LIBRARY
STUDY SMART
SUCCESSFUL STUDY
ATTENDING LECTURES
AND TUTORIALS
PDF resources included in this section
CONTENTS - ATTENDING LECTURES AND TUTORIALS 1.
Preparing to participate
2.
Communicating your ideas
3.
Online participation
4.
Active Listening
5.
Why take notes
6.
Approaches to learning
7.
Note-taking techniques
8.
Visual thinking
9.
Transforming notes
10. General note-taking advice
Attending lectures and tutorials
You’ll get the most out of your lectures and tutorials if you’re prepared. Find resources here to develop active participation, active listening, and note-taking. Is your Lecture and Tutorial attendance compulsory or voluntary? Not sure if you should decide to go or not? Think about it this way: Imagine if they had parent/teacher conferences at university. → Dad:
“How’s my son doing?”
→ Professor:
“I have never seen this man in
my life.”
Attending lectures and tutorials Even if you don’t have attendance requirements you will get more out of your unit and course if you go. However, simply turning up is not going to mean you have the best experience. The following tools are going to provide you with a way to maximise the value you get from your classes and make them work for you. Think you’re ready? Why not take the University of Melbourne (2015) Seminar and Tutorial participation quiz. Not only can it provide you with an idea of where you’re at, it provides helpful suggestions on proactive next steps.
STUDY SMART WEBSITE
Find this section on the Study Smart website here: https://westernsydney.edu.au/ studysmart/home/more_strategies_ for_success/attending_lectures_and_ tutorials
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION YOU’VE ARRIVED IN CLASS. DOES THE FOLLOWING SOUND FAMILIAR? → The tutor introduces themselves. → You go through the learning guide. → Expectations of the unit and tutorial class. → Perhaps some general housekeeping. → Then the tutor asks the class a question from the lecture or readings. → …Silence…. The tutor then reminds students that being involved in the discussions will help them through the unit and allow them to get the most out of the session. This is not just the tutor rambling on the for the sake of it. There is a definite link between how much you engage and how much you learn. Whether it’s a lecture or tutorial, the academic’s job is not to just run the class. They’re there to help facilitate ideas and healthy discussion that you, as a student, engage in.
Preparing to participate Active participation is a skill that you’ll need to develop. It’s not just the ability to ask a question, or being an extroverted person. You need to know the content or at least have some idea of the structure of the class you’re attending. What’s more, you need to make sure that you’re ready to learn. This means building on previous knowledge, scaffolding ideas, and learning new information. However, it can also mean having to wrestle with differing opinions, views, or even having to shift your beliefs and form new conclusions. If this happens, you need to be prepared to do it in the most productive way possible. The areas below are just some preliminary steps you can take to prepare for your classes. They’ll help to make sure that you’re an active member of the class, no matter what format the class takes. Preparing for the lecture, tutorial, or workshop Have you completed your mental checklist for each of your classes? If you’re studying full time, you’ll have four units at any given time. This means you’re likely to have around four to eight classes to prep for each week. Yes, this does seem daunting, but it’s easily accomplished if you’re prepared. This little checklist may be helpful to get your head into the right space before each class. Ask yourself: → Have I downloaded the lecture/tutorial notes? → Have I read the set readings for the week? See The why, when, and what of reading (PDF, 382 kB) and How to read effectively (PDF, 519 kB) for tips. → Have I completed any self-directed activities required for the class? → Have I checked the unit schedule in the Learning Guide for any extra information? → Do I know where I’m going this week (sometimes rooms change week to week)? → Have I prepared notes from the learning content? → Have I been to the toilet (just before the tutorial… seriously! It seems many students forget every tutorial)? Having a positive attitude and open mind Do you ever find yourself asking the question: why bother trying to be positive or open-minded the entire semester? Maybe it’s in response to attending yet another class talking about stuff that just isn’t your cup of tea. It’s week 9 and you’ve had enough! Well, no, it isn’t easy to stay positive and open minded 24/7. It is important, though, to ensure you manage your time well so you can allow spaces for rest and relaxation (see the Study Smart section on Time management in Successful Study Skills). If you come into a class with a negative attitude and closed off to what will be presented, you automatically put your body in a state of stress. You are transforming that experience into one where you’re almost guaranteed not to get the most out of the class. So, to ensure you don’t rob yourself of the opportunity to engage fully, give yourself some time to get into the right frame of mind.
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Encouraging and supporting your peers Surprise! Almost all of your peers are in a similar circumstance to you. Your class will be so much more productive and enjoyable if all students encourage and support each other. Take some time to look at the ‘Phrasing’ section of Communicating your ideas (PDF, 75 kB) to find some useful ways to approach discussion in classes. Even if you bitterly oppose someone’s views or opinions, you can still be supportive and not tear them down. Practise your skills You may be naturally talented at some things and may find others are more of a challenge. Can you easily talk with your peers but struggle to put together a presentation for a class? Can you make the best looking presentation that wows everyone but can’t properly communicate your content? Knowing your skills is important for being able to get the most from a class but also to ensure you build on your strengths and then work on the skills that you know are not yet developed or refined. Activity: Learning your strengths A useful task to help in you in understanding how well you can participate in your classes is to assess your skills and traits. Have a look at the strengths activity in Track, Progress, Success (PDF, 125 kB). Ask questions, seek advice, request feedback ‘There is no such thing as a stupid question unless you never ask it.’ Not sure how you’re travelling? Unsure if you correctly understand the content? Feel like you’re missing something? Ask! It is forever surprising how many students never ask a question and regret it later. ‘Asking questions’ in the Successful Study Skills section has a lot of useful information on the best way to go about approaching an academic. You can also find tips for seeking feedback digitally on our Digital learning and development page. Your lecturers, tutors, professional, and technical staff are employed to facilitate your learning. Part of their role is to ensure you are progressing, understanding, and engaging with your course content. However, they’re not mind readers, and nor can they anticipate every possible question. You’ll have the relevant academics’ contact details in your Learning Guide. Make use of them!
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Communicating your ideas Did you know that your university lecture, tutorial, seminar, or class is meant to be a participative experience for both students and academics? There is usually even scope for discussion in lectures. You need to be conscious of the expectations for each activity, and generally the academic will help to make their expectations clear early in the session. For example, you may need to communicate more formally in a lecture compared to a tutorial. Remember that you’re only human, and so is the academic. As long as you communicate politely, courteously, and in an engaged way, you’ll be fine. There are some helpful phrases below to get you started if you’re feeling uncertain. Phrasing Your ideas and thoughts are valuable, even if people don’t agree with you or they’re contrary to the content being delivered in class. To make sure others can appreciate your perspective and not just switch off, you need to make sure you deliver your ideas clearly and appropriately. If you’re struggling to find the right words, or to know when to say the right words in your class, the following lists (adapted from Ruthven-Stuart, 2001) are for you! If you would like more activities and practice for speaking English in an academic setting, try the ‘Speaking’ module in the Clarity English ‘Study Skills Success’ program (access instructions, PDF, 101 kB). Phrases for starting a conversation or discussion, and for asking someone’s opinion: Formal: → Could I ask...? → Could you tell me...? → Perhaps you could tell...
Informal: → I’m interested in... → What do you think of...
Phrases for interrupting: Formal: → Excuse me for interrupting, but... → May I interrupt for a moment? → I’d like to say something, if I may. → May I ask a question?
Informal: → Excuse me... → Sorry, but... → Just a second... → Can I add something? → Can I say something here? → Can I ask a question?
Phrases to use when you are explaining your opinion: → → → → → → → → → →
First of all,... The main reason is... The main thing is... The most important thing is... Secondly,... The other reason is... Another reason is... Besides that, ... And on top of that,... And finally,...
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Phrases to use when you want to refer to a point in someone’s argument: → → → → → →
The trouble is... The problem is... The trouble with... The problem with... The point is... Don’t forget that...
Phrases to use when you want to say something you think is new information: → → → → → → → →
Do you realise that... Believe it or not,... You may not believe it, but... It may sound strange, but... The surprising thing is... Surprisingly,... Oddly enough,... Funnily enough,...
Phrases to use when what you are going to say may surprise or shock: → → → → →
Actually,... The only thing is... To tell you the truth,... To be honest,... Frankly,...
Phrases to use when giving your opinion, but when you are not certain: → → → → → →
I think... I suppose... I suspect that... I’m pretty sure that... I’m fairly certain that... I wonder if...
Phrases to use when you are certain of your opinion: → → → → → → → → →
I’m certain that... I’m sure that It’s my opinion that... I’m convinced that... I honestly believe that... I strongly believe that... Without a doubt... I’m positive... I’m absolutely certain that...
Phrases to use when you want to emphasise that what you are going to say is your own opinion: → → → → → → → → →
In my opinion,... I personally believe… I personally think… I personally feel… Not everyone will agree with me, but… In my opinion,... From my point of view,... Well, personally,... In my case...
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Reflection questions Think of two classes that you currently attend where participation is encouraged and you would like to be more engaged. → → → → →
What do you think is the tone for each of the classes? For example, is it formal or informal? Depending on the tone, think about two phrases from the table above that you could use for each class. Attempt the phrases in each of the classes. How did you go? Think about what you could do differently, improve on or even continue to do if it went well. Listen to how your classmates share their ideas in class. How did others respond? To what extent did they contribute new ideas to the class discussion? What could you learn from them?
References Ruthven-Stuart, P. (2001). Phrases for the Second Year Seminar. Retrieved from http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~peterrs/zemi/kiso_seminar_phrases.html
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Online participation Have you come across a unit that is run partially online or maybe even completely online? More and more units are adapting to both face-to-face and online methods to deliver content. This blended approach may look different depending on the unit or the content that is being presented. Successful online strategies aim to facilitate students in: → student-led discussions. → finding and discussing web resources. → helping each other to learn (peer assistance) (Pelz, 2010). You still need to show similar active participation skills in an online discussion just as you would in person, in your class. However there are some nuances that will allow you to get the most out of your class. Netiquette A word that you will undoubtedly come across is ‘netiquette’. This term refers to the written or unwritten rules that you should abide by when participating in online platforms. The University provides an online page for general netiquette. In brief, the following key elements are important: → → → →
be polite and avoid the use of bad, inappropriate, or offensive language respect others’ points of view be aware of cultural differences, and be careful with humour and sarcasm (Western Sydney University, 2015).
Getting started with Discussion Boards A good place to start with using online Discussion Boards is to watch How to Use Blackboard Discussions (video, 4:02) from the creators of vUWS. It’s a short video that orientates you well on how to use Discussion Boards in a vUWS site. If you still have questions and need further information the University has the vUWS Student Support Site (login required) with helpful documentation and links on using Discussion Boards. Video conferencing Technology is always improving, and online conferencing platforms similar to Skype are starting to be implemented in teaching. Western Sydney University uses a platform called Zoom. Getting to know how to use this platform early will be helpful, as you’ll undoubtedly need to access it at some point through your course. The resource Communicating your ideas (PDF, 75 kB) for face-to-face classrooms is also relevant for video sessions. More information → Visit the Study Smart Digital Literacy page, especially Digital learning and development and Communication, collaboration, and participation → Visit the Study Smart vUWS site and complete the module and self-quiz in the Digital Literacy section, called Online Learning: A guide for students → Take the online quiz: What type of digital learner are you? (University of Exeter)
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References Blackboard Inc. (2013). How to use blackboard discussions. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxjOU5sXmns&list=PLontYaReEU1seUE3ACG3sEc3zR7Br7URU&index=5 Pelz, B. (2010). (My) Three principles of effective online pedagogy. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 14(1), 103-116. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ909855 Western Sydney University. (2015). A Guide to online netiquette. Retrieved from https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/tld/home/how_to/howto_resources/internet_resources/outlook_online_netiquette Western Sydney University. (n.d.). vUWS Student Support Site – Discussions. Retrieved from https://vuws.westernsydney.edu.au/bbcswebdav/courses/ag2_rh_vuwsinfostudents/ag2_rh_vuwsinfostudents _ImportedContent_20130204023344/vUWS%20Student%20Support%20Site%20FINAL/discussions.html
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ACTIVE LISTENING LEARN HOW TO DO MORE THAN JUST LISTEN PASSIVELY. This PDF will help you to learn to engage while even listening.
Active listening Have you ever sat in a lecture listening to the lecturer and then suddenly realised they have already progressed through a handful of slides and you don’t know what you’ve missed? When you’ve finally conquered the art of Communicating your ideas (PDF, 75 kB) and Preparing to participate (PDF, 57 kB), you need to make sure you have the capacity to listen to what is being said. Let’s look at the Chinese symbol for the verb ‘to listen’:
Figure 1. Chinese Symbol ‘To Listen’ (Liran, 2014) The symbol is made up of five parts that are seen as crucial to the concept of ‘to listen’: → → → → →
Ears Eyes Undivided attention Heart King
making sure you’re listening to people and hearing them; connecting with the person through eye contact; not being distracted by something away from the conversation; engaging with the person; and finally the king, representing the combining all of the above together, which results in a king-like control.
One symbol can represent so much more than a singular concept. So why is this important for your classes? Is there even a need to be an active listener? After all, aren’t all the lectures recorded now and most information can be found online?
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The listener as a person To look at this in more detail we need to focus on what active listening allows us to achieve:
Figure 2. Degrees of Active Listening (Team FME, 2013) As you can see, there are many elements to active listening. As a student, your aim is to achieve the ‘reflecting’ stage. This allows you to truly engage and involve yourself with the content so as to integrate the content with what you already know and how you think, and to increase your ability to share the knowledge with a wider audience. Now the trick is, how do you become an active listener and make the transition through the degrees of active listening? The first step is to put the car into neutral; that is, we need to let go of any judgement we might have about the people or the situation. Most importantly, we then need to be engaged from start to finish (figure 3). That is hard and takes concentration and practice, but the time you invest helps down the track. It’s also a skill you won’t stop using your entire life.
Figure 3. The Active Listener Person (Team FME, 2013)
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When you begin the process of active listening, you’re faced with a number of different levels of listening. One level is listening to yourself and what your self-talk (that inner voice in your head that isn’t spoken out loud) is asking or telling you to do in response to the person talking. You have to be able to park those thoughts until you’ve begun listening. Another level is listening to both verbal and nonverbal cues. You need to be able to tell when someone is using body language to try and emphasise or change the meaning of a point. You need to discern the importance of what is being presented at the time.
Figure 4. What you need to do as a Listener (Team FME, 2013) Components of listening Now that you’re in a position to start ‘really’ listening, we need to break down the main components of active listening to become a better listener.
Figure 4. Components of an Active Listener (Team FME, 2013)
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Listener orientation Change your perspective by moving away from questions like ‘how do I feel?’ and asking instead ‘how does the speaker feel?’. By understanding better where the speaker is coming from, you’ll have a better chance of discerning what they mean and how they mean it. Reflective technique This allows you to ensure you and the speaker are of a similar understanding. This provides a sounding board for the speaker to restructure their approach if there is no understanding from those they are trying to reach. Clarification is an integral step in this process and ensures your understanding is in line with everyone else (figure 5).
Figure 5. Benefits of Clarification (Team FME, 2013) Questioning skills To be able to best prepare, reflect, and understand, you have to be able to know how best to ask a question that will result in the answer you need. This means asking the right questions at the right time. Have a look at Communicating your ideas (PDF, 75 kB) for more information on how to do this. Blocking active listening Finally, be aware of the barriers that will block you from being an active listener. There are many! Figure 6 helps to identify some of those key ones that come up time and again.
Figure 6. Barriers to Active Listening (Team FME, 2013) Library Study Smart Active listening
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Reflection activity The next time you have a free chance with a close friend/spouse/partner or even a favourite pet (although don’t expect an in-depth philosophical conversation with your pet!), try the following steps and see what you get out of the conversation. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE. Better yet, turn it off! The same goes for the TV, computers, etc. Start by asking the other person open-ended questions (one or two only). Let the other person know what you think they said (paraphrasing). If you didn’t understand them properly, let them explain it again without interrupting them. Watch their body language and listen to their words. See if they tell the same story. If you suddenly realise you let your mind wander, clarify what was said during that time if you need to. If you don’t feel like you can focus properly, be honest with yourself and the other person. Make sure you identify when you can continue the conversation.
References Liran, A. (2014). Listening. Retrieved from http://positivecultures.ning.com/photo/listening?context=latest Team FME. (2013). Active listening, communication skills. Retrieved from http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/
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NOTE-TAKING THERE IS ALMOST THAT AUDIBLE COLLECTIVE GROAN WHEN IT COMES TO HEARING ABOUT TAKING NOTES. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE NOTES? WHAT’S THE POINT? IS IT REALLY EVEN WORTH IT? There’s genuine evidence-based literature to support the fact that taking notes helps you to learn. The quest of the student is to find the method and format that will best facilitate your learning style. One could argue that the success of your academic career falls back on how well you take notes. In this section you’ll find helpful tips for different note-taking strategies but also some information and challenging ideas about the age-old practice of note-taking.
Why take notes? It seems that fewer and fewer students are taking notes in favour of just ‘listening and experiencing’, or alternatively snapping a photo of the whiteboard or projector display. Whilst both of these are effective tools for learning, if they are not used as part of a suite of tools, they do have some shortfalls. We’ve gone over active listening (PDF, 445 kB) and how to make it a part of your repertoire of skills to help you get the most out of the classes you attend. But we have to acknowledge the next logical step of active listening, which is notetaking or note-making. Let’s explore some of the reasoning behind note-taking and its importance. The nature of a lecture or tutorial A lot of lectures are now being recorded for your convenience to view when you want. However, there are quite a few that are still not recorded. Also, other teaching delivery methods such as tutorials, practicals, and online discussions often are not recorded. These generally only happen once, that’s it, and you don’t get that time back. If you don’t take notes in these classes, you’re relying on your memory to have captured all the crucial content. Unless you have a photographic memory or some variation, your memory of the event won’t be enough. Also, you may find that quite often the recorded content doesn’t show the lecturer or tutor. You are therefore missing many visual cues that are crucial to the understanding of what is being said. How your memory works Understanding your memory and how you store information is important to understanding why notes are important. Think back to the last time you had a really awesome breakfast, the kind that you wish you had time to indulge in every day. What made it so memorable? Why can you remember that specific breakfast over the countless others? That is your memory at work making ‘notes’ to aid in recalling a notable (excuse the pun) moment. Your brain has registered a number of different elements that stood out from the normal everyday toast or cereal and linked them together at that moment in time. For example, you would likely have experienced the following:
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Table 1. Examples of cognitive and sensory experiences in memory. Experience What’s happening Repetition
Maybe it’s your favourite all-time breakfast and you ordered it because you always do. There is an existing memory lurking.
Focus
Perhaps you’ve been thinking about this breakfast for the past month, just waiting to order it, building anticipation.
Sight
The ultimate bountiful breakfast visually stimulates your brain and confirms your previous assumptions.
Hearing
Maybe it was a café vibe or the sound of bacon sizzling. Hearing a distinctly different sound to what is normally heard at breakfast makes it memorable.
Smell
Aroma has a significant impact on our memory. It can cause you to recall events long forgotten just by a simple scent.
Touch
Maybe it’s a specific type of bread or a gooey egg. The texture is unique, or maybe it’s just that texture linked to the other senses.
Taste
Of course, taste! Suddenly all of the above has culminated in this point in time.
Reflection
You’re licking your fingers and lips and reflecting on how awesome that was or even how awesome it was again and sharing that experience with others. You are solidifying the experience now.
Connections Lastly, your brain has been building connections between all these points to take all those sensory experiences as well as cognitive functions to store this breakfast as a distinct memory. What you are ultimately doing is shifting this memory into long term storage or ‘long-term memory’. You need to try and do this for the information being presented to you in class. Without some of these sensory triggers and other helpful cognitive functions that we have in our breakfast example, you need notes to fill in the gap and help to create those longterm memories. So to put this in simple terms, you need to find a note-taking method that ticks the right boxes, and that facilitates you shifting from sensory and short-term memory into long-term memory. Your long term memory is then sorted by the following types: Episodic Semantic Procedural
Past events and experiences that you’ve had, e.g. that ambience when you experienced the world’s best breakfast. Specific dates or facts, e.g. the date you first had that awesome breakfast. Set of steps in routine actions or thoughts that your body takes, e.g. the specific order in which you eat the awesome breakfast items.
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Figure 1 below gives a basic overview of your memory pathways. You need to be storing information from lectures, via note-taking, into Episodic, Semantic, and Procedural memory.
Figure 1. Basic Structure of Human Memory. Adapted from Types of Memory by Mastin (2010). Copyright 2010 by L. Mastin. Hopefully you now have a good grasp or have at least scratched the surface as to how your memory works and subsequently why taking notes is important to retain knowledge. Check out Approaches to learning (PDF, 50 kB) to find a strategy that works for you. References Mastin, L. (2010). Types of memory. Retrieved from http://www.human-memory.net/types.html.
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Approaches to learning There are MANY forms of taking notes. Yes that’s right, not just simply writing words on a page or typing them on a screen. We have to acknowledge that there is an ongoing battle between ‘old school’ pen and paper and newer electronic devices in the note-taking realm. Interestingly, a study by Washington University (Hotz, 2016) found that those who typed notes had better recall of lecture content immediately after the lecture, while those who wrote their notes by hand had better recall over time. What does this mean? Well, basically it means you need to find what works for you and the situation you are in. Below you’ll find a brief overview of some of the current popular techniques as well as links out to helpful information on learning how to use them. Best approaches to learning One of the features we need to look at is how we adapt memory and learning to note-taking. Let’s look at a study from Kent State University (Paul, 2013) which looked at the best, worst, and mediocre study techniques. Their findings are summarised in table 1 below.
Table 1. Note-Taking Strategies Good
Mediocre
Worst
→ Spreading out study sessions (distributed practice) → Practice testing
→ Mental imagery → Asking ‘why’ whilst reading (elaborative interrogation) → Mixing problems (interleaved practice) → Mnemonics (word association)
→ Highlighting and underlining → Rereading → Summarising key points
Adapted from Paul (2013). Copyright 2013 by Time. So what does this tell us? Firstly, note-taking isn’t necessarily the top technique for learning, but can form an integral part of that technique. The best learning strategies are not specifically about note-taking but rely on you having taken good notes. It also shows that we need to rethink some more traditional approaches to taking notes. It might be time to retire that highlighter!? It’s still important to ‘note’ that you have to find the format that actually works for you, and that this might not be what is easiest to do at the time. It needs to be the option that best facilitates your capacity to learn. Note-taking techniques (PDF, 513 kB) can help you to identify a specific technique that could work for you.
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References Hotz, R. L. (2016, April 4). Can handwriting make you smarter? The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-handwriting-make-you-smarter-1459784659 Paul, A. M. (2013, January 9). Highlighting is a waste of time: The best and worst learning techniques. Time. Retrieved from http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/09/highlighting-is-a-waste-of-time-the-best-and-worst-learning-techniques/
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Visual thinking How many of you sit in lectures and tutorials doodling away on a page, filling up the margins, header, or footer with random pictures? It’s time to turn that energy and idle motion into an effective note-taking technique. Nowadays there is a lot of recognition of how learning styles work and how to be able to really reach your full potential by tapping into your preferred learning style. Many of us out there are visual learners and need to adapt a note-taking style to match! That said, a visual note-taking style doesn’t only work for visual learners, but can also benefit people with different learning styles. The three videos on Dave Gray’s page What is Visual thinking? are highly recommended to get you started in visual thinking and how to adapt it to your note-taking style.
Figure 1. Stills from Squiggle Birds (video, 5:13);
Visual Thinking Basics (video, 20:00);
How to know what to draw (video, 16:52).
Organisation in visual thinking Just because you’re doodling away on a page doesn’t mean you can’t be organised. Bucks County Community College (2016) provides some common ‘visual organisers’ and how these can apply to different academic fields. Getting inspiration If you feel a visual approach might be your ticket to note-taking but need some more inspiration, head over to The Graphic Recorder for some inspiration on your artistic notetaking journey. References Gray, D. (2016). Visual thinking: What is visual thinking? Retrieved from http://xplaner.com/visual-thinking-school/ Johnson, L. L. (1990). Visual organizers. Bucks County Community College. Retrieved from http://faculty.bucks.edu/specpop/visual-org.htm Neill, D. (2014). The graphic recorder. Retrieved from http://www.thegraphicrecorder.com/gallery/
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Transforming notes We’re not talking about ‘Autobots’ or ‘Decepticons’ (or any other transforming robot) here, we’re talking about taking all your notes and creating a way to organise them. More than that, we want to look at how we can change them into a different format to create an even better learning tool. Filing The key message for your notes is to organise them in a way that will work for you. Here are some basic ‘must dos’ with your notes: → Plan a structure from the start. This should include page numbers and consistent labelling of pages. → Make sure you can read everything you’ve written. Don’t think you’ll just remember what it meant later. → Remove irrelevant notes (unfortunately, the flowery border you spent so long on does not necessarily enhance your learning experience). A very important step is to turn your notes into an electronic resource: → Scan notes onto your computer → Label each set of notes with a file name e.g. ‘2016.04.16 Psych 101 Week 3’ → Double check your hard copy with each of the scanned files to make sure everything matches and is labelled correctly Sacha Chua provides an excellent overview on how to take your handwritten notes and properly organise them to allow better access and content at your fingertips. Tools to upgrade your notes Hopefully you have now gotten yourself noted up and are ready to really make use of all this brilliant information. There are many tools to allow you to use those notes to better synthesise the content so you can recall it at those crucial times. Flash card apps Flash cards are nothing new and have been used for years to help students remember content. But now there are also some very handy electronic versions that provide the same functionality but are more easily accessible. Some common online services are: → → → → →
Quizlet StudyBlue FlashCard Machine Flashcards+ (iPhone app) Anki
Library Study Smart Transforming notes
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Spaced repetition system Spaced repetition is based on the principle that to learn information you need to be exposed to the concept just before you forget it. This further cements the information into your long-term memory. This technique is an active rather than passive technique (e.g. recall versus just rereading). It is commonly used now in quality flash card apps that deliver the word at the right time for you to remember it. If you seem to be not getting the word correct the app increases the frequency until you can show you have committed it to memory. For more information on spaced repetition and the apps that can be used, follow the links below: → Learning by Spaced Repetition → Spaced Repetition It would also be worthwhile to head over to the exam preparation section to see how you can apply this to your exam study strategies. Mnemonic devices Although we’ve touched on the fact that mnemonic devices are perhaps not the most effective technique, we need to acknowledge that it may be a way of learning from your notes that works better for you personally. Therefore it should not be easily dismissed. Congos (2005) from the University of Central Florida outlines nine different types of mnemonics. As they all rely on different cognitive abilities, you may just find one that is perfect for your learning style. Mind maps Never underestimate turning your notes into mind maps. It can help to turn a mess of written information into a cohesive linked structure that will help you learn what you need. File them away with your notes and you have a full suite of information ready to help you get the best out of attending your lectures and tutorials. Peer discussion groups Let’s face it, with the pressures of working, the advent of social media, and a shift to blended learning modes of content delivery, we spend less time at university with our peers. Due to the fact that we don’t get to spend a lot of time on campus discussing the finer points of the day’s lecture, we need to transition to other methods. Whether this is by discussion through eLearning platforms available at the University, or on online platforms like PeerWise, students need to get talking again. The University of Edinburgh (Bates et al., 2012) found that the use of PeerWise for student discussion and collaboration helped to improve students’ attainment of key information from their studies. This was regardless of what they were studying. A point to note: discussing content from your classes with peers is OK, but ensure you keep a level of scholarly awareness when it comes to sharing your own work online. This could inadvertently lead to some degree of plagiarism if someone uses your work. Check our section on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism, especially the Academic integrity FAQs.
Library Study Smart Transforming notes
February 2017 westernsydney.edu.au/studysmart
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References Bates, S. P., Galloway, R. K., McBride, K. L., Rebello, N. S., Engelhardt, P. V., & Singh, C. (2012, February). Studentgenerated content: Using PeerWise to enhance engagement and outcomes in introductory physics courses. Conference Proceedings conducted at the meeting of the American Institute of Physics. Chua, S. (2013). Note-taking techniques. Retrieved from http://sachachua.com/blog/sketchnotes/ Congos, D. (2005). 9 types of mnemonics for better memory. The Learning Center Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.learningassistance.com/2006/january/mnemonics.html
Library Study Smart Transforming notes
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General note-taking advice There are just some aspects of note-taking that are going to be similar no matter what format you end up adopting. In this section, we’re looking at some of those tried and tested elements that you need to keep in mind always. Tips 1. Hand-written material really has a proven benefit. Research has shown (Pinola, 2011) that writing tells your brain to activate, wake up, and pay attention, whereas simply typing can become muscle memory and have less cognitive involvement. 2. Learn some abbreviations. If you haven’t already, you’ll soon be bombarded with a flurry of information. Getting some abbreviations under your belt will speed up the process of getting your notes down. There are many types of abbreviations and some examples are provided in Tables 1 and 2 below. At the end of the day it is really up to you to decide what types of abbreviations you use, just as long as you are able to understand what your notes mean. 3. For those of us that have found digital devices are our preferred learning method, it’s time to get intimately familiar with keyboard and mouse shortcuts. These speed up your typing by eliminating needless physical movements and allow you to jump between and within applications more quickly. It might not seem much at the time but all those movements quickly add up in a day. Keyboard shortcuts also allow you to be more fluid and streamlined in the way you use your computer and cause less interruption.
Table 1. Word truncation examples Truncation
Word
dep
department
ed
education
eqn
equation
esp
especially
gov
government
natl
national
ppl
people
res
research
ustand
understand
Adapted from University of Adelaide (2014). Copyright (2014) by University of Adelaide.
Library Study Smart General note-taking advice
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Table 2. Abbreviation examples Symbol or abbreviation
Expansion
∵
because
∴
+
therefore OR consequently &
and OR plus
?
question OR doubt OR possibility
>
greater than
<
less than
#
no.
number
$
dollars OR money OR cost
∆
change
/
per OR each
↑
increase OR improvement
→
leads to OR causes
↓
decrease OR deterioration
↔
linked OR interrelated OR connected
↛
does not lead to
=
equal OR the same as
~
approximately OR around OR similar to
≠
not equal OR not the same as
X
strikethrough
not
…
etc. OR missing words
etc.
et cetera; and so on
et al.
and the other authors
e.g.
for example
i.e.
that is
NB *
note well OR remember this
♂/♀
male / female
§
section
¶
para
paragraph
p./pp.
page / pages
c.
with / about (circa)
w/o
without
1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th
first / second / third / fourth
Library Study Smart General note-taking advice
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Symbol or abbreviation
Expansion
@
at
cf.
compare to
am
morning
pm
afternoon
viz
namely
asap
as soon as possible
wrt
with respect to
Adapted from University of Adelaide (2014). Copyright (2014) by University of Adelaide. Research and readings It is 100% guaranteed that during your time at university you will be researching content for an assessment or exam and looking at journal articles and other readings. Taking notes on these is important and you need to find your ‘groove’ in the note taking world. In addition, the following brief points can help to further extend your note taking to readings. They can equally apply to the classes you attend, too! See Researching and reading page for more tips. Quotes versus paraphrasing → Use quotes when you need to draw on the authority of the author. → Paraphrase when you need to better understand the content in a different context. See the Study Smart Using sources section for more information on quoting and paraphrasing. Summary and personal thoughts → Write up a summary of the notes you’ve made, including quotes and paraphrased work. This allows you to clearly see the key aspects you’ve learnt. → Add your personal thoughts too. This allows you to ‘think out loud’ on the page and allows you to revisit your notes and understand the information in your own voice. Referencing and citation → Provide the full reference to the best of your ability so you don’t lose track of where the information comes from. → Cite while you write, even if they are just notes. This will allow you to easily go back to your content and follow up where you got the information from. This is invaluable when you’re beginning to write up your assessments. Portfolio/Reflection Guess what… if you’ve gotten this far and implemented all these steps, there will be a billion and one new thoughts/concepts/ideas/facts buzzing around your head. What’s even better is that maybe you’ve now captured them in a structured format and you’ve come away from your classes as an active rather than passive participant. You’ll also be beginning to form creative ideas and opinions around all that you’ve learnt. By starting a daily professional journal (which need only be five key points each day) you can quickly and easily capture these thoughts. More often than not, you might never need to refer back to them. But every now and again there’ll be that nugget of information that will lead you to achieving that elusive HD in your next assessment or exam.
Library Study Smart General note-taking advice
February 2017 westernsydney.edu.au/studysmart
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References Pinola, M. (2011). Why you learn more effectively by writing than by typing. Lifehacker. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5738093/why-you-learn-more-effectively-by-writing-than-typing/all University of Adelaide. (2014). Note-taking abbreviations: Writing Centre learning guide. Retrieved from https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_note-takingAbbreviations.pdf
Library Study Smart General note-taking advice
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STUDY RESOURCES
MORE INFORMATION
ULTIMATELY THE MESSAGE THAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF LECTURE AND TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE IS THAT PREPARATION WITH FOLLOW-UP IS KEY.
→ vUWS
Hopefully you understand that it doesn’t necessarily mean denying any other life activities apart from uni, but it does take a level of commitment. To make this even easier to get a handle on, below are some helpful resources that you’ll need to use during your time at university to prepare for your units.
→ Unit outlines → Learning guides (login required) → Turnitin guides → Library 101
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