Learning Diary — A Basic Guide
Learning Diary
A learning diary can also be called as a lecture diary, a (lecture) journal, a course diary or a course report. The learning diary is a writing that can take a place of a course exam. Length of a diary can vary, depending on a lecturer and on a course, but 2 credit units usually requires more pages than 1 credit units. Suitable length for a learning diary for the Applied Mathematics Seminar is from 1 to 2 pages.
A learning diary should comment on the themes of the lectures or presentations and should also give the lecturer feedback on them. A diary is not only referring to lectures, it also discusses and may even argue. Your comments can be critical, interpretative and/or complementary. The comments can be based on your own experience, reading or following the news media and you can, by all means, disagree with the lecturer. Your comments should, however, be well formulated. Don't speculate — give arguments for your statements and observations! The best way to give criticism is to first analyse the current theory and then to suggest a justified and applicable improvement.
Learning diary summarizes the essential elements of a lecture and gives a critical view of discussed topics. Therefore, its purpose is to develop critical thinking and reassure that you got a grip what was discussed. All details of the lecture content do not need to be included in the diary — the lecturer already knows those. More important is what you have learnt during the lectures. Learning diary is also a diagnostic tool: if it appears that you have difficulties in writing it, it is possible that you have not been able to follow the lecture. In this case, try to find the reasons as soon as possible!
You may use library and web to get more information; especially for the facts you do not understand. If you use any other sources, remember to mention them in the references. It is not allowed to use someone else's words or thoughts as your own!
Note that you probably won't have time to write your diary during lectures (you make only short notes) but you should write a complete version as soon as possible, when you still remember the lecture.
Where to start
If you don't know how to get started, try to answer following questions in your own words.
- What was the main point(s) of the lecture?
- What did I know about this theme before I attended the lecture? What did I I learn?
- What specific things did I find interesting?
- What questions did the lecture arise in my head?
- What remained unclear? What would I want to know more about?
- What are my own experiences about the issues we talked in the lecture?
- What did the things I learnt mean to me and will I be able to use them in the future?
Practical Notes
In order to realize flexible diary management, please follow the listed simple rules:- Language: The diary may be written either in English of Finnish.
- Deadline: The diary should be returned within one week from the presentation.
- Place of return: To the mailbox (Publicum 2nd floor) or by email (pdf-files only!) to Napsu Karmitsa ( ).
- Note on diary format: Follow the lecture diary guidelines given above. The suitable length for the learning diary is from one to two pages of A4. For typesetting use latex or (very) clear handwriting. Always include your name, student number, and email on the diary as well as the presentation's title.
- Additional information: Napsu Karmitsa ( ).
