Note taking..?

ninebeanrows

While studying do you take notes?

I have never written down notes as i find they waste time and you end up spening hours on one chapter.

I'm wondering is this the wrong approach, almost too late now but not quite. For subjects like physics and biology do you think it would be a good idea to start taking notes from now on?

Haven't a Clue

Note-taking's the only way I can study. Try and break certain chapters into different points and try and learn those points of by heart. It works better for some subjects than others, e.g. it's good for learning english poetry, but not great for physics.

lemansky

I don't take notes.In English I may write out the quotes that I will learn but I don't write any notes per se.It's just my way.Reading and questions work for me, not necessarily for other people.

Nehpets

I take notes on a page, learn that page but then honestly never look at that page again. If I want to go over that section I'll write it out again and learn it same as before. It's pretty pointless really From now I'll just be learning it instead of notes.. probably. Although I do find it easier to concetrate when I am doing something i.e writings the notes

JC 2K3

Weathercheck wrote:

While studying do you take notes?

I have never written down notes as i find they waste time and you end up spening hours on one chapter.

I'm wondering is this the wrong approach, almost too late now but not quite. For subjects like physics and biology do you think it would be a good idea to start taking notes from now on?

Yes, definately. Making notes is the key to studying effectively....

Hours on one chapter? Were you never taught to make notes properly?

Reading your textbook is not studying. You can in theory study without writing notes. But IMO one would have to be exceptionally talented to be able to do that and I've never come across such a person.

IMO notes should be written quickly in shorthand(none of this writing out half the book crap) with no effort whatsover to keep them neat(as long as you can read them yourself it's fine), should have numbered and lettered points and use 2 diff colours of pen(one for writing the letter/number of the points + headings etc. and another for writing the actual notes).

analyse this

It really depends on the subject.

For geography I have gotten into the habit of typing out sample answers that cover the main parts of the curriculum.

For maths I summarize each section using flash cards, noting formulas, sample answers etc. It’s very effective!! I would recommend it to anyone.

For business I make notes on each chapter. There is so much pointless rubbish in the book that you will be surprised how much stuff you can actually cut out. Granted, the note taking does add more work for you to do, but in the end it is worth it.

For English I have sample answers prepared for each of the sections- personal responses for my five poets, sample answers for theme, vision and cultural context for my comparative study. I also have a list of important quotes for Macbeth.

For art I just basically type out all the sections that we cover. We are skipping a quite a lot of the course so the typing isn't as arduous as it might seem.

For Irish I have notes summarizing each poem. I have essays prepared for all the usual topics- violence, terrorism, pressure on today's youth etc. for my pros I usually read over the summary and the I just bull**** my way through the question in the exam (it works for me!!)

Rozabeez

I just answer questions then take notes of what I didn't know.

JC 2K3

analyse this wrote:

For maths I summarize each section using flash cards, noting formulas, sample answers etc. It’s very effective!! I would recommend it to anyone.

I never saw the point in taking notes in maths.

I just do a load of questions on every topic.

Nehpets

For maths I've just read over the examples and stuff. Note to people.. It doesn't work I did the same with applied maths and funnily got the same percent in both

analyse this

JC 2K3 wrote:

I never saw the point in taking notes in maths.

I just do a load of questions on every topic.

its brilliant for refreshing your memory before approaching exam questions.

JC 2K3

Once I've learned something in maths it sorta sticks.

If I'm rusty and I've forgotten something and I get stuck on an exam Q I might spend like an hour trying different methods until I get it right, and I usually do.

md99

Notes in everything......

Naikon

JC 2K3 wrote:

Once I've learned something in maths it sorta sticks.

Same here, I NEVER take notes as its a bit of a time waster and is useless in stuff like Maths.
Once I learn something it sticks for the most part.

Exam papers+Practicing them=Success:D

Selphie

Notes in everything. I wouldn't be able to study without them.

Tomlowe

aye, notes are the way of the future. reading is fine for short periods of time, but you can't stop yourself drifting off into reverie unless you focus your mind on doing something physical. That said, i find notes pointless unless im doing more than 20 minutes worth of study, cos i can keep up reading concentration for that long.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Notes are a waste of time imo.

JC 2K3

Saying they're a waste of time is an oxymoron.

Naikon

They really are though.

PurpleFistMixer

Depends what they're notes of! : p

I do notes in physics and music (as we don't have.. a book) and maths. I try and make them as nice looking as possible because I know if they're in any way messy or unattractive looking I'll never glance at them again. It can be a bit time consuming, but once the notes on whatever chapter are done, I won't need to make any more unless I add stuff to the existing pages.

I imagine I'll make notes for other subjects as I'm only in 5th year now... English and Art History and all that.

JC 2K3

Naikon wrote:

They really are though.

In that case studying is a waste of time. You clearly haven't gotten my point.

Unless taking notes happens to take you longer than studying without notes(and I can't see how) then there really is no time wasted. And as there's a much lesser chance of you being distracted and you're mind drifting if your writing while learning, it's probably a more efficiant use of your time.

Cos88

I took notes for everything, apart from Maths and Tech Drawing.

Don't go overboard on them though - think Keywords. And Diagrams. And Shorthand. And whatever works for you.

SuperHans

JC 2K3 wrote:

Saying they're a waste of time is an oxymoron.

This is a malapropism.

DtotheK

i do. for every subject , usually condensing a chapter/poet etc into 1 A4 page, writing it out just helps me remember it, and plus i have something to flick over in the mornin

JC 2K3

SuperHans wrote:

This is a malapropism.

Me = pwned.

PARADOX, not oxymoron. I always get those mixed up.

sternn

Does anyone use synonoms, u know making up a sentence with the first letters of the words you need to remember. I find it so useful and easy to remember!! Like in business, for the product development I have:

"I Saw Cesar Fly Past The Lake"

being

Idea generation, Screening, Concept development, Feasibility study, Prototype, Test marketing, Launch

cocoa

O_o
synonyms are words that mean the same thing...

nitpicking aside, yeah that's a handy technique if it works for you.

Nehpets

English is being butchered here

Selphie

sternn wrote:

Does anyone use synonoms, u know making up a sentence with the first letters of the words you need to remember. I find it so useful and easy to remember!! Like in business, for the product development I have:

"I Saw Cesar Fly Past The Lake"

being

Idea generation, Screening, Concept development, Feasibility study, Prototype, Test marketing, Launch

Yep, tis actually a mnemonic!
It took me ages to figure out the word!!!
I use things like that, and I have other stupid ones, given to me by my poor excuse of a biology teacher but which surprisingly help. For example, anabolic reactions are ones in which molecules are made bigger, and in catabolic, they are made smaller, and so we have....
Ann went up the ladder and her cat fell down
It's sad, but it works!

insafehands

SuperHans wrote:

This is a malapropism.

This is incorrect.

eZe^

Selphie wrote:

Yep, tis actually a mnemonic!
It took me ages to figure out the word!!!
I use things like that, and I have other stupid ones, given to me by my poor excuse of a biology teacher but which surprisingly help. For example, anabolic reactions are ones in which molecules are made bigger, and in catabolic, they are made smaller, and so we have....
Ann went up the ladder and her cat fell down
It's sad, but it works!

PARC photosynthesis anabolic, respiration catabolic.

SuperHans

insafehands wrote:

This is incorrect.

This is BS. Elaborate.

Selphie

eZe^ wrote:

PARC photosynthesis anabolic, respiration catabolic.

That's a good one!
We started respiration today lol
I'll use it!!