Study Skills (Skl 001)
Sameh Saadeldin Ahmed
Associate Professor of Environmental Eng.
Civil Engineering Department
Engineering College
Almajma’ah University
smohamed1@ksu.edu.sa
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/SaMeH
2010/2011
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Note Taking
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The five benefits of note taking
5.2.1 Concentration and understanding
5.2.2 Now I remember
5.2.3 Refer and revise
5.3 The best way to take notes
5.3.1 Sequential note taking
5.3.2 Summary notes
5.3.3 Outline notes
5.3.4 Mind maps
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5.4 In your own words
5.5 Use your own shorthand
5.6 Writing on writing
5.7 Note with care
5.8 Now where did I...?
5.9 Taking notes at work
5.10 Quick reminders for striking the right note
5.10.1
5.10.2
5.10.3
5.10.4
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Individual styles
Methods of taking notes
Keep a record of sources
Noting down quotations
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5.1 Introduction
Everyone would have taken notes on all sorts of
occasions. Day-to-day living includes:
– taking messages,
– making shopping lists, or
– reminding ourselves to do something
Learning to take good, useful notes is, however, an
essential skill simply because there is so much
information you have to process. You need to
reduce information come from: seminars,
lectures, written texts, journals, and the Internet.
• The sooner you can apply good note-taking skills,
the smoother your academic life will be
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5.2 The five benefits of note taking
There are five major purposes for taking notes:
•
•
•
•
•
concentration
understanding
remembering
referral
revision
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5.2.1 Concentration and understanding
• Sometimes in a dull lecture, your mind may
wander, especially if you are tired, or preoccupied.
• Taking notes definitely helps you to focus
– it makes you active rather than passive and
– keeps you involved in learning
– It also looks better in the eyes of a lecturer than does a
snoring student.
• If you are concentrating, you are more likely to
understand what you are reading.
• If you take notes you can pay special attention to points
that are important or difficult to understand.
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5.2.2 Now I Remember
• How often have you written something down and
found that simply writing it makes it easier to
remember?
– shopping list…
Taking notes acts as reinforcement.
It means you immediately receive and store
the information twice rather than once. so
you have already started the process of
committing something to your long-term
memory.
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5.2.3 Refer and revise
If you have made good notes,
• They act as an excellent reference for future work
to refer back for reports, essays, projects,
presentations, or any other course assignments.
• They make it far easier to revise before exams.
• You do not need to go through the text book or the
whole lecture (notes will help you remembering)
Just you, a folder, or electronic organizer of easily
understood, clear, thorough notes, a cup of tea,
and a calm mind, and there you are.
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5.3 The best way to take notes
There is no best way to take notes. It depends on
what
works for you and what kind of material you are
working with
The three main ways of taking notes are:
1. linear or sequential note taking
2. summary note taking
3. outline note taking and mind mapping
You will find that using different techniques makes note
taking more interesting.
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5.3.1 Sequential note taking
Sequential or linear note taking is the most common
way of taking notes. It is by take down notes in our
own words on what we have been reading or listening to.
 The advantage of this sort of note taking is that it is
relatively easy to do and you do get an accurate record of
what you have been attending to.
x The disadvantage is that you can end up with copious
notes to deal with, especially when it comes to revising for
exams or working on a major project.
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5.3.2 Summary notes
Making summary notes probably demands that you
think a good deal more about the notes you are
taking, possibly spend time reorganizing them,
and writing summaries in your own words.
 The advantage of this technique is that you really have to
think about the ideas and concepts that you are dealing
with so that your summaries are clear and accurate.
x The disadvantage is that it can be rather time consuming
to put in all this extra work on your notes.
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5.3.3 Outline notes
This is quite a popular way of taking notes.
• You only note the key words and phrases from
lectures or reading material.
• Outline notes, can be done by using numbered
headings, lots of sub headings, and indentations.
 The advantage that they are quick to take and they are
easy to read through and memorize.
x The disadvantage is that you may sometimes find it
difficult to fill in the detail of what seemed very obvious at
the time that you took your brief outline notes.
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5.3.4 Mind maps
Mind maps are diagrammatic representations of the
subject material you are learning about.
A few hints on mind mapping
• Use A4 paper and turn it to a landscape orientation.
• Write down the title of the topic you are covering in the
centre of the page and draw a circle round it.
• Draw a line out from the circle, in any direction and write
the first main heading for the topic on this line.
• For each sub-heading, draw lines coming from the main
line with the main topic heading on it so that it is obvious
where the connections lie.
• Use single words, short phrases, or images for ideas.
• Try using different colors for different ideas.
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5.4 In your own words
In certain situations, particularly in lectures, one of the
biggest temptations is to write too much.
This means all your concentration goes into writing fast and
hearing what is said. But at a superficial level, rather than
listening, taking it in, and cutting it down.
 Try to write brief phrases that summarize long
sentences.
 Try paraphrasing the opening paragraphs of a few of
your favorite novels, articles, or sports reports to help
develop this technique.
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5.5 Use your own shorthand
While there are standard abbreviations for many words, it
makes sense to invent your own shorthand so long as
you can understand it yourself.
 Note those words, concepts, technical phrases, and
names that are central to your subject and find quick
ways of writing these.
 It makes sense to write a list of these so that you
become familiar with them.
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5.6 Writing on writing
A fundamental rule, if you are taking notes from written texts,
is to write on and annotate those texts only if they belong to
you.
You should not write notes in a book you have
borrowed it from the college library.
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5.7 Note with care
 Cut down your essential reading and note taking by
making intelligent use of your reading material. Look at
introductions and summaries to help you take notes on
key points.
 Make notes on margins, or highlight/underline
important words, phrases, formulae, or ideas.
 Don’t just put a vague mark or tick in the margin,
thinking you will remember what it refers to when you
look at that page again; you probably won’t.
 Make brief notes of your notes and list important
chapters, sections, pages, etc., so that you can refer
back to them quickly.
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5.8 Now where did I...?
 Your notes are of any use to you only if they are well
organized and you can find them and use them easily
 Try to file them as soon as possible after you have made
them.
 How you store them is purely a matter of personal
preference.
 If you keep everything electronically, do not forget to
make back-up copies.
 If you keep your notes on paper you may like to try using
small cards, ring binders, or ordinary note pads.
 make sure that items are numbered, properly headed, and
stored in order.
This will save you so much time in the future.
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5.9 Taking notes at work
Elephants may never forget, but employees do.
It is easy to think you will remember the content of a
telephone call or the main points from a meeting and then
find that even an hour or two later, other enquiries,
problems, or tasks have driven important information out
of your head.
Getting into the habit of taking good brief notes is likely to
improve your relationships with colleagues, clients, and
customers and to make your own working life more
organized and enjoyable.
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5.10 Quick reminders for right note
Try to stick to the suggestions below: they are quick
reminders for striking the right note.
 Try to use both words and diagrams as it makes your notes
easier and more interesting to refer back to.
 Read over your notes as soon as you can after you have
made them; this is another way to memorize them.
 Look at them again within 24 hours; it may seem a pain at
the time, but it will really contribute to effective and
successful revision.
 File them and organize them well. There is nothing worse
than taking excellent notes and then losing them.
 Remember, good note taking is a great life skill to
possess.
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5.10.1 Individual styles
Everybody makes notes in their own ways. They are
for your purposes so the most important aspect is
that they suit your purposes.
Your notes may be neat or messy, or ordered lists
This does not matter as long as you can make use
of them.
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5.10.2 Methods of taking notes
Headings and bullet points
Double notes
Pattern notes
Annotations
Summaries
Lists
• Read the details of the above notes in the lecture
notes and apply the techniques of note taking over
all the sections.
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5.10.3 Keep a record of sources
It is important to keep a very good record of where you
gained each piece of information so that you can find it
again quickly and easily if you need to check something
about it.
You will also need this information when you make reference
to the information in your work.
If you do not state where you get ideas, material and
quotations, then you may be accused of plagiarism
and cheating.
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5.10.3 Cont.
Record the:
• Author's name and initials.
• The full name of the chapter, book or article.
• The name of the journal for printed articles or of
the book for chapters.
• The place of publication.
• The date of publication.
• The publisher.
• The shelf reference or web address.
• It is also useful to keep a record of the ISBN
number at the back of the book.
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5.10.4 Noting down quotations
Take special care when copying quotations. To avoid
plagiarism:
• Copy only very small phrases or very short sections to
quote in your work.
• Use a different color pen to copy these.
• Make very few such quotes.
• Write down details of the source of the quotation and
reference these in your text and list of references.
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Thanks for your attention
Get ready…..
Quiz 4 will be Next Week in
Chapters 1 and 4
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