Note Taking
& Critical Reading
Note Taking
- Making notes from printed sources
- Taking notes in lectures
Critical Reading
-Deciding if sources are relevant
-Deciding if sources are reliable
Why take notes?
Notes make you concentrate
on what you are learning
Notes make you put ideas into
your own words and so aid
understanding
Notes help you remember
things better
Note Taking
What does it involve?
Extracting relevant information
Being concise
Understanding
Understanding what you are writing at the time
Understand notes when referring back in future
Note Taking
WHAT TO WRITE DOWN
Key words
Summarising
Paraphrasing
Diagrams/bullet points
Quotes in full
Note Taking - Lectures
Make a note of the speaker/date
How will you lay out your notes?
Preparation
Rewrite/review your notes
Note Taking - Lectures
Use own words
Don’t panic! - Pause to listen
Make a note of things you don’t understand
Leave space to return to a section
Abbreviate/use shorthand
Record facts and statistics accurately and
mark quotes clearly
Colour coding
Note Taking - Lectures
NOTE TAKING METHODS
Cornell Method
Record
Reduce
Recite
Reflect
Review
Walter Pauk
Mind Maps………
A graphical representation
of what is in your brain
Start with the key term
and create connections
Creative
Allows you to make
links and connections
between subjects
Room to add more
information to each
topic
More important points
nearer the middle
One keyword per line
Don’t think about it
too much!
Critical Reading
WHAT TO READ
Check publication details
Check contents page/index
Check foreword/preface
Read first/last paragraphs in chapters
Check summaries/abstracts
Reading methods
HOW TO READ
Skimming reading for the general gist of
passage
Scanning reading quickly to locate specific
information
Reading in-depth reading the text fully
and taking notes
Reading methods
READING AND NOTE TAKING METHODS
SQ3R
SURVEY
QUESTION
READ
RECITE/WRITE
RECALL
Francis Pleasant Robinson
1941
Note Taking – Written Sources
TOP TIPS!!
Paraphrase or summarise what you
are reading
Note down publication details
Make sure you understand what you
are writing!
School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter
Step One: For future reference, record the bibliographic details of your reading
in the boxes below.
Title
Author
Year and place of
publication
Journal details (if any)
Pages read
Other bibliographic details
Step Two: Surface read the reading
and complete the following tasks.
In your own words, briefly describe the
main point or argument the author/s of the
reading is trying to make.
List three minor arguments that the author
uses to support his or her main point or
argument.
1.
2.
3.
Step Three: Read the reading more
comprehensively and find quotes or
ideas from the text that supports each
argument and point that you’ve listed
in step two.
Critical Reading
QUESTIONS TO
ASK
Relevance
Does the source give specific information about the
topic I am researching?
Up-to-date?
Right level?
Reliability
Fact or opinion?
Sufficient evidence to support statements?
Produced by a reliable and author/organisation; is the
author an expert in this field?
Is the source trying to convince me of something?
Does it give a balanced view?
Critical Reading
What am I asked to think
or believe?
What evidence is produced
to convince me and is it
sufficient?
Are there any hidden
assumptions?