[nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

Tue May 3 02:38:29 UTC 2011

I say again:  the answer is a human reader.

Look at the May, 1993 Braille Monitor for an article by Peggy Elliott on
this subject and in Future Reflections (some time in 1995, I think) for a
similar article by Peggy Elliott and Barbara Cheadle.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of bookwormahb at earthlink.net
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 2:43 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

Chris,
I use a computer; but as I said to find a text segment, you got to know the
words exactly you're looking for.  If you have a variation on it, that
won't help. Plus some stuff is probably just in the index/glossary, like
definitions.  Often the index is not part of my e-text and even if it is,
its so big that using a computer may not be practical to find it.
Ashley

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Nusbaum
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:55 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

I don't know whether you use a computer or notetaker to read E-texts, but
if you have JAWS on a computer or use a Braille-Note BT, you can use a find
command to find a text string, or word/phrase in a large document like a
textbook.  On a Braille-Note, hit space with F for the find command.  Then
it will ask you, "Search forward or back?" If you want to search for
something that you know is further into the text than you currently are,
het f for forward, and to search for something before the place where you
are, hit b for back.  Then, it will prompt "Find?" Type the text string you
want to search for and hit Enter.  If it finds the string you're searching
for, it will put your cursor under that string.  If you use JAWS on your
computer, I think the find command is Alt F3, but don't quote me on that.
I'll have to check and get back to you on that.  If there's someone else on
the list who knows what the Find command on JAWS is, please let us know.
Hope that helps!

Chris Nusbaum

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)

----- Original Message -----
From: <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 2 May 2011 00:31:32 -0400
Subject: [nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

Hi all,

College texts are full of words and examples.  Frustrating when you cannot
skim through especially when you need the highlights for a test.
I take notes when reading.  But my notes don?™t always amount to what the
professor tells us to study for the test, if they tell us.

So what do you do when the professor has a study guide?
Some students take it and jot down the coresponding pages to the study
topics and study those pages.
How do you use it?
Sometimes professors give a list of terms/concepts to study or a list of
questions to guide your preparation.  My communication professor outlined
on the board what concepts we needed to know for our final.
But here?™s the thing.  I cannot skim the text or look up words.
My notes may or may not have them.  Even if they do, its still looking for
a needle in a haystack when reviewing for finals!  So I?™ve usually had to
ask a reader; they act as my eyes and look in the index for the key words
or skim for the key words or headings in the chapter.

For me, I usually use audio whenever possible.  But even with e-texts, I
cannot skim because I don?™t know the exact phrase and without that the
computer does Not know what to look for; also it is divided in to chapters
and I cannot search across chapters.

Another thing, how do you work with open book exams?
Do you have a reader there and they look up any info from the book? That is
what I?™ve done.
Again, openbook  tests let you use it as a reference tool, but that is hard
for us.

So any tips for studying or ?œskimming??would be good.  How can you direct
a reader to actually skim?  Usually they will read too much to me rather
than just the main paragraph of the topic; generally under the main
headings I find the introduction to the concept and smaller headings tell
you details/examples.

Ashley
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