Why take notes?
- As a memory aid
- To reduce large amounts of information into memorable chunks
- To use as a summary
- To promote deeper understanding of content
- To identify gaps in your knowledge Organized notes are an important tool for achieving success in your studies, but note-taking is an individual skill. What works for you, may not work for someone else. It may depend on what type of learner you are – more visual than linguistic, for example. The important thing is to develop your own note-taking style and then use it.
How to take notes:
Here are some ideas to get you started.
- Don't write full sentences
- Leave out small words (articles and conjunctions…the, a, an, and)
- Use visual cues: e.g different colours for different topics, highlight important information, underline
- Develop special symbols for course-specific content or words e.g. pt - patient
- Use bullet points
- Use abbreviations to reduce words & sentences. Think of the words u use in txt msgs - they might give u some idea. Otherwise here are a few common abbreviations:
b/c because
w/ with
ppl people
↑ increase/more
↓ decrease/less
b/w between
‹ less than
› greater than
& and
b/4 before
If you would like more information on your note-taking skills, make an appointment with a Learning Skills support teacher and we will give feedback.
Go to our booking page at: https://booking.holmesglen.edu.au/lsc
Also, look for the Learning Skills Centre site in Brightspace where you'll find more ideas & handy note-taking templates ready to go.