Taking Effective Notes

and hi everyone! So on this update, i'm gonna share to you guys about what i got from our lectures, Ahmad Faris' and Nur Suria's spoke on 5 July.  So let's check it out!    What is the meaning of note taking? Note taking is writing down ideas from lectures and readings of our own. So it's mean that, we write all the important informations that our lectures gave to us OR write down what we undertsand from the readings activities.   So, why should we take notes? This is the answer : 

• Help us to focus during the class 
• Help us study for quiz or examination ( it is important for students of universities because most of the classes, the lectures only teach us and give us the information but not the notes. We ourself should take notes what 's the important information) 
• Helps us take ownership of the idea ( it is mean, we can be the one who friend needed when they lost or can't make it in notes taking )
• Help the lectures test their students on how well they pay attention to the information given 

  Next, after we take notes during the classes, we should review or revise our notes back. Why? Let me explain you why. 

• We will lose 80% of the information we heard if we not reviewed it within the next few hours
• We could indentify some questions about the topics for the next class or we could ask our lectures
• We will not have enough time to absorb all the informations given in the class if it's not reviewed rapidly
• Ask ourself "If i were tested about this topic by tomorrow, can i make it?" 

  So, this is why we should review our notes in our daily routine. Thus, i stil remember my lecture name Ahmad Faris told us that if we studying but in the same time, we use our smartphones for some not beneficial stuffs, we will lose 90% of what we read or what we tried to remember. So, keep our smartphones away from our place during the study! 

   Now, i want to tell things that we have to do before the class which are : 

• Review the notes a day before the class
• Make sure we have paper, text, pens/ pencils, handout (if have)
• Always write the date at the top of our notes
• Leave spaces between the lines because when the lecture explain more about the topics, we can add the information later 

  Futhermore, there are some physical factors that related to our focus in class. Basically, the place we seat is the major fact how focus we are during the classes. Students who usually seat in front and center will always get the better vision and better hearing. Thus, seat in front and center during the classes will keep us from any distraction that can bother our focus. For example, the doorways, the glare from the other students out of the classes, windows, etc. 

  Now, how do we take notes in classes? Here some tips : 

1.  Write down date and label notes
2. Sit in the comfortable zone to write the note (so we don't get any distractions)
3. Use symbols and abbreviations (make us easier and faster to write notes) 
4. Use our own language which makes us easier to understand

  Talking about taking notes, but how do we prepare for the class session?  

• Do homeworks and read the next topic that we will learn 
• Review the syllabus that we learn
• Focus on the key words before the class
• Plan on listening 80% (when the information is very important) and 20% 
• Write down the date at the top of our notes
• Leaves spaces between the lines so we can add more informatio during the classes

  *While taking notes, we should be an active sutdents who ask questions and not a passive or listener. 

  As a students, we should obsere and know our instructors' or lectures' teaching styles. For examples

• When our lectures or instructor repeats a specific notes, make a notes of it
• If our lectures or instructor writes something, then it must be important information
• If the lecturers or instructors in excited or keeps on repeating some infromation, it might be on an examination
• Don't let our attitude about the lecturers' style distract us to focus in the classes

 Well, one of student's common problems is not interested about their lecturer's style. Actually, this kind of things should not be the reason why the students got distract from focusing in classes. So what's the resolution about this problems? Here we go! 

1.  Do write the notes when we realized that our attention got distract or slipping into our own dilemma. 
2. Ask questions (any question eventhough we think it is a 'dumb' question but we do not know that the same question are on the other student's mind also) 
3. Sit in front of the classes 

*Sit infont - Students will not sleep, the board at the front is clearly to read, the lecturer can see us more easily 

  And now, i want to share you some various ways to make a notes 

* Cornell Nota taking *

* Two-Column Notes *

* Outlining *

* Mapping Method *

  Done talked about things that we need to do before and during the classes, so now let's talk about things that we need to do after class. 

1.  Revise the notes that we've wrote during the class 
2. Discuss and compare our notes with our friends so we will not missed any informations
3. Memories and re-write notes
4. Practice the skills in our daily life
5. Ask our professors to elaborate more about specific topics

  Last but not least, remember these SQ4R which stands for : 

• Survey - overview the notes or the information given
• Question - any questions on our minds
• Read - to answer the questions from the professors
• Rite - take important notes during the class
• Review - at short time period
• Recite -  answer the questions with not referring to the answer

  I think that's all i can share with all of you about the taking effective notes. I very thankful to my lecturer who had gave me these useful tips so i can practice it during my classes and i found that it is very helpful. See you in the next post! 💓

---

A million thx for reading ;D

---