Tart Reading Strategy By Andrew Zelin

This week in CLS 105 I experimented with the Tart strategy in both my SHR 247 and accounting 252 courses. I chose to use this strategy because I am a visual and aural learner. Being a visual and aural learner, I thought that I would be able to find success because of the reading and listening that the Tart strategy requires.

I tried Tart first in accounting 252. The first step I took was to look up and read the bold definitions and key terms for chapter 6 in the managerial accounting textbook prior to the lecture. Next I attended the lecture and took notes as I normally would in my notebook. When class was over I reread the lecture notes and read the entire chapter. Lastly, I with this built up knowledge from both the text book examination and the professors lecture, I created test questions that I thought my professor may ask on our next exam. Because this is an accounting class, the questions were naturally mathematical. I found this strategy especially effective here because it instilled a sense of familiarity with the mathematical concepts the professor covered during the class before she ever covered them. Thus, making it much easier to take notes, understand the professor, and read the notes and textbook.

The second class I experimented with Tart was SHR 247. My experience in SHR247 was somewhat different from my experience in accounting because we watched a documentary on Ping Golf for part of the class. First I opened the SHR 247 textbook and looked up the key ideas and definitions in chapter 5. I attended the lecture as I normally would and took notes in my laptop from both what the professor was saying and the documentary. If it wasn't for the textbook examination prior to the lecture, I don't think I would have been able to understand the points the CEO of Ping Golf was trying to make. Following class I reread my notes and read the entire chapter. I was very satisfied because I was able to draw parallels between the chapters key concepts and the documentary very easily. Finally, I made word answer based test questions using examples from the documentary, lecture notes, and textbook.

I found this strategy very helpful for both courses because I feel the strategy's core purpose is to familiarize and test students on information using textbook and lecture methods. Both of these methods are complementary to my learning style.