Note to self: Take better notes!
Did you leave your last class or meeting with a fistful of notes — only to find later that the information you really needed wasn't there? Effective note-taking is a skill which serves you well in many situations, and it's a skill which can easily be learned. Keene State College's "No-nonsense Note Taking" tips include such common sense recommendations as arriving to the lecture on time and sitting where you can hear well. KSC also suggests listening closely to the lecturer's voice and watching for changes in movement or gesture — cues signaling "that a main point is about to be presented." University of Toronto defines five Rs of note-taking: Record, reduce, recite, reflect and review. In Surviving First Year Uni, authors John Germov and Lauren Williams counsel note-takers to "Be choosy." When you write, they explain, you lose listening concentration. So, rather than trying to capture the lecturer's every word, listen first and then write down key words. And be prepared to adapt your note-taking style to each lecturer's unique speaking style. Whatever your strategy, says Richard Palmer in Brain Train: Studying for Success, whether you do your notes in green and purple ink or use odd shapes and patterns or write them in secret code, "the only criterion is whether it is successful" and that your method works well for you.
Posted by draweiner
at 11:14 AM EST
