N OTE - TAKING FROM A LECTURE A useful process for managing notes

O UTLINE OF KEY POINTS Arrive prepared Create a system Label your notes Look for a ‘big picture’ theme or pattern Be active in class After the class Summary

N OTE - TAKING STARTS B EFORE C LASS Arrive prepared Read the assigned reading material (not 5 minutes beforehand!). Write down any questions from the reading/homework Right before every new lecture, you should review your notes from days past. Reflect and make relationships between key concepts before you sit down for a new lecture.

C REATE A SYSTEM 4x classes = a LOT of information about different subjects Keep notes from a single class are in a single, dedicated notebook. There will be times when you go to biology class (for instance) and realize that you’ve brought the study skills notebook by accident. What will you do then??

L ABEL YOUR NOTES Date at the beginning of each day’s notes Subject and topic Number the pages (if using loose paper) Signal the end of each session ( i.e. Class finished 2:15) If you forget to bring the correct notebook for class, be sure to start on a clean sheet of paper, mark the date, and tear it out. Then place the loose sheet in the correct notebook later. Staple/glue it in if need be.

P ATTERN YOUR NOTES ACCORDING TO THE TOPIC OR THEME OF THE CLASS Listen carefully Follow the teacher’s own outline (it may be verbal: “today we are going to....” OR it may be on the board or at the start of a powerpoint) Why is this useful?

W ATCH FOR DIGRESSIONS AND MARK THEM. Unplanned events will happen. For instance: A student asks a question and the teacher answers. The teacher digresses, and then after a few moments jumps back onto the planned lecture..... OR The teacher gets on a roll and is going somewhere that does not seem linked. Sound familiar? What can you do? Indicate breaks or interruption in the flow of the teacher’s thoughts to keep an order to your notes AND/OR Try to think of how it might be connected? OR If you feel lost, just ask: “Are we changing topics now?”

‘W ORK ’ YOUR NOTES ! Make notes to yourself within your notes They are for YOU to be able to make sense of the lecture later. STAY ALERT TO THE ENVIRONMENT Make a note to yourself: when a student asks a question or the class breaks into a discussion (record details only IF it is relevant) if and when your teacher says something like “let's get back to the topic.”

DON’T TRY TO WRITE DOWN EVERY WORD! Wastes both your time and ‘brain-space’. Write enough to help you understand later Already covered in a class? note this and move on ( “see handout from yesterday” ) Don't understand? Make a note to self so you can ask a friend /revisit the textbook/ the lecturer later Use headings to try and organise the information into a pattern of overall meaning/concepts/key points Use your own words as often as possible- no extra points for sounding ‘flash’ or academic!

S TAY PRESENT AND ALERT Listen carefully. Listen for essential versus non-essential information. Listen for transition words that indicate a shift in focus (“A related idea is.... Moving on from this.....).”\ Don't let yourself zone out. Manage any attention issues that you may have: -feed yourself beforehand! (or snack quietly) -tap your foot, twirl your hair (whatever it takes without causing a disturbance).

D EVELOPING SHORTCUTS IN YOUR WRITING Develop shortcuts for the most commonly used words and make shortcuts for them. (see next slide)

@ at, about, around no. number, amount + bigger, greater, increasing ? who, what, where, why, where ! surprise, alarm, shock bf before bc because rts results resp response X across

C ODE WORDS Circle, underline, highlight, draw pointy arrows etc around the following: New vocabulary and concepts Obvious statements such as: The most important reasons are... This relates to... Don’t forget that... References to the textbook Names of significant figures/authors etc Key data/figures/formulae

U SE IMAGES THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU Visual learners should make as many USEFUL doodles as they can- arrows, circles, etc. Sometimes the information will not sink in until and unless you see it in an image. As soon as you realize that one topic relates to another, comes before another, is the opposite of another, or has any kind of connection to another, create an image that captures it.

AFTER THE LECTURE Review your notes- add fresh thoughts that emerged later. Discuss/share with another student- “did you get that part about molecules...?” Make a list of questions that require further clarification from the lecturer/textbook. Some students like to rewrite their notes into a tidier version-adding extra information from classes/readings etc. (but be careful you don’t do this to avoid doing other more important tasks!)

C OMPARE YOUR LECTURE NOTES TO THE BOOK ( NOT APPLICABLE TO ALL COURSES ) Finding it hard to see a pattern or logic to the lecture? IF so, go to your textbook or other student guide after the lecture. Look for links between chapter titles and subtitles. Sometimes lectures are there to reinforce the textbook, at other times they lecture to teach NEW information not in the textbook. If you are not sure, ask the lecturer how the lecture relates to other material in the course.

S UMMARY : E FFECTIVE NOTES Require you to think actively Help you to take charge of the information Are an active/ “living” process Help you revise your thinking Assist you to clarify information

C HECK YOUR NOTES : Here is the outline of the presentation I gave: Arrive prepared Create a system Label your notes Look for a ‘big picture’ theme or pattern Be active in class Summary How did you record the information?