Note Taking
If you are going to revise for an exam, you need to have good material to revise from. That starts with you making good notes in lessons when a teacher explains a topic. There are different approaches you can use, find one or two you like and develop it. Personally I found the Mapping Method and the Cornell Method useful when I was at University.
If you have tried to take good notes and simply can't then you can 1) ask a classmate with good notes for a copy of theirs, 2) ask your teacher if they have a set you could copy, 3) use a revision guide, 4) use revision websites such as BBC bitesize
Cornell Method
- Section for Cues (often used with keywords)
- Notes written alongside Cues
- Space for questions to follow up on
- Short summary at the bottom for quick review
Image Credit: Collegeinfogeek.com
The Mapping Method or Mind Mapping Method
- Shows how information links together
- Main idea in middle, Related ideas come of it
- Can have sub nodes for each idea too
- Great for rewriting notes
The Outlining Method
- This is sort of a written version of the Mapping method.
- You use heading and sub headings to organise the topics and then use bullet points for each point
- It is well organised and easy to follow and review but can be tricky to do if a lesson is moving quickly and the teacher is not presenting information under headings and subheadings
The Charting Method
A better name for this might be the table method
You have a column for each topic covered.
Everything on that topic goes into that column
Can be great if things are grouped by date, or by a style of Art etc.
The Sentence Method
This is probably what you currently do. The Sentence note taking method is simply writing down each small topic as a short sentence. It can work well for fast paced lessons where a lot of information is being covered, but will leave your hand aching from a lot of writing.
Each line on the page is a new and separate small topic. You use headings for each major topic.
It is not great for revision as it is hard to find the key information as everything is written down, it is a great approach to lesson notes if you plan to rewrite the notes afterwards though.
