We have already penned down factors that promote or aid Effective Learning. We will now traverse with one important tool that is involved in effective Learning. If you have guessed it as notes, then you are right, Note making is our write-up for the day.
1.Note Making is not about writing down everything said in class.
Before diving deep into its details , lets understand their importance. Recording one’s notes is a double record in one’s mind. Listening to the speaker or a faculty , registering it at once in mini parcels in notes form reaffirms it in mind. When one refers it , it serves as a correlation between the said information and recorded notes. Once the relation is built, the mind recollects all the associated examples, theories ,moments and quotes of the taught subject. This sums it up as a story thus making it easy for the brain to retain the information. It also serves as a copy for reference in the future.
It is like hints development, one marks down the important information like a collection that are related to each other. In other words, they are coherent , meaning they flow naturally in the order. One has to differentiate between what needs to be noted and what can be neglected.
2.What details are important to record ?
In case, there is a reference material available, it is essential to note what is beyond the text material.
For instance, a case study about a company, a technology , a system or a personality has to be noted down. In case there is no other source of reference then, it is vital to note answers to all the W-Questions. What, How, Who, When, Where, Whom, Why for basic understanding. In addition , for a subject like science, a formula/graph showing the increasing/decreasing trend/the relationship between the variables can be noteworthy. Examples related to real life entities :a location/brand / a phenomenon or an historic event are significant to note. The reason for an event to happen , a process to run, a component on a board, a failed connection are important in note making since they are the connectors between concept and understanding.
3.What are the formats for Note Making?
There are various templates to use. School students have a few as a part of English writing skills. I would’nt recommend a single format. With diverse learners and unique capabilities, one can’t generalise it. But, there are suggestions in here. One can choose their liking, their comfortable way to make notes appealing , learner friendly and worthy enough for reference in future. There can be symbols, shapes used as codes for frequently used words. Having said that, the key also has to be ready by the side so that they don’t remain symbols but have information to make sense for the reader.
In case of a classification, the head of it followed by the sub groups in the consecutive lines with different indenting (spacing before starting a line) can make sense. With multiple groups to study say a phyllotaxy or a phylum study in Biology fish bone diagrams or Pie Charts for splitting demographics, weightage, distribution of rights in political studies can be helpful. If one is a lover of colors, groups can be differentiated with it or even the various parameters can be represented with colors to make notes appealing and inviting to read.
This serves as a introduction article to note making, lets analyze individual techniques and tools, note making examples ,their best use and significance in upcoming articles.
If you have questions in mind, write them in Quora or feel free to drop in a comment.
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