Instructor not allowing recording devices

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I am starting my ADN program and as i was reading my syllabus for the classes. It states that I am not allowed to use any audio recording devices which really scares because that was what helped me exceed through my science classes. Any other tips or study habits that could help me out?

Why are you crediting the recording device for your success? The device was a supplement and helped you, ultimately though YOU passed those classes.

Study habits:

1) In prerequisites a good memory got you far. In nursing memory is the first step. After acquiring the knowledge. You need to apply it. In order to do this you must be actively engaging with your readings. Keep asking yourself why? If you want write "why does this matter?" beside each paragraph and make sure you make mental/sticky notes.

2) Use supplemental material but don't be one of those people with 100s of supplemental books that you drive yourself crazy. Stick to one per topic. One for medsurg. One for pedi.

3) Teach someone what you learn. A teddy bear. A dog. A son or daughter. A husband. A wife. A mother. A wall.

4) READ BEFORE CLASS TO ENGAGE in LECTURE. This here will eliminate need for a recorder. Come with notes already so you can listen & PARTICIPATE

5) Have fun. Keep in mind you're learning for your career not just to pass a test. What you learn in nursing school is like a 1/3rd of the icing of the entire cake of nursing. So, have fun with nursing school.

There are so many videos on youtube that you can listen to and you don't have to record them, they are there awaiting you :). Now if you follow the advise suggested above, you could also check out the videos ahead of class for supplementation. The trick is to come to class with a puzzle piece half completed! When the teacher lectures you are able to follow and the other half of the puzzle starts to take shape. Ask questions in class and the puzzle is almost complete. Practice as many nclex questions, study and restudy your notes and the puzzle becomes complete. In this way you'll seldom fail an exam or test. Notice I didn't say you'll get straight As - although getting As is very feasible if you put your mind to it - but it'll ensure that you don't fail.

Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Do your instructors post the lectures online? Our instructors would sometimes post the PowerPoints online, and I would open them (I used my laptop in class) and write my notes in the notes section below the slide. This helped me keep straight what notes correlated with what part of the lecture, and I wasn't writing down more than I needed. Then I took all of that and my books and made note cards. Sometimes, I'd read the cards aloud and record myself, then listen to this in the car. That way, the audio was strictly stuff I needed to review! Might be a good method for you, if you're an auditory learner.

I agree about teaching someone else about the stuff you're learning. I would even teach my son, who was in preschool. He knew more about fetal development than most adults! LOL It really helps solidify things in your mind. Study groups CAN be good for this, as long as everyone is good about staying on task.

Specializes in None yet..

Read before class is my number one tip. Then you can actively listen in class to fill in the blanks, find answers to questions that came up for you, see what the instructor is stressing (and leaving out.)

I agree, recording was just a tool to help you to relax and focus on the lecture. Now just keep relaxing and focusing on the lecture.

You can do it because you have been doing it!

Some people in my class used a smartpen (Livescribe) and didn't draw attention to that fact. Nothing was ever said about it.

Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, caliotter3:

Our nursing school goes so far as listing devices not permitted in their "no recording" rule. IF your nursing program has a rule for not recording, do your classmates know they can be permanently kicked out of the program by breaking that rule?

Thank you.

Good day, caliotter3:

Our nursing school goes so far as listing devices not permitted in their "no recording" rule. IF your nursing program has a rule for not recording, do your classmates know they can be permanently kicked out of the program by breaking that rule?

Thank you.

This was in the past, when there was little or no instructor refusal regarding recording. The school had no restrictions whatsoever about recording. Of course common courtesy would suggest that the students ask permission of the instructors. I don't know if any of them did that, nor do I know if the instructors allowed the recording. I did not discuss it with them. As I stated in my previous post, I only know that nothing was brought up about the practice in the classroom.

Specializes in Emergency Department.

While I'm one that usually took my laptop to school with me nearly every day, I also brought with me the PPT slides that would be used in lecture, printed in a 3 slide/page handout format so that I could take notes manually if my computer died (on occasion, it did...). Here's the thing... I never recorded my lectures, even though the instructors were OK with it as long as we signed the paperwork and we agreed to NEVER post it online. I did the reading prior to the lecture and usually it was the 2nd reading of the material I'd done. I tend to read ahead and stay ahead by about a week or so and review the material before class.

I also try to teach the material so that I'm engaging the learning process in a different way. It doesn't matter who or what you're teaching the material to, just that you're actively speaking the material aloud.

Also, when you're class, don't be the "know it all" but make sure you participate and clarify points you weren't able to understand from the reading.

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