Most students, like most other people, are poor listeners. They also have poor memories, especially when it comes to recalling information heard in some long, boring lecture. However, if students learn how to listen to lectures effectively, they will be able to recall information from even the longest, most boring lecture, a skill that will enable them to study more effectively in college and, consequently, earn better grades on tests.
Improve Grades in College by Improving Listening Skills
Studies have shown that students with the best grades in college are the best listeners. The reality, though, is that most people are notoriously poor listeners. In fact, studies have also demonstrated that, on average, people grasp only around 50 percent of what they hear and after two days they can recall only 25 percent of what they heard, and these percentages hold true regardless of the situation or circumstances (Lucas, 1998).
Five Main Causes of Poor Listening in College Students
There are five main causes of poor listening in college students:
- Not concentrating: The average person (yes, this includes professors) can talk at a rate of 120 to 150 words a minute, but the human brain can process from 400 to 800 words a minute (Lucas, 1998). As a result, when listening to a professor ramble on, students have a lot of “spare brain time” left over to concentrate on other things like last Saturday’s date, the latest American Idol winner, or the risqué photo they wish they hadn’t posted on Facebook.
- Listening too hard: Students oftentimes try to soak up every word a professor utters, rather like multi-pored oversized sponges; as a result, they miss the professor’s main points entirely by submerging them in a morass of details and gobbledygook.
- Jumping to conclusions: Students tend to put words into the professor’s mouth because they think they know what he or she means; as a result, they don’t bother to listen to what the professor is actually saying and miss the main point entirely.
- Prematurely rejecting ideas as boring or misguided: Students decide early on in a lecture that the professor has nothing of any real value to say, so they tune him or her out and start thinking about more valuable things like, for example, whose going to be evicted from the island in the next episode of Survivor or how much they now regret posting that risqué photo on Facebook.
- Focusing on delivery and appearance: Students pay attention to how the professor lectures instead of what he or she is saying. They also focus on the professor’s personal appearance, vocal characteristics, and mannerisms, especially if the professor is entertaining, stylish, energetic, funny, or good-looking, etc.
Tips for Listening to College Lectures and Retaining Information for Tests
Students can become better listeners by following these guidelines:
- Take listening seriously: Students must become self-aware, which means they must analyze their listening skills, make note of their shortcomings, and then commit themselves to improving.
- Resist distractions: Students need to make a concerted, conscious effort to focus on what the professor is saying, even if they have to force their minds to zero in on that professor like a heat-seeking missile, and once they’re locked onto that professor, students need to force their minds to remain right there and not start thinking about things like the latest hilarious video making the rounds on YouTube or how many vampires can dance on the head of a pin.
- Focus listening: Students need to become “focused listeners,” meaning those who make a conscious effort to listen for the professor’s main points and the evidence he or she presents in support of those points.
- Listen for cues: If an instructor says, “This is important,” “Pay attention to this,” or “Remember this,” that means the chances are great that the information will be needed for a test.
- Ask questions: If a student doesn’t understand something, he or she should not hesitate to ask for clarification. Contrary to popular belief, professors are not mind-readers and, therefore, do not instinctively know if or when a student is totally lost, dumbfounded, or confused..
- Develop note-taking skills: Students must learn how to take notes. Most students, though, are lousy note-takers because they don’t know what to listen for or how to take notes efficiently. Instead, they jot down an occasional random fact they think “might” happen to be important or else they desperately try to write down every word uttered by a professor, regardless of its relevance.
In summary, how well a student listens plays a major role in how much information he or she is able to recall from a lecture. However, regardless of how poor a student’s listening skills might be, he or she can improve them and, consequently, improve his or her study skills and test scores as well.