We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself. —Lloyd Alexander, author

Note-Taking Systems (this is from Lumen Effective Learning Strategies at Austin Community College)

The following is a chart with a brief explanation of the main note-taking systems that are described in more depth later in this chapter.

Taking Notes from a Lecture

Effective note-taking helps students retain what they learned in class and use the material to study and build their knowledge to tackle more complex concepts later on. In fact, research indicates that there’s a 34 percent chance that students will remember key information if it’s present in their notes but only a 5 percent chance if it’s not.^[1] Based on the material presented, students may opt to create an outline, write a brief summary, or make visual guides and diagrams in their notes. The key is to try a variety of note-taking methods to find strategies that are best for the material and result in good grades.

The following are a few note-taking recommendations to try out:

• Stay organized: Keep your notes and handouts separate for each class. For example, you might have a different notebook and folder for each class or a large notebook with a different tab for each class. This method will save you the time of trying to organize and locate your notes when studying for an exam.
• Use visual cues: Try highlighting, underlining, or drawing arrows or exclamation points next to any main or difficult concepts. This strategy will call attention to these sections and remind you to spend more time reviewing them.
• Group together similar concepts: Grouping or “chunking” material is a good way to make studying and memorization easier. You can try drawing the main concept and connecting it to smaller, related concepts or making an outline of the information. Either one can serve as an effective study guide.
• Make notes legible: Writing as clearly as possible when you take notes will make it easier to review them later. Some students use their class notes as a rough draft as to create a neater final draft afterwards. If a laptop is permitted during class, students may decide to type their notes although research does suggest a benefit to handwriting notes.

As you watch the following video, take notes on the seven steps.

https://youtu.be/bDoUMUJsvbM

Many instructors conduct their classes mainly through lectures, so lecture remains the most pervasive teaching format used in higher education. Lectures are an efficient way for the instructor to control the content, organization, and pace of a presentation, particularly in a large group. However, there are drawbacks to this “information-transfer” approach, where the instructor does all the talking and the students quietly listen. Students may have a hard time paying attention from the start of the lecture to the finish. Also, current cognitive science research shows that adult learners need an opportunity to practice newfound skills and newly introduced content. Lectures can set the stage for that interaction or practice, but lectures alone don’t foster student mastery. While instructors typically speak 100–200 words per minute, students hear only 50–100 of them. Moreover, studies show that students retain 70 percent of what they hear during the first ten minutes of class and only 20 percent of what they hear during the last ten minutes of class.^[2]

It is important for students in lecture-based courses to engage in active learning outside of the classroom, but it’s also true for other kinds of college courses, including the ones that have active learning opportunities in class. Why? Because college students spend more time working and learning independently outside of class than they do in the classroom with their instructor and peers. Also, much of one’s coursework consists of reading and writing assignments. How can these learning activities be active? The following section gives tips on actively engaging with course content.

Taking Notes from Textbooks and Other Learning Materials

Here are effective strategies to help students be more engaged with, and get more out of, the learning they do outside the classroom:

• Write in your books: You can underline and circle key terms, or write questions and comments in the margins of your books. The writing serves as a visual aid for studying and makes it easier for you to remember what you’ve read or what you’d like to discuss in class. If you are borrowing a book or want to keep it unmarked so you can resell it later, try writing key words and notes on Post-its and sticking them on the relevant pages.
• Annotate a text: Read with a pen or highlighter in hand, and underline or highlight significant ideas as you read. Interact with the ideas in the margins (summarize ideas; ask questions; paraphrase difficult sentences; make personal connections; answer questions asked earlier; challenge the author). This is a great way to “digest” and evaluate the sources you’re collecting for a research paper, but it’s also invaluable for shorter assignments and texts, since it requires you to actively think and write about what you read. It’s important to practice annotating texts.
• Create mind maps: Mind maps are effective visuals tools for students, as they highlight the main points of readings or lessons. Think of a mind map as an outline with more graphics than words. For example, if a student were reading an article about America’s First Ladies, she might write, “First Ladies” in a large circle in the center of a piece of paper. Connected to the middle circle would be lines or arrows leading to smaller circles with visual representations of the women discussed in the article. Then, these circles might branch out to even smaller circles containing the attributes of each of these women.

The following video discusses the process of creating mind maps further and shows how they can be a helpful strategy for active engagement:

The Reading Process

Effective reading requires more engagement than just reading the words on the page. In order to learn and retain what you read, it’s a good idea to do things like circling key words, writing notes, and reflecting. Actively reading academic texts can be challenging for students, but practicing the following steps can help make time spent reading more efficient and productive:

• Preview: You can gain insight from an academic text before you even begin the reading assignment. For example, if you are assigned a nonfiction book, read the title, the back of the book, and the table of contents. Scanning this information can give you an initial idea of what you’ll be reading and some useful context for thinking about it. You can also start to make connections between the new reading and knowledge you already have, which is another strategy for retaining information.
• Read: While you read an academic text, you should have a pen or pencil in hand. Circle or highlight key concepts. Write questions or comments in the margins or in a notebook to help you remember what you are reading and also to build a personal connection with the subject matter.
• Summarize: After you an read academic text, it’s worth taking the time to write a short summary, even if your instructor doesn’t require it. The exercise of jotting down a few sentences or a short paragraph capturing the main ideas helps you understand and absorb what you read and gives you ready study and review materials for exams and writing assignments.
• Review: It always helps to revisit what you’ve read for a quick refresher. It may not be practical to thoroughly reread assignments from start to finish, but before class discussions or tests, it’s a good idea to skim through them to identify the main points, reread any notes at the ends of chapters, and review any summaries you’ve written.

Active reading strategies that readers can use before, during, and after reading are provided in the following video:

Additional ways to engage in active reading and learning:

• Work when you are fully awake, and give yourself enough time to read a text more than once.
• Foster an attitude of intellectual curiosity. You might not love all of the writing you’re asked to read and analyze, but you should have something interesting to say about it, even if that “something” is critical.  
  
• As you read, keep the following in mind :
  • What is the CONTEXT in which this text was written? This writing contributes to what topic, discussion, or controversy?  Context is bigger than this one written text.
  • Who is the intended AUDIENCE? There’s often more than one intended audience.
  • What is the author’s PURPOSE? To entertain? To explain? To persuade? There’s usually more than one purpose, and essays almost always have an element of persuasion.
  • How is this writing ORGANIZED? Compare and contrast? Classification? Chronological?  Cause and effect? There’s often more than one organizational form.
  • What is the author’s TONE? What are the emotions behind the words? Are there places where the tone changes or shifts?
  • What TOOLS does the author use to accomplish her/his purpose?  Facts and figures? Direct quotations? Fallacies in logic? Personal experience? Repetition? Sarcasm? Humor? Brevity?
  • What is the author’s THESIS, the main argument or idea, condensed into one or two sentences?