As the new semester starts, we are getting ready to get back into our regular routine of studying, studying and more studying. Every student is different in regards to studying techniques, but to make studying more bearable, there are many ways to make our notes more enjoyable. I have found a few creative ways to make our study notes more fun to make and read. Hopefully, this will be helpful to you in your classes this semester.
- Create a Table of Contents in Your Notebooks
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Tables of content always prepare someone for what to expect while reading a piece of material. Our lectures are always based on one topic. Start a new page for each lecture and put the topic of the lecture at the top and the number of the page that it’s on. For example, you could put, “Chapter 4, pg. 30” in the table of contents.
- Conversational Way of Note Taking
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The professor explaining a topic is one thing, but explaining a topic to yourself helps you remember the information better. During the lectures, you could write your notes in a conversational manner. You could write about a topic as if you’re trying to explain it to your parents and relatives at a family dinner or explaining it to your best friend. Imagine yourself explaining a topic in your own way that could better help you understand the information.
- Cornell Note-Taking
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For those of you that don’t know, Cornell notes is a note-taking system created by Walter Pauk in 1940. He was an education professor at Cornell University. He has a best-selling book called How To Study in College. The style is designed to help keep your notes more organized. You can use different colours for vocabulary, and add new information in a different colour. It’s a vivid way to visualize your notes and improve your studying.
- Colorful Notes
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Colourful notes are a great way to take notes. It is much easier to remember the material if your notes look different. Every topic is in a bright colour, and if the information is repeated, you can put your own special symbol right next to it or highlight right under the material. These are good indicators that the repeated information is important and might be on an exam.
- Sticky Notes
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You also have the option of putting sticky notes to highlight the most important points. It can serve as a little reminder while reading through that you should learn more about the topic or that it could possibly be on an exam.
The new semester is a great way to start fresh. You can try these note-taking techniques for one of your classes and see how comfortable you are with it. There are many other ways to write down information during lectures. Hopefully, some of these help your studying sessions become more bearable and enjoyable in the new semester!