Note Taking

Taking notes helps understanding information, completing assignments and is useful for exam revision. Notes can be taken physically or digitally. There are also multiple ways you can make notes. Each method has its benefits and drawbacks and its effectiveness depends on your own preferences and the situation.

Physical Notes

Advantages:

Can supplement words with drawings and diagrams easily to make visual notes and concept maps
Writing notes by hand is more effective to remember information compared with typing
Less distractions (you can't access social media)

Disadvantages:

Usually more time-consuming to make than digital notes
Takes up a lot of space to store/ More difficult to organize
Requires erasing or white-out to correct mistakes in notes
Cannot change format or style of notes once made
Requires clear organization (table of contents, page numbers, etc) which can become tedious
As writing takes more time, it may lead to missing information when making them as the teacher is speaking

Digital Notes

Advantages:

Typing is usually more efficient than writing. (Practice typing using some apps online to improve speed)
Easier to understand if you have bad handwriting
Easier to correct mistakes/ add new information in your notes (no need for time-consuming erasing or white-out)
May be accessed anywhere online if notes are put on Drive
May be easily shared with other people
Notes are searchable, so a specific point can be found easily using Command +F

Disadvantages:

During lessons, good typing speed is required to keep up
There are more online distractions (Check out our recommended time management apps to see how you can avoid this)
Typing requires less concentration than writing, so may be less effective at helping you remember stuff
More difficult to create visuals and diagrams/ mathematics work to put in notes

Types of Notes

The following list of note taking types are presented in the style of the note. This list covers the most widely used forms of note-taking.

Outline Notes

An outline note is the most traditional method for note taking. You first write down a main idea or topic sentence in the first bullet.
- This is followed by several sub-bullets which detail key points relating to the main idea.
- These sub-bullets may be expanding on different aspects of the main idea, providing key terminology, supporting evidence or facts, or even linking different main ideas together.
  - You may even have sub-sub bullets which:
    - add supplementary definitions
    - worked examples of problems
    - or even graphs and charts

Cornell Notes

The Cornell note-taking method was developed by Walter Pauk, an American professor, in the 1940s. It is a popular method especially for exam revision as it links important ideas and topics with more details and supporting facts.

You jot down leading questions and topics in this column. Unit Benchmarks, for example, may be suitable here.

This column is where the 'meat' of your notes lie. You may find using the Outline method to be effective in this space.
- You put down:
  - definitions for key terminology
  - main ideas
  - supporting details.

In this final section, which may be done after each unit or each page, you may write a 2 sentence summary of the notes to remind yourself, 'what are the key messages I need to take away from this?'.

Visual Notes

Visual note-taking has been proven as an especially effective method for cementing concepts and facts into your mind as it involves active thinking to be able to translate text into an effective illustration. Humans are usually also better at remembering visuals than text, so visual notes are also very helpful for revision. However, visual notes are usually more time-consuming than text based notes to create.

Concept Maps

Concept maps, a.k.a. mind maps, are an excellent way to show the interrelationships between main ideas and details without being constrained by the linear rigidity of outline notes. Lines or arrows are drawn to show the relationships and hierarchy between content, which may be textual or visual.

Flashcards

Flashcards are a great way to learn terminology and remember details of main ideas. It is also especially useful for learning vocabulary in a foreign language. Some stationary stores sell dedicated lined or blank cards for making flashcards, or you can make your own from blank paper, though that could be more time consuming.

On one side of the card, write the 'prompt.' This may be:

Terminology
Question
Main Idea
Vocabulary
Picture/ Graph

On the obverse of the card, write the 'explanation':

Definition and/ or examples
Answer
Supporting Details
Translation and/ or visual
Analysis/ Explanation

Spaced Repetition: Spaced Repetition, apart from being an intriguing application of the science of memory, is an especially effective memorisation technique, which works particularly well with flashcards. It involves spacing out the interval between studying a particular piece of information (in this case, on a flashcard). You can learn more about why this technique works and how to use it here through this interactive comic.

Summary Sheets

A summary sheet is usually a piece of A4 or A3 paper which summarises the information of an entire unit or an entire section of the course by preserving only key information. Often, this is done very effectively through concept maps which combine visuals and text which allows for building broad understanding by focusing on overarching themes and concepts.

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