Reflection 2: Clear and Fuzzy

Thus far, I think I've done fairly well with learning the information in the course. However, my mind does a brilliant job of pushing one thing out while absorbing another, particularly with concepts in classes such as this and Chemistry; as soon as a new concept is learned, it's almost like I have to re-learn the last unless it is incorporated into whatever the current lesson is. My highest point of confidence with each lesson is anytime between when the homework is finished and the next lesson starts; after that, I really start to question whether or not I truly remember how to solve those problems. Thus far, every quiz has been open notes and so remembering hasn't been such a problem, so I wonder how well I'd perform without my notes.

Though it's often difficult and the most frustrating form of learning, I learn the most from homework. I often have to look through the chapter to figure out how to solve whatever is being asked if I can't figure it out, and thankfully some answers are in the back of the book, so I can assure that I am doing things right. Sometimes, the ability to see the answer allows me to work backwards to understand the process of going through the problem (this reminds me of how in Animal Training we discussed that learning how to perform a sequence of things is best done backwards). It definitely takes a huge amount of my time to run through the homework, but thus far it has been very valuable and has asserted why I feel as though I'm doing well. Sometimes, my notes can be supplemental to solving the homework problems, but surprisingly I find that it often isn't as useful as the book; I've yet to have an "a-ha" moment led by my in-class notes when faced with a difficult question, but sometimes it can help me reach that point.

Perhaps the best way I learn is through practice, but when applying new concepts to problems, having a step-by-step instruction/flow chart has always been something I've always found very useful when trying to figure out something new. However, since Calculus isn't always necessarily a "step-by-step" process, it's somewhat difficult to design a technique for learning the concepts in any other way than through practice. Perhaps more guided practice during class would be useful, particularly since there are some problems encountered in the homework that don't get covered in class; some of them have different rules or techniques for solutions that I never realized existed until spending some time trying to find the solution in the book. It'd certainly speed up my process, but it may also be possible that since I'm not learning it on my own it may not stick as well and I may find myself somewhat lost when I have to do things on my own (though I suppose that's what homework would cover).