Google: note taking methods

* How does organized note-taking help the learning process?

Developed in 1949 at Cornell University by Walter Pauk. Designed in response to frustration over student test scores. Meant to be easily used as a test study guide. Adopted by most major law schools as the preferred note taking method.

critical thinking skillsstimulate critical thinking skills retain what is saidretain what is said in class helps students work on assignments AND prepare for tests outside of the classroom.

allows students to help each other problem solve. helps to organize and process information. helps with recall when recited, reflected upon, and reviewed.

“One learns through the processing of information by the brain. Words very, very seldom imprint themselves on the brain; but ones thinking does.”

 Writing is the single most integral skill required for college readiness.  From College Readiness by Conley

* Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering, Jane Pollock – researchers and authors of: * Classroom Instruction That Works * The Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works * They identified nine instructional strategies that are most likely to improve student achievement across all content areas and across all grade levels

Instructional Strategies that Affect Student Achievement the MOST Source: Continuous Improvement/Larry Lezotte

CategoryPercentileGain Identifying similarities and differences 45 Summarizing and note taking 34 Reinforcing effort and providing recognition 29

Summarizing and note taking are high leverage strategies because they: - encourage powerful learning - lead to deeper understanding - endure long-term recall

Note taking and summarizing are closely related. Both require students to identify what is most important about the knowledge they are learning and then state that knowledge in their own words.

* Write down everything * Write down next to nothing * Write way too much * Don’t write enough * Copy word for word

* Note taking is an act of translation. * Students write new ideas/concepts in their own words — an exercise in understanding. * Generating questions afterward forces students to think about the connections and implications of new concepts.

* Notes should be considered a work in progress. * Notes should be used as study guides for tests. * Verbatim note-taking is the least effective way to take notes.

The Curve of Forgetting describes how we retain or get rid of information that we take in. It's based on a one-hour lecture. On Day 1, you go in knowing nothing, or 0%. At the end of the lecture you know 100% of the information, however well you know it (where the curve rises to its highest point).

* By Day 2, if you have done nothing with the information you learned in that lecture, didn't think about it again, read it again, etc… you will lose 50%-80% of what you learned. * Our brains are constantly recording information on a temporary basis. Because the information isn't necessary, and it doesn't come up again, our brains dump it all off, along with what was learned in the lecture that you actually do want to hold on to!

* By Day 7, we remember even less, and by Day 30 we retain only about 2%- 3% of the original hour! This may account for feeling as if you've never seen this before in your life when you're studying for exams - you may need to actually re-learn it from scratch.

* Good news - You can change the shape of the curve! A big signal to your brain to hold onto a specific chunk of information is if that information comes up again. When the same thing is repeated, your brain says, "Oh-there it is again, I better keep that.” * When you are exposed to the same information repeatedly, it takes less and less time to "activate" the information in your long term memory and it becomes easier for you to retrieve the information when you need it.

* Students often feel they can't possibly make time for a review session every day in their schedules. However, this review is an excellent investment of time. * If they don't review, they will need to spend minutes re- learning each hour of material later – do they have that kind of time? * Cramming rarely plants the information into long term memory where they can access it to do assignments throughout the term as well as be ready for exams.

* Depending on the course load, the general recommendation is to spend about 30 minutes every weekday (10 minutes per subject, and hours every weekend) in review activity. * Maybe you only have time to review 4 or 5 days of the week, and the curve stays in the middle. That's OK, it's a lot better than the 2%-3% you would have retained if you hadn’t reviewed at all. * Many students are amazed at the difference reviewing regularly makes in how much they understand and how well they retain material. It's worth experimenting for a couple weeks, just to see what a difference it makes!

When you write down even brief notes about what you are hearing/ experiencing, you keep 60% of what you hear/learn. When you take thorough, organized notes and review them, you keep % of what you hear/learn.

1. Record 2. Reduce 3. Recite/Retell 4. Reflect 5. Review 6. Recapitulate

In the 10 minutes right after note- taking, fill in the left column with the following: Questions your notes can answer Vocabulary Main ideas Connections Reminders for the test + 24 hours after note- taking, review your notes for 10 minutes 7 days later, review your notes again

ed.fullerton.edu/titanium/video/cornell/cornell.html

efficiency = biggest bang for your buck Get the most out of your education and your time!