Analysis Of The Useful Methods Of Note-Taking For Students
Introduction
As a human being, we will hardly be able to remember every details of something for a very long time even though we have a very good memory. Hence, notes are very important and commonly used both in daily life and in many professions because it helps us to keep remember any information or knowledge. As for students, it is very crucial to take notes either during the class or studying by ourselves because the notes can help us to understand better and very useful for our revisions. Hence, note-taking skills are essential skills that we need to master especially for students in a higher education level such as in university or college. According to Buzan (2002), note-taking is receiving other people’s ideas from speeches, books or other media, and organising them into a structure that reflects their thought or enables us to re-organise it to suit our own needs. In other words, it is a process of recording, organising and summarising information from another source. Note-takers take notes to fulfil two major functions which are to record information and/or to aid reflection.
The strategies used should be less time-consuming and help us to write faster. Besides, they should make our notes simpler and understandable. There are many efficient ways to jot down notes depend on what is the subject or the topic, and what kind of learners are we: visual, auditory, reading/writing or kinaesthetic. If a person is a reading/writing learner, for example, he/she might preferably use a linear note-taking technique like an outline method or sentence method to write down your notes. Everybody has their own methods to jot down their notes and the methods differ from one individual to another because the techniques used have to suit that person’s learning style as everyone in this world has different style of learning.
Graphic method: the mind map
One of the note-taking methods that can be applied is a graphic method which is mind map. The Mind Map is a graphic tool developed by Tony Buzan. This technique is an example of non-linear method. It consists of a central image, main themes connecting from the central image and branches with key images or key words that form a connected nodal structure. Compared to linear note-taking technique, mind mapping can save our time as we write the relevant words only and the mind map would let us revise easily as we don’t have to search the keywords amongst unnecessary wordiness. This kind of notes is very useful for a quick review. Besides, the brain finds it easier to accept and remember visually stimulating, multi-coloured, multi-dimensional Mind Map, rather than a monotonous, boring linear notes. It also can facilitate to recall knowledge and conceptions and the interrelations set between them.
An analysis carried out by Jailani and Tee in 2011 shows that about 90% out of 384 secondary school teachers in Malaysia agreed that the students should use Buzan mind map as their notes and it suits most of the revision purpose. This method can be used in learning most of the subjects including science and linguistic subjects. It is very efficient and useful for brainstorming ideas, organising them and summarising the information. In the French language course, for instance, I use mind map to construct thematic vocabulary notes to enrich and widen my French vocabulary. This method will help us to divide the words into their lexical categories such as nouns, verbs and adjectives. The different coloured branches ease us to differentiate each lexical category. This will make our notes more organised and comprehensive. Plus, it also facilitates us to recognise and remember the meaning of the words as we draw the images or symbols that related to those words in the mind map. This multicoloured mind map is very convenient for a visual learner like me.
Cornell method of note-taking
Other than a graphic tool as a note-taking strategy, Cornell note-taking system is a method of note-taking developed by Dr. Walter Pauk of Cornell University. With this method, our notebook is divided into three different sections which each part has their own function. The notes are written on one half with the size of two third of the page, the key words and the key questions are recorded on the other half with the size of one third of the page called cue column and the summary is recorded at the bottom part of the paper. This approach is selectively be used because of its comprehensive and systematic format which makes it easy to pick out the key words and concepts so that the note-takers do not waste their time or energy studying irrelevant material.
Moreover, it also keeps our notes organised and creates efficient study sheets as it already separate the notes, the key words and the key questions, and the summary into three different parts on the same sheet of paper. For a quick review for the topic, we just have to read from the summary section cue column. This system will save our time because we do not have to reread the whole notes and re-extract the key words from the notes every time we are recalling about the topic. The notes organised with this system would be useful for people who want to have a quick recall right before entering exam hall. The note-takers of this technique are “able to answer higher-level question”. This is because the Cornell system encourage the note-takers to apply the “The Five 5Rs” which are record, reduce, recite, reflect and review. Following these five stages would train our critical thinking as we actively reflecting on what we learned and eventually become a reflective learner. Therefore, we would be “able to obtain the highest performance”.
Flashcards as note-taking strategy
We also can take notes on flashcards or index cards. This strategy can be used for any subjects or topics such as function of body systems, mathematical formulae, historical events or vocabulary. It is very helpful for memorisation. It is because we are the engaging of mental faculty known as active recall that creates stronger neural connections in the brain. Plus, it allows us to practice confidence-based repetition that can improve memory performance. During the class, teacher or lecturer sometimes gives some new words or phrases to the students. Writing them in notebook with their meanings will not force our mind to remember them because we have the tendency to read the meaning of the words when revising them. In contrast, writing on flashcards will provide tools for revision and using them will encourage us to think first what the meanings of the words or the phrases are. This is due to the way of notes are written where the words or phrases are jotted down in one page of a small piece of paper and their meanings are written on the other side. This method helps us “to become familiar and easy to remember” the notes.
The result of a study carried out by Golding, Wasarhaley and Fletcher in 2012 shows a high percentage of students use flashcard and provides evidence that using it can improve exam performance. Note-taking should not be efficient while jotting down all the notes only. Its format also should be effective for reviewing and this method is achieved that characteristics because the process of reviewing the notes is more systematic as we apply the Leitner’s system as a practice system. This system consists of a box separated into a number of compartments and the compartments are filled with the flashcards we made which will be transferred from one compartment to another according to the current level of knowledge. Through this approach, we would constantly recall what we have learned. Thus, by using this method with the application of Leitner’s system, our level of vocabulary could constantly improve from time to time.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, we as students should take notes in the class rather than just listening to the lectures or reading some reference books. It is because notes are the key to a better understanding of a topic. Moreover, humans cannot remember all of the information without reviewing them for a few times. If we do not take any notes, the knowledge that we got from the classes, seminars, lectures or even from the books or journals that we have read, would become a short-term memory and we can forget about it in anytime. Hence, we need the notes so that we can recall constantly and the information will eventually stick into our minds for a long time. That is why jotting down notes very important. However, writing down all the notes only without any strategies also useless because it will waste a lot of our times writing lots of unnecessary words. There are various efficient note-taking methods that can help students to jot down their notes faster and make organised notes which are very convenient and comprehensive for revision. Furthermore, the note-taking techniques will aid the students to improve and enhance their creative and critical thinking because they are reflecting while they are summarising the information. We also have to identify what kind of learners are we first as everyone has different learning style. It is a fundamental in order to choose suitable note-taking methods for us. Using the right strategies that matched with our learning style will increase its efficiency and make more effective notes for study and revision. The notes that we constructed will help us to enhance our understanding and improve our performance in academics. Hence, we should master note-taking skills and techniques as they allow us to become more creative and reflective and will ease the process of learning in a higher education level.
Reflection
This class has taught me a lot of skills such as library skills, internet skill, how to manage time properly, how to take notes efficiently and so on. Initially, I only know a small fraction of the skills. However, as the class goes on, I gain more knowledge of generic skills and have a better understanding on the skills that I have known or applied before in high school. I believe that everyone has been asked to write notes since we were still in primary school but we have not been exposed to the efficient note-taking skills that can help us to make effective and comprehensive notes for revision. As I was attending classes and doing my coursework, I have been exposed to various kinds of note-taking techniques such as graphic methods, Cornell method and outline method. In this coursework, I eventually learned what triggered our brains to perform better through taking notes. Mind map, for instance, triggered our minds with its multicolour, images and symbols. Thus, it aids us to be more creative. Other than that, Cornell method allows us to become more reflective.
Last but not least, flashcards allow us to practice confidence-based repetition. Besides, I learned that these note-taking skills give positive impacts like enhancing critical thinking to the note-takers. These skills are very helpful for me to improve my creative, reflective and critical thinking skill. I am very grateful to have this generic skills course as it is very useful to apply in my daily and especially in my university life later. I am sure that it will help me to achieve good academic results.
