There is no course in the university (including this course) in which the instructor will simply pour facts into your brain while you sit there passively -- you have to be prepared to reach out and grab a hold of that information, work with it and make it mean something to YOU. Only by being active and by participating in the learning process can you hope to understand and retain all the knowledge that will be put your way this semester. Active learning begins with participation and note-taking in class, and then working with these notes and the course text to understand and learn the material in preparation for the next meeting of the class.