1. THE BENEFITS OF NOTE TAKING

2. IT HELPS STUDENTS STAY ATTENTIVE “Taking notes requires the attention to be more precisely focused on the access, sorting, and coding of the information than it would be when simply listening to a speaker or reading a document (Piolat, Olive, & Kellogg, 2004). Comments made by students have often referred to the fact that taking notes helps them remain attentive (van Metter et al. 1994).”  From “Note Taking and Learning: A Summary of Research”

3. IT HELPS YOU THINK BETTER “[T]he taking of notes seems to ease the load on the working memory and thereby helps people resolve complex problems.”  From “Note Taking and Learning: A Summary of Research”

4. IT HELPS STUDENTS REMEMBER MORE, SCORE HIGHER  Research shows that students who take notes score higher on both immediate and delayed tests of recall and synthesis than students who do not take notes.  From “Research on Student Note Taking

5. PREPARING TO TAKE NOTES

6. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREPARE TO TAKE NOTES?  Before class  Complete reading assignments due before that class  Complete homework problems due before that class  Review the reading and notes taken on it shortly before class  Review the homework problems shortly before class starts

7. HONE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS  Avoid distractions  Cell phones  Stories or questions that are off-topic  Chatty classmates  Prepare for potential distractions  Outside obligations  Dress for classroom environment  Eat, drink, etc. before class

8. WE CAN ALL BE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LISTENERS AT DIFFERENT TIMES  The daydreamer  The student who only hears what related to his or her concerns  The arguer  The student who wants to talk about unrelated items

9. IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS BY  Ask questions, offer comments, answer questions  Pay close attention to clues  Signal terms:  “X means….”  “Y is caused by…”  Verbal clues:  “This will be on the test...”  “As I said before…”  Non-verbal cues:  Instructor becomes more excited or enthusiastic  Levels of information:  Practice selectivity: listen for main ideas and subordinate ideas

10. NOTE TAKING FORMATS  Use a consistent format  Format is up to you  Develop your system for labeling content (processes, rules, examples, etc.) as you record it (common abbreviations, your own abbreviations, etc.)  Make sure you’ll be able to understand your notes in the days and weeks to come  Note-taking formats (p. 236)  Outlining  The Cornell System  Mind Maps

11. THINGS TO CONSIDER  Summary is always good  One method may work well for one discipline or lecturer but not as well for another  One method may work better for you than another  A mashup of strategies may work best

12. PRACTICE  Watch the following videos for 5-10 minutes each and switch up note-taking strategies between each one  Outlining  The Cornell System  Mind mapping  Reflect and discuss on which worked best and why.  How your "working memory" makes sense of the world How your "working memory" makes sense of the world  How your brain tells you where you are How your brain tells you where you are  Feats of memory anyone can doFeats of memory anyone can do

13. ASSIGNMENT 1  Note taking activity—In an upcoming class, take notes using one of the strategies learned in this unit. On a separate piece of paper, assess these new notes when compared to your old way of taking notes. Which strategy helps you to record more complete and accurate information? Why? What changes will you make for future classes?

14. WORKS CITED Boch, Francoise, and Annie Pioulat. “Note Taking and Learning: A Summary of Research.” The WAC Journal 16 (2005). Web. 11 Jan. 2012. “Attentive.” CustomStock.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. Hicks, Mark A. “Turbo Thinking Cap.” Discovery Education Clip Art Gallery. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. Dezure, Deborah, Matthew Kaplan, and Martha A. Deerman. “Research on Student Note Taking: Implications for Faculty and Graduate Teaching Instructors.” CRLT Occasional Papers 16 (2001). University of Michigan, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.