CG 111 10/23/08 • Note:Change in the syllabus & assignment • Study strategies for academic disciplines – Discussion & interactive chapter review p. 202 • Cornell note taking system in detail (Take notes!) Cornell Note Taking Lecture Overview • • • • • • Goals for taking notes Benefits of Cornell Note Taking System How to prepare Cornell Notes Skills you’ll need Benefits of each step in the system Practice: Give Cornell Notes a Try Taking Notes From Lecture Note taking goals • • • • • Accurately record what the speaker says Pay attention Interpret ideas to make them meaningful Condense the info before writing it down Organize the notes in a way that makes sense to you Five Benefits 1. Forces you to decide what’s important – Active reading or listening process – Weigh and evaluate what you read or hear 2. Focus your attention and concentrate 3. Helps you understand underlying pattern of organization, connections 4. Helps you know if you understood what you read or hear 5th Benefit: Additional Repetition • Writing down what you hear / read helps you learn and master the information via: – Review – Evaluation – Interpretation – Editing • Moves information into long term memory • Provides mental cues to retrieve information Cornell Note Taking & Study System Developed by Walter Pauk, at Cornell University Useful for notes from textbook or lectures Law/Summary margin paper has Cornell margins Date Topic Recall 6” Clues Notes 2 ½” 2” Summary Give Cornell Note Taking a Try! • Take a blank sheet of paper • Draw a line from the top to bottom of the page approximately 2 1/2 inches of the way over from the left margin. • Draw a horizontal line approximately 1 inch from the bottom. • Date & number page. Topic: Cornell Note Taking • Take notes in right column as you normally would What do you record? • Date, topic, page # • Most important info • What’s written on board - headings • Meaningful phrases or sentences • Details • Definitions • Examples, Drawings • How do you record? Informal outline Block Modified Block Leave space between ideas Indent details Abbreviate! What skills do you need? • Active listening & concentration • Selectivity – instructors speak 150 – 200 words per minute; we write @ 25 wpm. • Abbreviation • Interpreting • Condensing • Organizing • Legibility – Leave Space Improve Your Listening Skills • • • • • • • Decide to listen Focus your attention Set aside biases Control emotional responses Listen for main points & related details Ask questions Observe lecturer’s physical cues 5 Steps of the Cornell Note Taking System 1.Record 2.Reduce 3.Recite 4.Reflect 5.Review These are important concepts to remember! Cornell Note Taking System First: Set up your paper Label your pages For text notes Course name Chapter & Title Page numbers from book -------------------For lecture notes Date Course Topic/Lecture Title Date Topic Recall 6” Area for Column Notes 2 ½” 2” Summary Date 5 R’s of Cornell Record Reduce ---------------Recite Reflect Review (see CG 111 Course Materials p. Topic Reduce Recall Clues 2 ½” Record Notes Any format Print, draw Skip lines between ideas Write on one side only 2” Summary Cornell also can be adapted to record math (see handout) Note: switch this set-up if you are lefthanded. 2 ½” - 4” Date Math Topic Math problems go here Math vocabulary Goes here Write Explanations, Problem solving Steps, Clues, Hints Here Focus on what your instructor says Lefties: explanations Problems Benefits: Record Step • You select the most important information • You are condensing the main ideas and important details so you a. recall everything that happened in class or b. don’t have to re-read your chapter Step 2: Reduce Write •recall clues • SQ4R questions •key phrases summarizing your notes on the right •Exam questions you predict Date Topic Reduce Lots of notes that Recall you’ve taken here Clues 2 ½” 2” Summary Benefits: Reduce Step • Reduce notes to key words or questions • You create questions for important info that helps you prepare for future exams Date Reduce: Summarize Topic 6 – 8 lines at bottom of page Notes Summarize your page of notes Good practice for essay exams 2” Summary Benefits: Recite step • Provides you with feedback about how well you are learning • Allows self testing • Allows preparing for essay exams – if you can recite the information out loud, you can write it down • Seeing, hearing and speaking help you retain information faster Sample Cornell Notes http://www.muskingum.edu/~cal/database/content/history1.html Benefits: Reflect Step • Promotes critical thinking • You are creating a personal method to learn information • You can use creativity for better understanding Sample notes of this lecture Notetaking, Date Pg.1 • Why take notes? • What is included in good notes? • What skills are needed? • What are some NT structures • When should I review my notes? • How can I review my notes? • Diagrams • Cross Reference • Why? To remember, stay awake, help me study, enhance concentration • Main pts., imp. Terms, topic, def. date, pg #, graphics, diagrams, blank space • Skills: Listening, concentration, legibility, organization. • Types: Outline, mindmaps, summary, Matrix, Cornell system • When: Immediately after class within 24 hrs. • Out loud, quiz, rewrite, list main ideas, rework, make test, create questions Important Terms: Blank Space, Main terms, MindMaps, Matrix, Cornell, Review How to Outline 1. Determine how much info you need to include 2. Identify how ideas relate 3. Group ideas according to their connections 1. Uses listing order & system of indentation 2. Write main ideas (MIs) close to margin 1. Indent information that support/explains MIs Outlines – Styles and Goal • Can be formal: Roman numerals, Capital letters • Can be informal=Figure 16.5 p. 335 • Can be highly detailed or a brief list Ultimate Goal: Be able to show relative importance of ideas and how they relate to each other Benefits of Review Step • Strengthens long term memory • Practice retrieving information • Builds your confidence • Recite from the recall column • Recite from the headings • Discuss the information with others – Predict questions, quiz each other, etc. When should you review? • Immediately after class to 24 hours after taking lecture notes • Right before the next class • Weekly to move info to LTM and to rehearse thinking about it and retrieving it. Review, Review, Review You can “stack” your Cornell notes for review & self-testing. Organizing & Synthesizing Course Content Tools for Managing Learning : • SQ4R – record step • Concept/Category Cards (course mat.) • 4 x 6 note card • Study sheets (ch.18) New tools in Ch. 7 • Textbook Highlighting • Marginal Annotation – Summary Notes – Recall Clues • Outline Notes • Mapping (aka visual note taking) Good students DO write in textbooks Three reasons you should mark, highlight & write in your textbooks 1. To find and select the author’s key ideas and support for those ideas – You are forced to think about the text & follow the author’s organization, discussion or argument. – You keep alert & actively engaged, improving your learning 2. To make studying more efficient – You can quickly find key ideas for • • • • class discussion Review Test preparation Writing papers 3. To record your reactions to the reading Textbook Highlighting • Analyze your reading task • Assess how much you know about the topic already • Use a consistent system (colors, pencils) • Determine what’s important w/textbook headings • Read, THEN highlight up to 25% per page Marginal Annotations • You need to know the various types shown in McWhorter, p.330 Table 16.1 • Avoid Pitfalls & Timewasters – overly complex systems (lots of different colored highlighters = take too long – Medieval monk = too much--- copying, not enough synthesizing! – Nothin’ Here = too little—check: do I understand this material? – Rest of the story = have to reread text again to know what’s going on Marginal Annotation • Allows you to identify what to learn – Ex. New terminology, key concepts • Records your reactions & comments • Variation 1: – Summary Notes = phrases in the margins • Forces you to pull together ideas • Makes remembering easier • Good for long, complex passages Summary Notes (cont.) • Variation 2: – Recall Clues = words and phrases that briefly summarize the notes • “memory tags” that trigger your recall of info you’ve read. – Words, – Phrases – Questions • Process: Cover up the text, read the clue and test your recall Variation 3:Text marking (Optional) • Put a double or wavy line under main ideas • Use a single or straight line under supporting details • Circle vocabulary that you need to study and underline the meaning Outline Notes- How they Help • You organize information & pull together related ideas • You discover “the bones” of the text • You must recognize what’s important and express it in words • You are forced to be selective • You start retaining what you learn = notes are a form of elaborative rehearsal Visual Mapping (aka Visual Note Taking) General: concept maps Specialized: time lines – process diagrams part and function diagrams organizational charts comparison and contrast charts Visual Mapping Benefits: • consolidate information visually • Emphasizes particular thought pattern: • effective for visual and spatial learners • Fun form of elaborative rehearsal General: concept maps • Concept maps are outlines that show ideas spatially Comparison Contrast Chart Technique Highlighting Annotation Note taking Use Textbook Review Avoid re-reading 80% of text comments, reaction to text Organizing Difficult text Helps You Concentrate, Be phys. active, Evaluate while reading ID New terms Comment, summarize important ideas in own words Pros •Fast, efficient •ID patterns of org Summarize long passages Test prep: Organize information Rehearsal – Learning Easy to carry around Cons Doesn’t sep. MI from examples Not good for anthologies, tech difficult texts Time consuming A concept map of the five specialized types of concept maps Process diagram Compare/ contrast timelines Concept maps Org. charts Part & function