Thought & Knowledge

Journal Entries

Keep a written "journal" that shows your thoughts about the material in each of the chapters.  The purpose of these journals is to let you "step back" and reflect on the material that you are learning (Meyers & Jones, 1993).  For each chapter, set aside at least two different times when you will think about the material and write your thoughts.  There is no single best way to think about these topics.  The journal is a record of your discussions with yourself.  For example, write down which concepts seem unclear, which seem especially useful, or how you used a particular concept when reading the newspaper or listening to a discussion on the bus or at your kitchen table.  This is the time to make your own connections between and within chapters and from class to the "real-life" that happens out of class.  Add any relevant thoughts that came from class, or another text, or from you.  Active reflection on the material you are learning is an excellent habit that will promote critical thinking and long term retention of the material.  You should find it interesting to review your  journal sometime in the future.  It can provide a snapshot of what and how you are thinking as you go through the text.

This is a very open exercise where you can be analytic, creative, or even critical.  This is a place to reflect on your learning, judge how well it is going, and relate new material to other topics.  Students often find that they gain insights into what they know by setting aside two separate times to write about each chapter.  Sometimes these journals are wonderfully creative, and almost always they are useful tools for learning and thinking. 

Click on the tabs below to view the content for each chapter.