow glass industry), however, date back to the 16th century BC and were found in Mesopotamia"


"One of the most famous ancient lenses is a small piece of shaped rock crystal, thicker in the middle than at the edge, and dating to the seventh century BC."

In his book 'The Crystal Sun', author Robert Temple describes more than 450 lenses and magnifying glasses, dating back as far as 3300 BC, retrieved from archaeological sites from Crete to Turkey to Carthage.

Ten Ancient Observatories Spied from Space

Hans Lippershey Biography

Telescopes and the Ancients by Larry Brian Radka

Be sure to scroll down to "V. Of Experiments in Artificial Sight" in the article Telescopes, Lenses and Other Ancient Technology mentioned by Roger Bacon.
The Babylonian Seal pictured really sold me.

Hubblesite

Study Break: We Are All Made of Stars by Moby   Put your headphones on and Dance!