College 101 – Blog 5 of 8: How to take usable lecture notes and what to do with them!

When you are taking notes in your classes you are really creating an entirely new document that you will use to learn the course material.  Your professor may or may not review the material in the textbook.  They also may not plan class activities to help students learn the material in the lecture.   The bottom line is that you are solely responsible for recording, understanding and learning the information.  So, where do you start?

1.       During class, take usable notes from the lecture:

a.       Read the textbook BEFORE class.

b.       Write down everything the professor says.

c.       Pay particular attention to what is written on the board or Power Point.

d.       If possible, print out any Power Point slides before class and READ THEM.

e.       Look for the overall organization of the lecture.

f.        Look for connections to what you read in the textbook BEFORE class.

g.       Leave white spaces between topics.  Your goal is to have usable notes, not to save paper.

2.       After class:

a.       Read your notes and identify any missing information, questions, misspellings, etc.

b.       Fill in any gaps using the textbook, fellow students, peer tutoring, or during an office visit with your professor.

c.       If your notes are a mess, rewrite.

d.       Use recitation – read a logical section of notes, shut your notebook and try to restate in your own words what you read.   If you can, move on to next section.  If you cannot, reread and try again.

e.       Create a study guide to help you learn – study cards with important people, events, etc.; concept maps to show comparison and contrasts review chart over several topics; whatever format works with the information.

f.        Study the study guide!

3.       Long term:

a.       At least once a week, review all of the lecture notes that will be on the next exam.

b.       Look for over-riding themes or topics.

c.       Create larger study guides where appropriate.

This is what you are doing on a daily and weekly basis.  The next blog will deal with preparing for a major exam.

*****
Coming soon !   First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and wordassociation.com.  

College 101 – Blog 4 of 8: How Does Learning Happen

Many college students (and the rest of us) do not understand how learning happens.  When students sit down with their lecture notes and textbook and start to “study,” they often do not know exactly what to do besides reading and rereading their notes.   This does not get the information effectively from your working memory to your long-term memory.   There are four important ingredients to learning that will ensure the information is stored properly and available when you need it (like on the exam!):

Repetition – Learning does not happen with only one exposure to the material.  You have to work with the information multiple times.

Variety – In order to truly know the material, you have to study it in a variety of ways.   Think about doing something visual (add color, make a review chart, rewrite your notes, add some pictures), using sound (read the information out loud, get someone to quiz you, go to tutoring and talk about the material), and adding movement (rewriting, constructing a chart, review notes while at the gym) that will help you learn what you need to know.

Self-testing – This is crucial!  What you are actually doing it practicing recalling the information like you will on an exam.  You can read your notes or textbook passage and then cover the information and restate it in your own words, make study cards and go through them testing yourself, take practice quizzes if available online, make a quiz and take it a few days later, or form a study group and take turns quizzing each other.

And last – Spread all of these strategies out over time!  It takes time for information to be solidly stored in your long-term memory.  In addition to reviewing your notes after every class using the above strategies, weekly go over everything and then kick it all into high gear when actively preparing for an exam.

The above suggestions are far from a complete list of strategies.  Use your creativity and combine the ideas to create strategies that work for you and also with the particular information you need to learn.

The future blogs are:

#5 How to take and study lecture notes

#6 How to study for an exam

#7 Test-taking strategies

#8 How to stay motivated

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and  Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College,  by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

College 101 - 3 of 8: How to Read Textbooks

Reading textbooks is very different from reading for pleasure.  Your goal in academic reading is to understand and remember the information in the textbook, relate it to what is happening in class and combine all the information from various sources for the exam.  This changes how you approach the text.   I like to break the strategies into three steps: before you start to read, while you are reading, and after you are done.

Before reading:

• Preview the assignment – what aids has the author provided (headings, bold print words, Learning Objectives, definitions, pictures, charts, etc.).   Take a look at these before reading so you have an idea about the information you will be reading.
• Know your purpose for reading – general background information in preparation for class, material will be on exam but professor will not cover in class, to prepare for a class discussion, etc.?
• Check the length and time you have to read, and estimate how many pages you will be able to read.  It is better to read logical sections in two or more sessions than to race through with no retention or understanding.
• If the material is very dense with little help, skim first and then read in depth.

While reading:

• Monitor your comprehension and reread if necessary.
• Actively think about the overall organization of the material, how it all fits together and how it fits in with the class lectures, etc.
• Consider forming questions from the subheadings and then read to find the answers.  You can do the same if there are Learning Objectives.  Turn them into questions and read to answer them.
• Take notes in the margins or separate notes.
• Pause periodically and review what you have read.  Try to restate the information in your own words.  If you can, move ahead.  If not, reread.

After you are done:

• Take a few minutes to go back and review what you have read.  This will make a very big difference in your retention of the material.
• If you need to know the information in depth, make a study guide or study cards.
• Take advantage of any quizzes, review questions or online quizzes available.  Look up any answers you do not know.

Blog #4 in this series will look at how learning happens.  What are the ingredients to successful learning?

*****
First Semester Success:  Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.   Click on the upper right link.

College 101 – Blog 2 of 8 - Managing Your Time

One major challenge facing first-time students (or anyone, really!) is how to manage time.    For the college student this is particularly challenging because each day is different, several professors are scheduling exams and papers, it is expected that you are studying even when there are no specific assignments, there are large blocks of “free” time, and many distractions. 

Here is a review of four time management tools from my book, First Semester Success. 

 #1—Semester calendar

At the beginning of each semester, write all of your exams, major papers and projects and important social events on a monthly calendar. Post this and check it often to see the big picture of the semester. Look for when you have clusters of exams and major things due, and then plan your life around those.

 #2—General weekly schedule

Graph out your class schedule for the semester. Add in anything that happens regularly on a weekly basis such as work or meetings. This will give you an idea of when you can study and how to fit in other activities. This weekly schedule needs to become a habit.

 #3—Daily planner

Write down daily assignments as they are given by your professors or listed in the syllabus. This is where you will plan each individual week including special events, appointments, etc.

 #4—To-do list

Use this to plan your goals for each day. Write this out either before bed or first thing in the morning. This will help each day be more purposeful and productive. If you have a busy week, you can make a to-do list for each day of the week either Sunday night or Monday morning. This helps reduce stress because you plan exactly what you will do and when you will do it.

 Many students feel that they don’t want to be so scheduled and want to be able to “go with the flow.” By planning your time, you will actually have more free time and be able to enjoy it more because you are not always thinking about what you should be doing.  Try it!

***** Find more strategies in First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.   Click on the upper right  link.