Writing as a Memory Tool (Part 6)

Here's the fifth & final note-taking tip!

Review and edit your notes.

"Ideas won't keep; something must be done about them." - Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947), English mathematician and philosopher

Academic skills centers and other authorities on effective study skills consider reviewing and editing class notes to be the most important part of note-taking and essential to increasing learning capacity.

• It is extremely important to review your notes within 24 hours.


• Edit for words and phrases that are illegible or don't make sense. Write out abbreviated words that might be unclear later.


• Edit with a different colored pen to distinguish between what you wrote in class and what you filled in later.


• Fill in key words and questions in the left-hand column.


• Note anything you don't understand by underlining or highlighting to remind you to ask the instructor.


• Compare your notes with the textbook reading and fill in important details in the blank spaces you left.


• Consider rewriting or typing up your notes. (Ellis).

Note: For additional techniques for study and exam preparation, go to Tips for Effective Study at http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/fancher/STUDY.HTM

-----

This final blog post on this topic may be the most important of them all! As I've stressed to students during Elluminate sessions, notes are no good if you take them and don't look at them after the session is done! If you put them in a folder, lay them on a table, or file them away, you're giving up the chance to look over your notes & to help that information stick in your brain!

Now that you've had a chance to see all 5 note-taking tip blogs, what have you learned that you'll start doing or do more often?