Notetaking Tips

Table of Contents

Notetaking Tips

Mapping:

• Benefits
• Steps
• Use

 
How to Make a Map

Devices that Show Relationships

Note Cards for Research

Other "Systems"

• Big I sample form
• One Third, Two Thirds
• Traditional
• Internet (Online)

Mapping Exercise:

• Memory (article)
• Individual Map (blank page)

Sample Forms

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Copyrights. Portions originally developed by Richard F. Malena, Ed.D. Phoenix College, Phoenix, AZ in the 1980s. Adapted for and added to by Judith Andrews, MA, Feather River College, Quincy, CA 95971. Permission granted to use material if credit is given to Malena, Andrews, and any individuals mentioned in the footnotes. 2002 copyright.

Notetaking Tips [1]

• Date and label the source of all notes.
• Be concise and accurate in your own words.
• Do not try to copy every word of a lecture, but

• Do copy everything on the board.

• Actively read or listen, assess, and analyze to get the main ideas and supporting details before you write.

• Supporting details can be shown with:

• Diagrams
• Drawings
• Formulas
• Problems

• Emphasize, i.e., indent or highlight when a new idea is introduced or discussed.

• Review your notes as soon as possible after class or lecture in order to reinforce the information. You may wish to:

• Highlight main points and new vocabulary.

• Write a summary.

• Use a cognitive map.

• Use the One-Third Two-Thirds or Recall and Record.

• Cross reference notes with text whenever possible during your first re-reading

In science and mathematics do:

• Copy down the explanation that goes with each problem on the board, such as "factor out the x". Write a reason for each step of the problem as it was done on the board.

• Leave large blank spaces if you cannot copy all the board. Then, within 24 hours, write additional explanations for each step of a problem to discover if you understand it in preparation for an exam.
• Number and list all the steps in each problem or process. This will help you understand and learn them quicker.
• Learn and use content symbols.
• If you plan to keep your text, you may wish to copy examples and models from the board directly into your texts.  This means less writing.
• Use the computer to type (key) your notes; sometimes this is more efficient and easier to read.

Mapping

Mapping is a graphic representation of information in an organized pattern. [2]

Benefits of Mapping

1. Gives overall picture of topic being learned.
2. Shows relative importance of each idea.
3. Links key concepts and makes them more recognizable because of their proximity and connection.
4. Establishes a visual location of information for recall.
5. Maximizes a person's active participation.
6. Organizes information for minimum retention.
7. Makes allowances for individual learning styles.
8. Uniqueness of maps aids recall.
9. Sparks creativity.

Steps in Mapping

• Read material and find the topic.
• Make the topic the center focus of the map.
• Organize and categorize main ideas around topic.
• List details under or around main ide

Use of Maps

• Text notes
• Lesson planning and preparation
• Introducing new topics
• Studying for tests
• Essay and report writing
• Preparing speech
• Notetaking from Iectures and readings
• Closing activities
• Showing continuity among lessons'
• Research information on the Internet

How to Make a Map

A map is similar to an outline.  Information is arranged in a Hierarchical order.  Words are kept to a minimum. [3]

Step I.	Skim through the section to be mapped Determine the MAIN IDEA or THESIS STATEMENT or TOPIC SENTENCE.
Step 2.	Write the main idea on a blank piece of paper.  Put a box or circle around it.  You may be creative and design your own pictorial representation.
Step 3.	Think about what you already know about the topic.  Try to guess what the selection might be about.  This helps you to prepare to read in order to remember while bringing to mind past experiences with the topic.  This improves your comprehension of the passage.  If you are mapping after you have read the material, this will not be necessary.
Step 4.	This step is the most difficult. You must find all of the data organized to support the main idea. These are called secondary categories.  You must also figure out why the author organized the data as he/she did. Use of chapter subtitles can be helpful.  You should not exceed 7 secondary categories in your map.  Put boxes or other designs around each and use a line to connect them to the main idea.
Step 5.	Now that you have begun to understand the author's pattern of organization, you must begin to read for specific details that are important to the secondary categories.  These details explain the categories.  They can be examples, problems, situations, formulas, definitions, or any other important data that helps you to understand the author's purpose.  Place these details under the secondary category that they explain or under your design of the categories.

You now have a graphic summary of the reading or lecture. This can be used as a study guide or as a comprehension check.  The advantages of this technique are obvious.  This map allows you to have immediate, visual feedback and a tool for further study.'

Devices to Use or to Show Relationships  [4]

Use  5" x 8" note cards as you progress through a text or other written material.  Do not forget to incorporate the page numbers if appropriate. (Of course, any size card is OK if you write small.)

Use color to remember specific points. Color enhances memory and creativity. Color can be used to show distinctions among ideas and also show relationships. Try felt tip pens or highlighters, or even crayons, of different shades.

Use arrows to show how concepts of a pattern are connected.

Use codes such as asterisks, exclamation marks, question marks, and other symbols to show connections and add emphasis.

Use geometrical shapes such as squares, oblongs, circles, and ellipses mark words to show order of importance.

Use artistic three-dimensional objects to show Items of significance by making ideas "stand off' the page.

Use creativity &/or images to make aspects of a pattern fit the topic.

Use the map forms found in this “handout.”

USING NOTE CARDS FOR RESEARCH

From a source, copy important facts and information for your report.  Use quotation marks to denote anything you copy directly (word for word) and write down the page number.  Remember that indirect quotes should be noted.  On the first card from each reference or source, copy all the necessary information you need for the bibliography, or works cited page.

Follow these guidelines for the cards:

• Use a separate 3" x 5" or 4" x 6" notecard for each fact or idea.

• Write down exactly where the fact or idea came from.  Write the name of the source and the page number where you found the information.

• Unless there is something specific you wish to quote, the notes should be in your own words.

• Have an outline in mind of the general kinds of information YOU wish to gather; the job of researching any paper or report becomes easier when you are organized in your thinking strategies.

• Make a source card for each source.  Write down the following information for each type of source.  This may vary if you are citing for a MLA style report, or a Turabian style report, etc.

1.      Book: author, title, publisher, date published, where published.

2.      Magazine: author of article (if there is one), title of article, name of magazine, date published, page number of article.

3.      Encyclopedia: author of article (if there is one), title of article, name of encyclopedia, volume number, page number of article, date published.

4.      Newspaper: author of article (if there is one), title of article, name of newspaper, date published, section, page, and column number of article.

5.      Internet: give specific address and any other pertinent information regarding the origin of the information.

Remember that you may wish to set up similar information on the computer in separate documents or in paragraphs that may be sorted. See page discussing how to copy information from the Internet to a Word document.

Note that most word processing applications have comment capabilities, many sort paragraphs, and some even create note cards or post-it notes.

SAMPLE CARD

Piaget: Childhood

Birth: Date: Place: Activities:

Book, Publisher, etc., p.

 

Other Notetaking "Systems"

The Big I  (sample copy follows)

• Allows for the topic and main idea.

• Supporting details are listed below.

• Room on the sides allows for more information or diagrams.

One-Third, Two-Thirds Method, uses Recall and Record, (sample copy follows)

• Just fold your lined notebook paper mentally, or physically into 1/3 and 2/3
•  Keep the 1/3 blank except for new vocabulary words and possible questions over material.
• In the 2/3 section, write the lecture notes, or take notes from the text, or the Internet.
• Write on one side of the paper only. Later you may wish to highlight; the color often bleeds through the paper.

Traditional Map with Circles and Rectangle (sample  copy follows)

• Use rectangle for topic and/or main idea.
• Use the circles for sub topics and/or supporting details.
• Room on the sides and under the circles for more information and diagrams.

Resource Information from the Internet