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A K I N G N O T E S I N L E
C T U R E S
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Taking
Notes in Lecture
The ideas
and information presented during lectures constitute the heart of
this course. Understanding and remembering what was presented are
necessary steps for mastering the course material, but not sufficient.
You must also be able to synthesize the ideas and apply them to new
situations. Some topics will be easy for you to learn, while others,
because of their inherent difficulty or unfamiliarity, will require
more study-time and a greater reliance on reading the textbook and
discussing ideas with teaching assistant and other students.
Success
in this course requires effective note-taking skills, but this does
not mean that there is only one correct way to take notes. The purpose
of this handout is to help you think about your current approach.
Asking yourself, are there two or three things I could do differently
to make my note-taking skills more effective? Presented below is a
list of suggestions for improving your listening, writing, organizing
and reviewing skills, but these suggestions should be considered in
the context of two broad questions;
1.
Why take lecture notes?
2. How will you use your lecture notes?
These
questions may seem obvious, but few students stop to consider them.Take
the time right now to answer them for yourself. Well, what did you
come up with? Four answers to the first question have been offered
repeatedly during previous discussions with students:
- The
notes provide a record of the topics, ideas and specific information
presented by the professor, and an indication of what aspects of
each topic the professor considers most important.
- The
notes can be used to identify those areas which require further
study and can provide the basis for deciding what to read in the
textbook and how best to approach studying a specific topic.
- The
exam questions will be drawn from the lecture material.
- If
done well, the act of taking notes contribute significantly to learning
the material and reduces the amount of additional study-time needed.
Answers
to the second question are much more varied and depend on each student's
individual approach. Some typical responses include:
- After
class I make sure my notes are complete and accurate. If something
is missing I ask a teaching assistant or another student about it
and will add this to my notes.
- I
use my notes on each topic to construct a brief outline in which
the sub-headings consist of key terms and descriptive phrase, I
then return to my notes and insert these sub-headings in appropriate
locations as a way of organizing my notes.
- I
go through my notes and make a list of the terminology. From memory
I try to write definitions for each term. For terms that are difficult
to learn I construct flash cards by writing the term on one side
of an index card and its definition on the other.
- I
use my notes as the basis for writing questions about each topic.
Some questions serve to reinforce factual information, while others
interrelate ideas. The questions help me to remember the material
and so identify the important aspects of each topic before I read
the textbook. They also help me anticipate many of the exam questions.
- I
review my notes periodically as the main way I study for an exam.
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[Managing
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Getting
Started, Plan for the Semester
Do you
use a loose-leaf or spiral-bound notebook? Do you take notes in pencil
or pen? Do you write using more than one color? Every approach has
its trade-offs. Consider the following suggestions:
1. If
you use spiral-bound notebooks be sure to have a separate notebook
for each course. Think about how you will organize each one. You may
want to start taking notes from lecture in the front and notes from
discussion in the back. Mark the date on each page, and be sure to
skip a few pages for any day that you might miss. You may want to
write on one side of each page and have the backs of preceding pages
for additional notes or questions to yourself. Have a separate loose-leaf
notebook for handouts. Put the date on each handout and make a reference
to it in your notes.
2. If
you use a loose-leaf notebook it is especially important to write
the date and course number on each page. Include any handouts with
the appropriate notes. Writing on one side of each page makes it easier
to see everything at once if you lay out notes when studying. A loose-leaf
format provided much organizational flexibility, but you must decide
how to organize your notebook. Will you use sections?, different colored
paper?, tabs for quick reference?
3. Attend
every lecture and arrive on time, Its embarrassing to have to say
this, but absence and late arrival are the two most effective ways
to damage your grade in this course.
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Listening
-- Be an Active Listener.
Improving
your listening skills will increase the amount you learn in lecture
and decrease the amount of time you will need to study.
- Sit
in a place where you can hear and see clearly (i.e., sit close to
the lecturer).
Keep an open mind. Do not decide ahead of time that you are not
going to like the lecture.- Listen
for content rather than style of delivery. Try to transcend any
annoying mannerisms of the lecturer.
- Have
an active mind. Because you can think faster than the lecturer can
talk, make connections between what the lecturer is saying and other
topics relevant to the course or you.
- Get
your whole body into it. Keep your feet on the ground and lean forward.
It's amazing how posture affects attentiveness.
- Listen
selectively. Tune out background noise. Concentrate on the lecture.
- Search
for a lecturer's patterns. How does the professor express what he
or she considers to be important?
- Key
in on important words and phrases (e.g., "therefore" and
"in conclusion"). Anything that is repeated is likely
to be significant.
- Pre-read
the text concerning the material to be covered in lecture. When
you hear terms in class they won't seem so alien to you.
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[Managing
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Writing
-- Be an Effective Writer.
The clarity,
accuracy and speed of your writing will affect the usefulness of your
notes. Try to get the key words and ideas which provide a meaningful
record of the lecture, but write them in a natural way which is useful
for review.
- Use
indentation and/or numbers to organize your notes as you take them.
- Highlight
important terms and key ideas while writing them (e.g., CAPITALIZE,
underline , make arrows --->, or boxes [ ]).
- Abbreviate
using symbols, eliminating vowels or inventing your own style (e.g.,
< = less than, w/ = with, abt = about, evmt = environment, carbos
= carbohydrates, E = evolution).
- Use
brackets around asides. [For example, when the professor announces
in the middle of lecture that there will be a test next week.]
- Write
down examples. They help clarify concepts and often appear on tests.
- Use
pictures to connect terms (e.g., draw a cell and fill it in as the
professor tells you about its organelles). Diagrams are also useful
in showing the relationships between concepts.
- If
you miss something or come in late, leave a space with a question
mark to be filled in later. Don't forget to ask another student
or a teaching assistant for the information you missed.
- Don't
burn out before the end of lecture. The end of the period is the
time many professors rush to say everything they had planned. The
points they make at the end are usually important and may be less
well explained, so it is important to take notes carefully. Stay
after the bell has rung to finish them if necessary.
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Organizing
-- Be an Effective Organizer.
Organizing
has two aspects: organizing the paper and organizing the ideas. The
first aspect was covered in the section on getting started. For the
second aspect try the Cornell Note-Taking
- Use
paper with a left-margin three inches wide or draw margin-line yourself.
- Write
only on the front of the page and to the right of the margin when
taking notes in class.
- That
day go back through your notes and correct errors, amplify or highlight
them. Now use the margin to write questions about the lecture material.
Some of these might be "Jeopardy Style" questions for
which the answers are contained in your notes (e.g., What are the
four major categories of biologically important molecules?) By covering
up the notes you can use the questions to quiz yourself on the lecture
material. Other questions should be thought-questions which help
you interrelate ideas. The answers to these questions will not be
contained as simple statements in your notes, but you canfind the
answers by synthesizing the information contained in your notes,
reading the textbook or asking the questions in discussion section
or the weekly review sessions. The margins can also be used for
listing new terms, or for anything else you find helpful.
- On
the bottom of the last page, write a summary of each day's lecture.
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[Managing
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Reviewing
-- Review Regularly.
Review
your notes in order to learn the material and to look for ways to
improve your note-taking skills.
- Immediate
Review - Review your notes on the day you take them to check for
completeness, write questions and summarize the lecture. The Cornell
Method provides a convenient format for doing this.
- Intermittent
Review - Read through your notes once a week or after each topic.
The Cornell Method provides an efficient way of Quizzing yourself,
but you should also look for ways to pull together the ideas for
each topic. Can you write a summary, make a chart or draw a diagram
that provides an overview of the topic?
- Exam
Review - Test yourself by asking questions about the material. Answer
them orally, or, even better, in writing. By writing the answers
you will be more likely to remember them. Quizzing yourself when
you study is a good way to anticipate the questions the professor
will ask. Build on your questions and summaries for each lecture
or topic. Try to make connections between sections of the course.
What is the big picture? Try to understand the professor's logic
and to construct an hierarchical understanding of the course material.
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E A D I N G T H E TEXT BOOK
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Reading
the Textbook: Campbell, Biology
Most
people read the textbook for one important reason: The textbook covers
the same information that the professors present in class, and the
exams will be based on this information. However, the textbook contains
much information that the professors do not cover, and occasionally
material is presented which is not in the textbook. Because of this,
you should use your lecture notes as your guide to what the professors
consider important, and use the textbook as a resource for verifying
your knowledge of the details and enlarging your understanding of
how the details fit together as a body of knowledge.
Presented
below are some tips on familiarizing yourself with the textbook and
the organization of the chapters; how to pre-read the textbook before
attending lecture; how to identify what's important in lecture; how
to use the textbook as a reference book; and how to mark the textbook.
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Familiarizing
Yourself with the Textbook
If you
haven't already done so, you should devote twenty minutes to looking
at the organization of the textbook. Read the Contents Summary carefully.
What are the major sections of the book and what does each chapter
cover? Which chapters are recommended reading and which are not relevant
to the course? Skim the full Contents to familiarize yourself with
the sub-headings of each chapter. Read the introduction.
The textbook
also contains a combined index and glossary. Both are important features,
but they have very different functions. Take a moment to look up the
term "Natural Selection". First read the glossary definition
and then read the sections of the text indicated in the index. The
glossary and index provide different kinds of information. In what
kinds of study situations would you want to use each?
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Chapter
Organization
Each
chapter has a few introductory paragraphs and a summary. The text
is divided into sections, for which the sub-headings are important
terms or phrases. There are many photographs, diagrams, tables and
graphs which illustrate the topics discussed. The important terms
have been printed in bold type, and a self-quiz is included at the
end of each chapter.
Because
the body of biological knowledge has many interconnections, it is
difficult to present the topics in a simple serial fashion. Therefore,
the initial chapters contain much information which is used as a foundation
for later topics, and successive chapters refer back to the foundation
material. Understanding the authors' organizational strategy makes
the textbook more useful.
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Pre-Reading
the Textbook
It is
helpful to pre-read the assigned chapters before attending lectures.
Reading the first few paragraphs and the summary provides the basic
structure of the chapter. Reading the bold-faced words introduces
you to the sound and spelling of the important terminology, and looking
at the figures and reading the captions provide the images which will
help you understand the lecture when you hear it. Pre-reading should
only take 20-30 minutes per chapter.
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Identifying
What Is Important in Lecture
Once
a topic has been presented in lecture, you should know what the professor
considers important, and this should enable you to plan your studying.
Use your lecture notes to write intelligent questions about the information
your notes contain. Many of the questions may be simple, such as "What
is differential reproduction?", but you can build from there
to more complex questions, such as "What is the relationship
between differential reproduction and natural selection?", or
'What is the significance of differential reproduction to the process
of evolution?" The simple questions are usually concerned with
definitions or basic structures. These aspects can best be studied
using flash cards or review sheets. The more complex questions are
concerned with relationships. These aspects can best be studied by
writing and/or verbalizing the answers. The textbook can help clarify
and reinforce your understanding, but only if you know what questions
are important and you read with the purpose of answering those questions.
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Using
the Textbook as a Reference Book
When
constructing flash cards to learn terminology and basic information,
it is helpful first to write a definition in your own words, based
on your lecture notes. Then check the glossary and/or use the index
to see the authors' definition. Write this definition on the flashcard
also. Use the flashcards to quiz yourself regularly. Shuffle the cards
periodically so that the sequence doesn't reveal any answers. Remove
cards from the deck when you consistently get them right. Review the
removed cards periodically, and return to the deck any cards that
you fail to remember. When studying the more complex aspects of the
subject, use your textbook as a reference book that you read selectively.
Try using the 5-step method outlined below to make your studying time
more efficient.
- Step
1 - Survey the Chapter. If you have pre-read the
chapter, you've already done this, but do it again briefly to get
a feel for how the chapter is organized.
- Step
2 - Organize Your Questions. Organize the questions
from your lecture notes so that they parallel the organization of
the chapter. Add any questions that you may not have thought about,
but now seem important. Look for connections between questions.
Take a moment to think about the answer to each question before
you begin reading.
- Step
3 - Read to Answer the Questions. Work your way
through the text looking for answers. The first and last sentences
of each paragraph, and any bold faced words contained, may help
identify the paragraph's contents. Skim each paragraph. If a paragraph
doesn't seem relevant, move on to the next. If a paragraph answers
one of your questions, read that paragraph carefully.
- Step
4 - Recite the Answers. As you find the answers
to your questions, recite the answer in your own words. If you study
in the library you may need to do this in a whisper, but verbalize
the answer, don't just think about it.
- Step
5 - Write the Answers. As you finish reading a section
of a chapter, write a summary which answers each important question
or group of questions. It may be helpful to jot down the page numbers
where the answers are located in the text, but if you select your
questions and compose your summaries well, you shouldn't need to
read the text again. When preparing for exams, you only need to
run through your questions and be sure that you know the answers.
After all, exams are nothing more than the occasion when you answer
the professor's questions.
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Marking
the Textbook
The reading
method presented above does not require you to mark your textbook.
However, marking may be an important part of your current approach
to reading, so here are some tips an improving your efficiency.
- Use
a pencil to write with. It can be erased or changed as your understanding
develops. Ink is unchanging; your learning grows.
- Do
not highlight or underline sections of the text. It is time-consuming,
distracting and uninformative.
- Use
vertical lines in the margin to indicate important passages.
- Use
abbreviations or special marks to flag specific information. (e.g.
use "def." to identify definitions.)
- Write
important questions, number them, and use the numbers to identify
the passages that contain the answers.
- Write
your own footnotes that elaborate, summarize or interconnect ideas.
Grades
in this course are based on your ability to answer questions on exams.
If your note-taking is directed at asking questions and your textbook-reading
is directed at answering them, you are preparing for exams throughout
the semester. This preparation is necessary, but not sufficient to
do well on exams. You still need to plan you final review of the material
prior to the exam, and to consider how best to use your time during
the exam. These topics will be discussed in the section on test-taking.
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E S T T A K I N G
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Preparing
for the Exam
When
discussing note-taking, textbook-reading and managing study-time,
we stressed the importance of asking and answering intelligent questions.
This is a fundamental ability for deciding what is most important
in your lecture notes, for reading the textbook selectively and for
directing your studying, It is also the basis for all intellectual
activity, including science, but there is another reason for approaching
school this way: Exams are simply a collection of questions for which
you need to provide the answers. The time you spend asking questions
may help you anticipate the actual questions, and your practice answering
questions will help you correctly answer questions that you have not
thought about before.
The advantage
of using the Cornell note-taking method, flashcards for terminology
and a question-based approach to reading, is that the time spent studying
contributes directly to preparing for the exams. They allow you to
consolidate and reinforce each part of what you learn. As the exam
approaches, you have the manageable task of pulling together the parts
and smoothing out the details -- quite different from the standard
approach of trying to learn five weeks of material during the three
days prior to the exam.
Your
questions and answers also permit you to quiz yourself. By covering
the answers and reviewing the questions, you can evaluate your own
understanding. When you are certain of your knowledge, your job is
done. You can spend time with your friends, sleep well, and walk into
the exam confident and relaxed, At that point you are almost guaranteed
of getting a good grade.
Part
of getting the job done is planning your work carefully. You have
one week before the exam. Use the ideas discussed in the section on
managing study-time to plan your preparation for this exam. Follow
the steps below to determine how much time you can devote to this
course, when you will devote the time and what you will do during
that time.
- Use
a time-grid to record your time commitments between now and the
exam. Include classes, meals, sleep, errands, social activity, job
commitments and other exams you might have. How much time remains?
- Now
ask yourself the hard question: How much is this test worth to you?
Fifteen hours? Twenty? Also consider the amount of time you will
need to spend on other courses. How many hours will you spend on
studying for this test?
- Using
the time grid, box-in the time periods you plan to spend preparing.
It is better to spend 2-3 hours per day, instead of trying to do
it in two marathon sessions. Also, do not schedule work for the
day of the exam. You may need the day of the exam to handle last
minute details. If you don't, you can use the time to relax.
- List
the things you need to do to prepare for the exam. Estimate the
time each will take, and rank them according to priority. Can everything
be accomplished in the time allocated? If not, you need to revise
something.
- Schedule
your work into the time allocated. There are two reasons for making
this schedule. The first is that it will help you stay on track.
The second is that it will enable you to compare your time estimates
with the actual time required for each task. Some tasks are completed
more quickly than expected and others take much longer. Developing
your ability to predict the time demands of studying allows you
to manage your time more effectively, with the result that you will
do well in school and still have time for the rest of your life.
A final
comment on preparing for exams may be appropriate. Exam questions
are typically aimed at different levels of understanding. Some questions
test your knowledge of basic structures and definitions; others are
concerned with relationships and roles in living processes. Much of
your time will need to be spent learning terminology, but you should
also spend time synthesizing information.
- Can
you explain the significance of the second law of thermodynamics to
metabolism, diffusion and community structure ?
- Can
you distinguish the architecture of the biologically-important molecules,
and are you aware of the roles they play?
- Can
you explain the importance of activation energy barriers to chemical
reactions?
- Can
you describe the overall processes of cellular respiration?
There
is an interplay between the details and the big picture. You need
terminology to give definition and clarity to the ideas, but the ideas
provide a framework that holds the details and terms together. Cramming
is an effective way to temporarily learn low-level information, but
only if you already have the framework for accommodating the information.
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Taking
the Exam
You enter
the exam room and sit down. The teaching assistants pass out copies
of the test booklet and a fill-in-the-dot answer sheet. They tell
you to begin. What do you do first?
You have
two hours to complete the exam, so in one sense, time is not a problem.
However, you should think about how you manage your time in order
to take full advantage of your intelligence and the effort you've
invested in studying, and to minimize the distractions that might
interfere with your concentration. Consider the following suggestions.
- Begin
with the answer sheet and fill-in the appropriate dots to encode your
name and student ID number. Then place the answer sheet on the seat
next to you. Do all your work in the test booklet, and when you're
finished, transcribe your answers to the answer sheet. This approach
allows you to work on the test without breaking your concentration
to fill-in the dots. Your time is spent more efficiently, you are
less likely to fill-in the wrong dot and you won't have to erase dots
if you change your mind about an answer part way through the exam.
- Survey
the exam before you begin working. What do the directions say? Read
them carefully! How many points is each question worth? How many questions
are there? How many pages? Is your copy of the exam complete? Also,
briefly check to see if there are questions which touch on your major
strengths or weaknesses. If you spent time just before the exam memorizing
the structure of an eukaryotic cell, then you may want to answer the
questions on this subject first. On the other hand, if you haven't
really studied this material, you may want to wait and answer these
questions last. Having a feel for how the exam is put together will
allow you to pace yourself as you work.
- As
you come to each question, read it carefully. Ask yourself what you
need to do to answer the question. Read the possible answers. If you
can identify the best answer (i.e., the correct answer) circle the
corresponding letter. If you can't identify the correct answer, but
you can eliminate ones that are not correct, draw a slash through
the letters which correspond to them, Sometimes it is helpful to re-read
the question, substituting the various answers. This may form an association
that would not be obvious just reading the list of answers.
- Do
not dwell on a single question. If the answer is not obvious, move
on and come back to it later. There are four advantages to this.
- You
do not waste time on a question you may not be able to answer.
- You
do not get frustrated.
- You
might find some information in a later part of the test which will
help you identify the correct answer.
- You
can use your brain effectively. This last point deserves elaboration.
Consider
the two parts of your brain, your conscious and your subconscious.
Your conscious brain is good at concentrating on one or two things,
but is lousy at dealing with many things. In contrast, you have limited
control over your subconscious, but it is great at handling many things
simultaneously.
Furthermore,
your subconscious is good at retrieving information from memory that
your conscious brain can't seem to grasp. If you read a question that
you can't answer, and then think critically about what you need to
answer the question, you can leave that question with your subconscious
while your conscious brain moves on to the next question. When you
return to the question, say forty-five minutes later, you will have
the benefit of forty-five minutes of subconscious thinking-time. If
you do this with a quarter of the questions you are, in effect, spending
several hours of thought-time to complete the exam. Of course, if
you haven't studied, your subconscious can't help, but if you have
studied, you can use your intelligence to do your best on the exam.
- Feel
free to mark on the exam booklet. Mark correct answers, eliminate
incorrect ones, check off questions that you've answered or flag questions
you need to come back to, and jot down any thoughts that may help
when you return to the question. These marks record the progress you've
made in thinking about the answer to a question. However, do not make
any marks that might be interpreted as helping someone cheat who may
be sitting near you. If you are caught, action will be taken.
- Ask
questions of the proctors if you need clarification of an exam question.
Proctors are not permitted to divulge the answers to the exam questions
or provide lengthy explanations, but they can be very helpful if you
phrase your question so that they can answer yes or no. Instead of
asking "What does this mean?" ask "Does this mean such-and-such?"
They can then provide a one-word answer which indicates whether you
are on the right track. Also, if the answer provided by one proctor
seems unsatisfactory, wait until that person is busy and ask someone
else.
- As
you finish the exam, be sure that all questions are answered. If there
are some questions that you can't answer, then guess. There is no
penalty. If you have time, check your answers. There is a student
myth that you should never change your answers. Do not change your
answers if you did not study adequately, or are freaking out about
the exam. However, if you did your work, you feel calm and you have
a reason for changing your answer, then do it. It is probably your
subconscious providing some insight that you did not think about before.
- Pick
up your answer sheet and devote your full attention to accurately
recording your answers. When finished, turn in your exam and go do
something fun. Congratulations! It's over!
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Maintaining
Your Mind and Body
Part
of preparing for an exam is getting psyched-up without getting psyched-out.
You want to walk into the exam room confident, but calm. In addition
to studying biology, you should be aware of your personal biology.
To function at its best, your body needs adequate sleep and nourishment.
You may need to spend some late hours studying, but be sure that you
walk into the exam rested and well fed. If you're going to stay up
all night cramming, do it two nights before the exam, not the night
before.
Take
care of your mind too! If you find yourself getting nervous, use a
relaxation technique such as deep breathing or muscle relaxation to
calm yourself. Also, think about how you like to spend the last few
hours before an exam. Some people prefer to study right up until the
time of the exam; others won't touch the course material on the day
of the exam. What works best for you?
Finally,
envision yourself taking the test successfully. Many athletes envision
themselves succeeding as part of their mental preparation. Try to
anticipate what will happen on the night of the exam, and what you
will need to do to make the exam a success. In this respect, it may
be helpful to visit the exam room before the exam to get a mental
image of what the room is like and where it is located. An additional
step might be to practice taking an exam in that room (a copy of a
previous exam will be made available to you). The point is to think
positively and do your best.
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