Why making notes is important, and some ways to approach note-taking

Take Note!

WHY MAKE NOTES?

In this world of internet, video and instant access to information, making notes using pen and paper may seem very OLD-SCHOOL.

There are however plenty of good reasons why learning to make proper notes is a very important skill to learn.

Here are just a few of them...

Making notes ACTIVATES your brain!

When you make notes, you not only gather information from the page, you process it as well ~ note-making is a way of checking your understanding as you read.

As you make notes, you transform someone else’s writing into a form that you understand. You are actively building an understanding of the text you are studying.

Note-making sorts out what is IMPORTANT from what is not.

Books, articles, web pages etc can contain A LOT OF INFORMATION. Effective note-making will quickly sort out what you need from what you don’t, so you can get on with LEARNING without drowning in information.

Note-making is an ESSENTIAL SKILL for higher education.

No matter what area of study you choose to pursue, good note-making skills will help you to learn more effectively and to produce work with depth and authority

Learning good habits now will set you up well for further academic study. At tertiary level, INFORMATION OVERLOAD is a very real possibility if you haven’t learned how to process text and lectures into manageable notes for your study.

But DON’T WORRY! A few simple pointers will get you started ...

WHAT ARE NOTES?

WHAT ARE NOTES?

Think of notes as being like a COMPRESSED COMPUTER FILE

WHAT ARE NOTES?

Think of notes as being like a COMPRESSED COMPUTER FILE

Your notes contain what you need to know in a COMPRESSED FORM.

WHAT ARE NOTES?

Think of notes as being like a COMPRESSED COMPUTER FILE

Your notes contain what you need to know in a COMPRESSED FORM.

Like a compressed file, your notes can easily be expanded again by you into a larger form, such as an essay, or an exam answer.

FIRST STEPSREAD FIRST.If the article or chapter is short, read through it quickly and get a sense of the whole picture. If you already understand the point of the piece, summarizing it will be easier.

FIRST STEPSREAD FIRST.If the article or chapter is short, read through it quickly and get a sense of the whole picture. If you already understand the point of the piece, summarizing it will be easier.

With longer or denser writing, break the reading up into manageable parts.

FIRST STEPSREAD FIRST.If the article or chapter is short, read through it quickly and get a sense of the whole picture. If you already understand the point of the piece, summarizing it will be easier.

With longer or denser writing, break the reading up into manageable parts.Going paragraph by paragraph, try to notice the major detail or point being made. DECIDE ON YOUR OWN LEVEL OF DETAIL-GATHERING.

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:•A dictionary

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:•A dictionary•Another text

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:•A dictionary•Another text•Your friend

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:•A dictionary•Another text•Your friend•Your parents

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:•A dictionary•Another text•Your friend•Your parents•Your teacher

Look for the important bitsUnderline or highlight information that is obviously important. This could include:•Names•Dates•Concepts•What else?

If you come across words, terms or passages you don’t understand, you can consult:•A dictionary•Another text•Your friend•Your parents•Your teacherDon’t proceed through the text if you don’t understand it!

Now it’s time to start writing.

Remember the compressed file? Your job now is to do the compressing

Only write just enough words for your notes to make sense to you. (They don’t need to make sense to anyone else) Copying out passages word-for-word defeats the purpose of making notes.

Now it’s time to start writing.

Remember the compressed file? Your job now is to do the compressing

Only write just enough words for your notes to make sense to you. (They don’t need to make sense to anyone else) Copying out passages word-for-word defeats the purpose of making notes.Exception: Quotes need to be copied accurately (although you might choose to copy only part of a quote)

Now it’s time to start writing.

Remember the compressed file? Your job now is to do the compressing

Only write just enough words for your notes to make sense to you. (They don’t need to make sense to anyone else) Copying out passages word-for-word defeats the purpose of making notes.Exception: Quotes need to be copied accurately (although you might choose to copy only part of a quote)

Neatness is not important, as long as you can read and make sense of what you have written later on.

Organise your notes

Underline headings that describe main points

Organise your notes

Underline headings that describe main points

Use bullet-points to list points that belong with each main point

Organise your notes

Underline headings that describe main points

Use bullet-points to list points that belong with each main point

Use symbols to show progress, consequence, conclusion etc.

Organise your notes

Underline headings that describe main points

Use bullet-points to list points that belong with each main point

Use symbols to show progress, consequence, conclusion etc.

Example:European trade with Māori•Settlers needed flax for trade•Māori wanted muskets for warfareTrade increasedEscalation of inter-tribal warfare

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = ?

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Two

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = ?

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = without

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = without> or < = ?

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = without> or < = more than or less than; before or after

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = without> or < = more than or less than; before or aftercont. = ?

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = without> or < = more than or less than; before or aftercont. = continue

Develop your own languageAs you get more practise at making notes, you will find your own words and symbols to represent commonly occurring terms.

Examples:WW2 = World War Twow/o = without> or < = more than or less than; before or aftercont. = continue

A web-search will yield sites that have lists of useful abbreviations and symbols.Soon you will be able to compress BIG CHAPTERS into small pages!

ONE MORE THING...

ONE MORE THING...Simply making notes is NOT ENOUGH to get the information into your head in a meaningful way. If you make notes then put them aside they won’t be much use. If you come back to them at the end of term, they might not even make sense any more...

ONE MORE THING...Simply making notes is NOT ENOUGH to get the information into your head in a meaningful way. If you make notes then put them aside they won’t be much use. If you come back to them at the end of term, they might not even make sense any more...

You need to RE-READ your notes, preferably within a few days of making them.

Better still, see if you can UN-ZIP them; that is, turn them back into full sentences, or a synopsis of the text you made the notes on.

ONE MORE THING...Simply making notes is NOT ENOUGH to get the information into your head in a meaningful way. If you make notes then put them aside they won’t be much use. If you come back to them at the end of term, they might not even make sense any more...

You need to RE-READ your notes, preferably within a few days of making them.

Better still, see if you can UN-ZIP them; that is, turn them back into full sentences, or a synopsis of the text you made the notes on.

Now you know that the learning is in there!!

Search the internet for sites that contain tips on making notes.

Try to find the ones that refer to making notes (from texts) rather than taking notes (from lectures). Some sites will have both.

Write down five tips or techniques that have not been covered in this lesson and which you find useful.

Write down the URL of any sites that you think are really useful. Be prepared to say why ~ we will be compiling a list of useful sites as a class at the end of the period.

YOUR TASK