this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2024
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Academia

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Currently studying for an exam tomorrow, and I now realize why I'm always so sleepy in class: the prof. speaks sooo sloowllyy with pauses - in-between - most words. I can't keep focused because of that; thankfully, he has narrated powerpoints that I can download and watch... at 3x normal speed. Which is nice because a 37 minute video is now 12 minutes, but goddamn it makes classes so rough.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Wanted to chime in since I don’t see anyone here with the opposite opinion. When I did my degree I was always very grateful for the lecturers who would go slower and allow time for you to finish writing notes and really let the material sink in. I think the professor stopping is, at least some of the time, for your own benefit and not theirs, allowing you time to write detailed enough notes. I couldn’t have taken enough notes for an hour class in 20 minutes and also have been able to understand what I was writing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That's likely, especially since he's been teaching the course for 15 years; however, I can't take notes that quickly. When I do try, they almost always end up incomplete because they start talking again before I can get everything down. Just my sleep deprivation damaged brain slowing down I guess (which I think might also be a reason a lot of lecturers have a slow speech pattern).

I do still take some notes, particularly things that I think are important that might not be on the slides.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I guess when taking notes, it is beneficial if you manage also to abbreviate and summarise. This is another skill that should be acquired at university.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Truly, and I can do it but it takes time.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

It really depends on the professors cadence for me. Some professors move from topic to topic at a good pace and I don't feel the need. Some really talk slow and linger on each point and those I need to go 1.5 or 2x speed

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm not watching lectures at all, just download the transcript and read it, much cleaner.

If there's none provided, even the automatically generated subtitles are alright. The platform my uni is using allows to download them separately from the video lecture.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This is the same reason I hate technical videos and how-tos moving to YouTube. I can skim text really effectively. I don’t wanna watch you do a thing. Tell me how to do it and I’ll be done in half the time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Yep. That and a 3 min intro followed by a like and smash that button bullcrap before the dude on screen even starts to click through his menus to navigate to the problem he tries to address. By the time he starts on the solve I've already found the info elsewhere.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Really depends on the professor but for some I just wouldn't survive 90 minutes of normal speed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I sometimes have trouble staying awake, even if I had a good sleep the other night. ;_;

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I watch everything 2x speed now (even tv shows, movies, youtube) because of trying them out on lecture videos.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Hardcore lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Yep, they talk so slow. I even watch youtube videos at about 2.5x now. I download lectute videos because the integrated player only allows a max speed of 2x.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

The long pauses are the worst because if you speed it up too much to get over the pauses you can't catch the words.

But yes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Seems like partially a reaction to speed of popular media and the result on how easy it is to pay attention

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Then there's paying attention as in comprehending, and paying attention as in internalising. The latter takes more effort and time, as it includes relating to previous knowledge. It is not as often that lecturers manage to guide students to think along.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

If I can, I'll use the "advance ten seconds" button or tap the right arrow key to skip 5-30 seconds depending on the client, until I find what I'm interested in and scrub backwards until I find the natural start point.

I can count on one hand the number of tutorials or lectures that I've been genuinely enthralled by from start to finish.

I had one tutor that every time they said "oh sorry that's wrong, I've been coding in python today, not Java" I just used to log out and check out someone else's material on a video streaming site. Fuck you for pissing my time up the wall - if I wanted to do that for £1300 a year, I'd ask my local barman about his opinion on the taxation structure of the United Kingdom for those straddling tax brackets.

edit: and/or barperson - if they can pour a decent pint, they're all awesome to me.