How Are Reading, Note Taking, and Writing Connected?

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will exist able to:

• Explain why taking notes is important.
• Employ the four primary methods of note taking: lists, outlines, concept maps, and the Cornell method.
• Apply strategies to make note-taking more effective.
• Organize your notes into effective study guides.
• Employ teacher handouts to complement your notes.
• Determine what to do with your notes after the course is consummate.

Note-Taking Strategies

Everybody takes notes, or at least everybody claims to. But if you have a shut await, many who are claiming to take notes on their laptops are actually surfing the Spider web, and newspaper notebooks are filled with doodles interrupted by a couple of random words with an asterisk side by side to them reminding you that "This is important!" In higher, these approaches will not work. In college, your instructors expect yous to make connections between class lectures and reading assignments; they await you to create an opinion most the material presented; they expect y'all to brand connections between the textile and life beyond college. Your notes are your route maps for these thoughts. Do yous take good notes? Subsequently learning to mind, note taking is the most important skill to ensure your success in a class.

Effective note taking is important because it:

• Supports your listening efforts.
• Allows y'all to examination your understanding of the material.
• Helps you call up the fabric better when y'all write key ideas downwardly.
• Gives you a sense of what the teacher thinks is of import.
• Creates your "ultimate study guide."

Constructive notation-taking helps students retain what they learned in grade so that they tin employ the material to study and build their noesis and tackle more than complex concepts later on. In fact, research indicates that there's a 34 percent take a chance that students will remember primal information if information technology's present in their notes just only a 5 percent gamble if information technology'southward not. Information technology doesn't matter whether you lot adopt to write brief summaries or brand visual guides and diagrams in your notes. The important affair is to find a note-taking strategy that works for you.

In that location are various forms of taking notes, and which i you choose depends on both your personal style and the instructor'southward arroyo to the material. Each tin can exist used in a notebook, index cards, or in a digital class on your laptop. No specific type is good for all students and all situations, so we recommend that you develop your own style, but you should also be ready to modify information technology to fit the needs of a specific class or instructor. To be constructive, all of these methods require y'all to listen actively and to think; simply jotting down words the instructor is saying volition exist of footling use to you.

The post-obit are a few recommendations to endeavor out:

• Stay organized: Keep your notes and handouts separate for each class. For case, you might have a different notebook and folder for each form or a large notebook with a different tab for each class. This will save yous the time of trying to organize and locate your notes when studying for an exam.
• Employ your paper:Many students try to fit all of a day's class notes onto one page and are oft left with many actress bare pages in their notebooks. Instead, every time your teacher changes topics, flip to a new page. This allows you lot to find the material easily and makes your notes much cleaner.
• Use visual cues: Endeavor highlighting, underlining, or drawing arrows or exclamation points next to any main or difficult concepts. This will call attention to these sections and remind yous to spend more time reviewing them.
• Group together like concepts: Grouping or "chunking" cloth is a proficient style to make studying and memorization easier. You lot can effort drawing the main concept and connecting it to smaller, related concepts or making an outline of the information. Either one can serve equally an effective study guide.
• Make notes legible: Some people have messy handwriting. However, writing as clearly as possible when y'all take notes will make it easier to review them later. It's also helpful if you lot're asked to share your notes with another student who missed grade. If laptop use is permitted during class, you lot can also blazon your notes.

The post-obit video addresses other specific strategies for note-taking:

Notation-Taking Systems

The following is a chart with a brief explanation of the chief note-taking system. They are described in more depth later in the chapter.

Method	Clarification	When to Use
Lists	A sequential listing of ideas every bit they are presented. Lists may exist brusque phrases or consummate paragraphs describing ideas in more detail.	This method is what about students utilise as a fallback if they oasis't learned other methods. This method typically requires a lot of writing, and you may detect that you lot are not keeping up with the professor. It is not easy for students to prioritize ideas in this method.
Outlines	The outline method places most important ideas forth the left margin, which are numbered with roman numerals. Supporting ideas to these chief concepts are indented and are noted with uppercase letters. Under each of these ideas, further item can be added, designated with an Arabic number, a lowercase letter, so forth.	A good method to use when material presented past the instructor is well organized. Easy to use when taking notes on your computer.
Concept Maps	When designing a concept map, place a central idea in the heart of the page and then add lines and new circles in the page for new ideas. Use arrows and lines to connect the various ideas.	Groovy method to bear witness relationships amidst ideas. Also practiced if the teacher tends to hop from ane idea to another and back.
Cornell Method	The Cornell method uses a two-column arroyo. The left column takes up no more than a third of the page and is often referred to as the "cue" or "recall" cavalcade. The right cavalcade (about two-thirds of the page) is used for taking notes using any of the methods described above or a combination of them. After class or completing the reading, review your notes and write the key ideas and concepts or questions in the left column. Y'all may also include a summary box at the bottom of the page, in which to write a summary of the class or reading in your ain words.	The Cornell method can include any of the methods above and provides a useful format for calling out key concepts, prioritizing ideas, and organizing review work. Almost colleges recommend using some form of the Cornell method.

The List Method

The list method is usually not the best choice because it is focused exclusively on capturing equally much of what the instructor says equally possible, not on processing the data. Most students who have not learned constructive study skills apply this method, considering it'southward easy to call up that this is what note taking is all about. Even if you are skilled in some form of autograph, you should probably also acquire ane of the other methods described here, because they are all better at helping y'all process and retrieve the material. You may want to take notes in grade using the listing method, but transcribe your notes to an outline or concept map method after class as a part of your review procedure. Information technology is always important to review your notes every bit soon as possible after class and write a summary of the class in your ain words.

The Outline Method

The advantage of the outline method is that information technology allows you to prioritize the cloth. Key ideas are written to the left of the page, subordinate ideas are so indented, and details of the subordinate ideas tin exist indented further. To farther organize your ideas, you lot can utilise the typical outlining numbering scheme (starting with roman numerals for key ideas, moving to majuscule messages on the first subordinate level, Arabic numbers for the next level, and lowercase letters following.) At starting time y'all may have trouble identifying when the instructor moves from one thought to another. This takes practice and experience with each instructor, and then don't give upwards! In the early stages you should utilise your syllabus to decide what key ideas the instructor plans to present. Your reading assignments before class can as well give you guidance in identifying the key ideas.

If you lot're using your laptop computer for taking notes, a basic word processing application (like Microsoft Word or Works) is very effective. Format your document by selecting the outline format from the format bullets menu. Use the increase or decrease indent buttons to navigate the level of importance y'all want to requite each item. The software will take care of the numbering for you!

After course exist sure to review your notes and so summarize the course in one or two short paragraphs using your ain words. This summary will significantly affect your think and will aid you fix for the next class.

The Concept Map Method

This is a very graphic method of note-taking that is especially good at capturing the relationships amidst ideas. Concept maps harness your visual sense to sympathise complex material "at a glance." They besides give you lot the flexibility to move from 1 idea to another and back easily (and then they are helpful if your instructor moves freely through the fabric).

To develop a concept map, start by using your syllabus to rank the ideas you will mind to past level of detail (from high-level or abstruse ideas to detailed facts). Select an overriding thought (high level or abstract) from the teacher's lecture and place it in a circle in the middle of the folio. Then create branches off that circle to tape the more than detailed information, creating boosted limbs as you need them. Adapt the branches with others that interrelate closely. When a new high-level idea is presented, create a new circle with its own branches. Link together circles or concepts that are related. Use arrows and symbols to capture the human relationship between the ideas. For example, an arrow may be used to illustrate cause or consequence, a double-pointed arrow to illustrate dependence, or a dotted arrow to illustrate impact or effect.

As with all notation-taking methods, you should summarize the nautical chart in one or 2 paragraphs of your own words after course.

The Cornell Method

The Cornell method was developed in the 1950s by Professor Walter Pauk at Cornell University. Information technology is recommended by most colleges considering of its usefulness and flexibility. This method is simple to employ for capturing notes, is helpful for defining priorities, and is a very helpful report tool.

The Cornell method follows a very specific format that consists of four boxes: a header, 2 columns, and a footer.

The header is a small box across the meridian of the page. In information technology you write identification information similar the class name and the date of the form. Underneath the header are two columns: a narrow one on the left (no more than one-3rd of the folio) and a wide ane on the right. The wide column, called the "notes" cavalcade, takes up nigh of the page and is used to capture your notes using any of the methods outlined earlier. The left cavalcade, known every bit the "cue" or "recall" column, is used to jot down main ideas, keywords, questions, clarifications, and other notes. It should exist used both during the course and when reviewing your notes later on grade. Finally, apply the box in the footer to write a summary of the class in your own words. This volition assist y'all brand sense of your notes in the future and is a valuable tool to aid with retrieve and studying.

Using Alphabetize Cards for the Cornell Method

Some students like to employ index cards to take notes. They actually lend themselves quite well to the Cornell method. Utilise the "dorsum" or lined side of the card to write your notes in grade. Use 1 bill of fare per key concept. The "front" unlined side of the card replaces the left hand "cue" column. Use it after class to write keywords, comments, or questions. When y'all study, the cards get flash cards with questions on one side and answers on the other. Write a summary of the class on a split card and place it on the elevation of the deck as an introduction to what was covered in the class.

Yous volition have noticed that all methods end with the same pace: reviewing your notes as shortly as possible after grade. Whatsoever review of your notes is helpful (reading them, copying them into your computer, or even recasting them using another note-taking method). But Think! Make your review of notes a thoughtful activeness, not a mindless process. When you review your notes, call back about questions you still have and make up one's mind how yous volition get the answers. (From the next class? Studying with a friend? Looking up material in your text or on the net?) Examine how the cloth applies to the course; brand connections with notes from other class sessions, with the material in your text, and with concepts covered in form discussions. Finally, it's fun to think well-nigh how the textile in your notes applies to real life. Consider this both at the very strategic level (equally in "What does this material mean to me in relation to what I want to do with my life?") as well as at a very mundane level (as in "Is in that location annihilation absurd hither I can work into a conversation with my friends?").

Instructor Handouts

Some instructors hand out or post their notes or their PowerPoint slides from their lectures. These handouts should never be considered a substitute for taking notes in class. They are a very useful complement and volition help yous confirm the accuracy of your notes, but they practice not involve you in the procedure of learning too as your own notes practice. Later on form, review your notes with a highlighter in hand and marker keywords and ideas in your notes. This will help you write the summary of the course in your own words.

Watch this video from Higher Info Geek on How to Take Notes in Form.

General Tips on Notation Taking

Regardless of what note-taking method you lot choose, there are some notation-taking habits yous should become into for all circumstances and all courses:

• Be prepared. Make sure you have the tools you need to do the chore.
  • If yous are using a notebook, be sure you have it with yous and that you have enough paper.
  • Have a separate notebook or designated department for each form, so your notes from math aren't mixed in with your Art History notes.
  • Have a pen and perhaps a pen with different colored ink to use for emphasis.
  • If y'all are taking notes on your laptop, make sure the battery is charged! Select the awarding that lends itself best to your way of note taking. Microsoft Word works very well for outline notes, but you might find taking notes in Excel to piece of work all-time if y'all are working within the Cornell method. (It's easier to align your thoughts in the cue or recall column to your notes in the right column. Just be sure y'all keep 1 idea per row!) You tin frequently find good note-taking templates online.
• Write on only 1 side of the paper. This volition permit you to integrate your reading notes with your class notes. It will also go along your notes much cleaner.
• Label, number, and date all notes at the summit of each page. This volition aid yous keep organized.
• Exit space between topics. This will allow you to get back to a topic if the teacher re-visits it.
  • Leaving space between topics keeps your notes much cleaner.
  • Avoid writing cramped writing in the margins by turning to a blank page when your instructor switches topics.
  • This makes it much easier to locate specific topics when you are reviewing.
  • It is a overnice visual representation of what topics your instructor spent the most fourth dimension on.
• When using a laptop, position it such that y'all can see the instructor and white board correct over your screen. This will keep the teacher in your field of vision even if you accept to glance at your screen or keyboard from time to time.
  • Brand sure your focus remains with the instructor and not on your laptop.
  • A word of caution about laptops for note taking: use them if yous are very adept at keyboarding, but remember that not all note-taking methods work well on laptops because they do not easily allow yous to describe diagrams and use special notations (scientific and math formulas, for case).
  • Ask your instructor before using a laptop for annotation-taking. Not all professors allow them.
• Don't try to capture everything that is said. Listen for the large ideas and write them down.
  • Make sure you tin recognize the instructor'south accent cues and write down all ideas and keywords the instructor emphasizes.
  • Listen for clues similar "the four causes were…" or "to sum up.…"
• Copy annihilation the instructor writes on the board. It's likely to be important.
• Utilize signals and abbreviations. Which ones you use is up to you, but be consistent so yous volition know exactly what you hateful by "att." when you review your notes.
  • You may notice it useful to keep a key to your abbreviations in all your notebooks.
• Use some method for identifying your own thoughts and questions to keep them separate from what the instructor or textbook writer is saying. Some students use different color ink; others box or underline their own thoughts. Practise whatever works for you.
• Create a symbol to apply when you fall behind or go lost in your note taking.
  • Jot downwardly the symbol, exit some space, and focus on what the teacher is roofing at present.
  • Later y'all can ask a classmate or the professor to assist you fill in what you missed, or y'all can find it in your textbook.
• Review your notes as shortly after class every bit possible (the same day is all-time). This is the secret to making your notes work!
  • Use the remember cavalcade to call out the key ideas and organize facts.
  • Make full in whatever gaps in your notes and clean up or redraw hastily drawn diagrams.
• Write a summary of the main ideas of the class in your own words.
  • This process is a great help to think.
  • Be certain to include whatever conclusions from the lecture or discussion.
  • Pretend you are writing the summary for someone else. This volition brand it clear and detailed.

Organizing Your Notes and Class Materials

The class is over, and you have a cute set of notes in your screw notebook or saved on your laptop. You have written the summary of the course in your ain words. Now what?

Showtime by organizing your notes. We recommend you use a three-ring binder for each of your subjects. Print your notes if you lot used a figurer. If you used notation cards, insert them in plastic photo holders for binders. Group all notes from a grade or unit together in a section; this includes class notes, reading notes, and teacher handouts. You lot might besides want to copy the teacher's syllabus for the unit on the first page of the section.

Side by side, spend some fourth dimension linking the data across the diverse notes. Utilize the think column in your notes to link to related information in other notes (e.g., "Run into class notes date/page").

If you have had a quiz or test on the unit, add together it to your binder, too, but be sure to write out the correct reply for whatsoever detail you missed. Link those corrections to your notes, too.

Use this opportunity to write "notes on your notes." Review your summary to meet if it withal is valid in lite of your notes on the reading and any handouts you may have added to your notes bundle.

You lot don't need to get a pack rat with your notes. It is fairly rubber to toss them later on the cease of a course except in the following cases:

1. If the course you lot took is a prerequisite for another grade, or when the course is part of a standard progression of courses that build upon each other (this is very common in math and science courses), you should keep them as a reference and review for the follow-up course.
2. If the course may pertain to your hereafter major, go on your notes. You lot may not realize it at present that they may have future value when you report similar topics or fifty-fifty the same topics in more than depth.
3. If you are very interested in the course subject and would like to become into the material through a more advanced course, independent written report, or fifty-fifty research, keep your notes every bit a prep tool for further work.

Spotter this video from Higher Info Geek on how to organize your notes and school files.

Fundamental Takeaways

• After effective listening, practiced note taking is the most of import skill for academic success.
• Choose among constructive note-taking styles for what works best for yous and modify it to meet the needs of a specific class or instructor.
• Outlines work well for taking notes on a laptop when the instructor is well organized.
• Concept map notes are good for showing the relationships among ideas.
• The Cornell method is effective for calling out key concepts and organizing notes for review.
• Instructor handouts and PowerPoint presentations assist with, simply do not supervene upon, personal note taking.
• Go on your notes organized in a way that makes it easy to study for tests and other uses in the futurity.

ACTIVITY: Journal PROMPTS ON NOTE-TAKING

1. Proper name two advantages of the Cornell system over the list method of note taking.
2. Draw the benefits of—and potential problems with—taking course notes on a laptop.
3. Which note-taking organisation is a skilful friction match for each of your classes and why?

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/austincc-learningframeworks/chapter/chapter-11-note-taking-strategies/

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