A mini essay on note-taking and note-making skills

Note-taking and Note-making linked to course work

Every student won’t be able to remember everything that the teacher says in the class; even though student has a great memory. Note-taking and note-making is a great way of helping student to identify important concepts or information delivered by teachers in class. It is a good idea to have a record of what student have covered so far in the class. Therefore, it is very important for the student, especially for the higher education student, as there are large amounts of reading and lengthy lecture session. Note-taking and note-making is the best way to cover the whole lecture effectively.

What is note-taking and note-making? Actually there is significant difference in quality between these two. Note-taking is you write down whatever you hear or read from teacher without thinking about the topics or subject. It could be described that copying from the original source and re-written in a similar format, covering most or all of the information given in the source materials. Therefore it is called a passive study technique.

However note-making is an active study technique. The student make notes on selective facts, finding one or two learning points rather than noting everything what teacher says. Therefore note-making technique requires concentration in order to select, analyses and summarises what you hear or read. Applying SQ3R method is the best active approach to lessons. The SQ3R strategy is comprised of Surveying the topic, Questioning the topic, Reading the topic, Reciting the answers to their questions and Reviewing their questions and answers after class. Francis Pleasant Robinson mentioned this method in his book, Effective Study. There are different types of note-taking and note-making methods. The most popular methods are: the Outlying Method, the Diagrammatic Method, Spider Diagram Method, the Mapping Method, Sequential or Linear Method.

I always take notes in the class, which provide me a record of summary of important information on the lecture. It helps my concentration and stimulates my own ideas and creativity. More importantly it is a very powerful tool to store and retrieve information efficiently. After class, it is easy to test my knowledge of course material by reading the cue words and trying to remember as much information as possible.

I prefer to use Sequential or linear notes techniques in the class. Good sequential notes include key words, headings and sub-headings to express the connections between key concepts, accompanied by extra information in brief. In addition to that inclusion of diagrams and flow charts at the place where necessary enhance sequential notes and usually reduces the number of words. Furthermore, underlying and highlighting also enable me to find the important point quickly. It is very good for understanding, but there is big time consuming to write and read. After class, this set of note helps me easy to review the whole lecture and enable to scan quickly the main points.

In some case, a combination of two or more methods is very good for me. In anatomy class, I used linear methods together with spider diagram or diagrammatic method. Either Spider Diagram method or Diagrammatic method is good for showing structure and organising the ideas and labelling. It is actually a mind-map and is good for making connection clear and visual. It is a good method to use for the subject with complex information. There are a number of advantages to using spider diagram method or Diagrammatic Method: It helps me not to ramble. It shows the main point straightaway. It keeps the main point grouped together and it clearly shows the ambiguity which needs more research. In order to make a Spider Diagram or Diagrammatic Method, put the main topic in the centre of A4 paper then radiating one branch per main point from the main topic to outwards. Further smaller branches could be radiated from the branch for details and examples.

There can be problems regarding notes-taking in the class. Note-taking can distract student from listening to teacher. Note-taking could put additional stress on student who does not write naturally. However this problem could be overcome by taking more effective note-taking practices.

Effective note-taking or note-making is an important practice to master the subjects at University or College. Note-taking is also a learning process in itself, helping student to process and understand the information received. It enables student to avoid unintentional plagiarism and could avoid using references and bibliographies. Before exam or assessment, it helps student to focus on what is important in what we are reading or hearing in the class. Moreover it provides a personal record of what we have learnt and records of our questions and ideas.

In summary effective note-taking and note-making is quite important for the University or College student, as it helps the student to retrieve all the information delivered by teachers in the class. Furthermore, it could be records or storing notes which would be used as an effective tool in reviewing the subjects when the exam comes.

In conclusion, it is very important to make notes in the class rather than taking notes. Amongst different kind of note-taking and note-making method, choosing right method for right subject is crucial. It is suggested that a combination of one or two methods of note-making and note-taking is effective way of study in the class.

References & Bibliographies

http://www.learningdevelopment.plymouth.ac.uk/LDstudyguides%5Cpdf/5Notemaking.pdf

http://www.redlands.edu/docs/StudentLife/1Five_Methods_of_Notetaking.docx_UPDATED_7-09.pdf

http://www.indiana.edu/~l517/SQ3R.htm

Tom Burns & Sandra Sinfield "Essential Study Skills" The Complete guide to success @ university
Tutor Nixton Charles’s Notes, Sociology, Access to Radiography Course, Chelsea and Kensington College, from 12^th Sept 2012 to 21^st September 2012