em me Active Listening If you want to improve your math skills, just attending class is not enough. You need to do the necessary work outside of class, and when you are in class, you need to listen actively. To assess whether you are an active listener, consider the following pairs of statements. Place a check next to the statement in each pair that more closely describes your classroom listening style. n 1a. When I’m listening in class, I lean back and get as comfortable as possible. n 1b. When I’m listening in class, I sit upright and even lean forward a little. n 2a. I let the instructor’s words wash over me, generally going with the fl ow of the lecture. n 2b. I try to guess in advance what the instructor is going to say and what direction the lecture is taking. n 3a. I regard each lecture as a separate event, not necessarily related to what the instructor has said before or will say the next time. n 3b. As I listen, I regularly ask myself how this relates to what was said in previous classes. n 4a. When I take notes, I try to reproduce the instructor’s words as closely as possible. n 4b. When I take notes, I try to interpret and summarize the ideas behind the instructor’s words. n 5a. I don’t usually question the importance of what the instructor is saying or why it’s the topic of a lecture or discussion. n 5b. I often ask why the content of the lecture is important enough for the instructor to be speaking about it. n 6a. I rarely question the accuracy or logic of a presentation, assuming that the instructor knows the topic better than I do. n 6b. I often ask myself how the instructor knows something and fi nd myself wondering how it could be proved. n 7a. I just about never make eye contact with the instructor. n 7b. I often make eye contact with the instructor. If you tended to prefer the “a” statements in most pairs, you have a more passive style of listening. If you preferred the “b” statements, you have a more active style of listening. Based on your responses, consider ways that you can become a more active listener. www.mhhe.com/messersmith CHAPTER 4 emPOWERme 279
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