Is it easier for you to learn with or without deadlines?

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iamnotaparakeet
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21 Oct 2010, 12:47 am

For me, deadlines discourage me from digging into and enjoying a subject. If I want to study something, I want to be free to read the textbook and have confidence that I understand the material as completely as I possibly can. When a time limit is placed upon this, then the very opportunity cost of time to study and learn the material is in opposition to the required opportunity cost of time to complete assignments.



Bubbles137
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21 Oct 2010, 3:45 am

It depends on the subject- for things like languages/astronomy that I enjoy, deadlines are a distraction, but for subjects like creative writing (which I like but find hard) I need a deadline to make me start, because although I like writing, the idea of a totally empty page with no structure scares me.



daspie
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21 Oct 2010, 9:39 am

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
For me, deadlines discourage me from digging into and enjoying a subject. If I want to study something, I want to be free to read the textbook and have confidence that I understand the material as completely as I possibly can. When a time limit is placed upon this, then the very opportunity cost of time to study and learn the material is in opposition to the required opportunity cost of time to complete assignments.

There is another why we often do not meet deadlines and that is executive dysfunction.



Clyde
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21 Oct 2010, 9:41 am

I agree with you here. Deadlines don't make it easy for me, when I have three other classes. Yes, I could take less classes, but that mean that I'd be stuck in community college for longer than 4 years. You have to take a couple classes a semester. To get your units.
So deadlines sometimes make it hard.

Because I always balance at my classes like:

-Hardworking class [usually a lot of writing and studying]

-Softworking class [usually just quizzes and reading]

This isn't a problem. It makes it easier for me, when I have a high working class and a low working class. The big problem is the work. The high class is so demanding sometimes that I forget about the softwork.

But the harder work I'd be up the very next day trying to complete it.

So I think softwork classes should have longer extended deadlines. For the hard work classes I think the deadlines are fine.



zer0netgain
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21 Oct 2010, 10:12 am

I would say deadlines have a purpose.

If you are interested in something, you don't need deadlines...you will immerse yourself in the material.

If you are not interested in something, you need something to motivate you to make it a priority or it will never get done.



blackcat
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21 Oct 2010, 10:58 am

Deadlines, time limitations, or whatever make me very nervous. Like, with timed tests I completely freak out and rush through them and usually end up making careless errors. Like, I'll see people getting done and I may have more than enough time to sit there and finish at my own pace, but seeing them getting up and leaving makes me very nervous and I feel like "Oh no...I have to hurry up. I don't want to be that last person that the professor has to wait on."
Deadlines....I dread them. I get panic attacks worrying about them. I procrastinate like crazy which makes very little sense considering how nervous I am about missing a deadline. They give me this kind of mental inertia and I can't get myself to start a task until usually or even figure out how to go about breaking down the steps needed to begin the task until around four A.M. the day it is due. At that point I am exhausted from panicking and it is kind of like a magic moment where my mind unhinges and thoughts just flow very smoothly. So...I always end up finishing on time, but it is very very stressful for me.


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mysassyself
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07 Nov 2010, 8:13 am

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
For me, deadlines discourage me from digging into and enjoying a subject. If I want to study something, I want to be free to read the textbook and have confidence that I understand the material as completely as I possibly can. When a time limit is placed upon this, then the very opportunity cost of time to study and learn the material is in opposition to the required opportunity cost of time to complete assignments.


Yeh, I agree.. Right now I am trying to balance my interests in what I am learning with the requirements of my units. I'm finding some success with just pretending there's no deadline, and then reading the texts, up until the deadline is drawing near, and then I review the course notes closely, to try and cater to the course requirements and sort of taper my interest to the unit assessment.
I think it will work ok - right now it's nearly end of semester and I only really have a couple of exams to go. They tend to be optimal for me - lots of quiet study required = better marks than in those darn classes with too many people talking !


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trissy
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07 Nov 2010, 9:05 am

without. deadlines are frustrating, i guess because they're an element outside of my control. also i like a sense of completion before moving on, and having lots of deadlines doesn't really allow for that.



leeloodallas
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08 Nov 2010, 2:27 pm

It depends on the subject, but overall I hate deadlines. Test time limits too.

If the subject is really interesting and engaging, deadlines don't help the learning process for me. I'd learn more if assignments could be done at a slower pace.

If the class is boring, super easy, and seemingly pointless, deadlines help things move faster.

For hard classes a deadline can be a gift and a curse. They can motivate you to keep up with the material or you can easily be left behind if you miss something. It also makes it harder to learn in class due to time constraints to teach/learn the subject.



Cicely
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08 Nov 2010, 7:43 pm

It depends. If I love the subject, I don't need deadlines. I'll do the work just because I want to. If I don't particuarly love the subject, I do better with deadlines. Otherwise I'll put things off while I focus on my interests. Timed tests don't really bother me if I've studied, but I hate timed essays. They make me anxious.



Asp-Z
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09 Nov 2010, 10:57 am

I hate deadlines. I far prefer to study things freely.



Avarice
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10 Nov 2010, 5:58 am

Deadlines make learning very difficult for me. Though I don't learn all that well without them, as far as school goes. Deadlines make me work faster, as I want to meet them, but little learning is done.

I prefer just learning at home. Things work better that way for me.



astaut
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11 Nov 2010, 12:08 am

Without without without. Deadlines get me so extremely stressed out that if something isn't turned in on time, I just kind of quit/shut down and can't think about anything at all and I get headaches and stuff until I'm through with the assignment. I had something due today and I wasn't satisfied with what I had written so far, and I ended up feeling extremely sick and stressed all day and I missed all my classes. I would do a lot better with leniency on due dates.


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Slayer_1425
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12 Nov 2010, 1:09 am

I prefer deadlines, as stressful as they can be.

Without deadlines, I tend to be lax, and therefore won't put in as much effort in learning the material.