Take this down: Make your own notes

The year was 1974. The boy went to a city high school with great expectations and loads of anxiety. The medium of instruction was English. And, English was alien to him.

To add to his misery, notes were not dictated even in high schools. Lessons were taught and questions framed, in addition to the ones at the end of the lesson, for home work. If the homework was not submitted the following week, the boy was beaten with a ruler. The boy felt humiliated. The contemptuous looks of city boys and giggles of girls affected him. 

The boy decided to turn this crisis into an opportunity and a challenge. He began to study till 2 am in the morning every day. He read his lessons, underlined difficult words, and checked them up in the dictionary. He learnt the meanings and spellings by rote and went back to his lessons again. The next week, he submitted his home-work to the surprise of his classmates and friends. Thereafter there was no looking back. He stood first in English and Social Science, for the next three years.

Just imagine the amount of labour and time that goes into the preparation of notes in English. The mind analyses, discards, selects, elaborates, argues, develops the relevant points in the order of importance and arrives at the answer. One has to pay attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation marks and syntax. It is an unending intellectual jugglery of ideas and words.

As the boy climbed each step of the academic ladder, he realised the importance of self-study and self-notes. It was a moment of realisation that self-notes prepared by self study is better than the best notes of the best teacher! You analyse and choose the best. You are responsible for your words and deeds. You earn self-respect through self-reliance and self-confidence. For a student, self-notes are the only means of self-actualisation. Preparation of notes helps to convert information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom.

Today, it is not uncommon to see, in the corridors of higher education, a student begging his or her teacher to give photostat copies of notes. They don’t know that this ‘fast food’ is detrimental to their intellectual health.

Today, we are the third largest country in terms of technical graduates and institutions. But the research carried out by these men in their institutions, scholars say, especially in basic sciences and humanities, is sub-standard; the only exception being IT, BT and space sciences. This notes culture has perpetuated slavery, buffoonery, and back-biting in the institutions of higher learning. Of course, there are exceptions like our IITs and IIMs — the country’s premier institutes of engineering and management courses.

If higher education has to be relevant, has to cater to the needs of society and industry, the age old, outdated, teacher-centred lecture method must be discarded. Every session in the classroom must be a session of fruitful conversation and interaction.

Steps to success

The strength of a class, as UGC stipulates, must be 40 for Arts and Commerce and 25 for Science streams.

The teacher must begin his interaction with questions, not with an introduction. The observations of a teacher on a topic must raise doubts so that the students can counter his arguments or seek clarifications.

The teaching-learning must be through discussions, dialogues and debates.
Whatever the text, 100 or 1000 years old, the teacher should be in a position to show its relevance to the times and the society of the student.

After the discussion of the topic, small groups of students (say, six in each group) can be formed with a scribe selected to note down the important points which are then presented to the whole class. This technique will help the teacher assess the students’ ability to comprehend, analyse and sometimes, highlight the points not covered by him. By this method, he too is benefited.

Seminar papers must be on related topics. For example, if the prescribed topic is Einstein’s ‘theory of relativity’, the seminar topic can be ‘the counter theory on relativity’ propounded by Heisenberg.

Students may also be given assignments; again on related topics to assess his writing, analytical and persuasive skills. For example, if the lesson is on the Hindu marriage ritual, the assignment can be given on marriage rituals in Islam or Christianity.

Students may also take up small projects on literary, environmental, social, economic and cultural issues. This helps him to acquaint and familiarise himself with the current trends and local, national and international issues.

These methods can ensure that both students and teachers refer books, journals, magazines in the library and surf the net for information. It ensures social responsibility, besides inculcating the three most important senses — the civic, the social and democratic sense — for a happy society.