Page 222 - Keys To Community College Success

Here are suggestions for creating effective summaries:

■ Choose material to summarize—a textbook chapter, for example, or an article.
■ Before you summarize, identify the main ideas and key supporting details by high-
lighting or annotating the material.
■ Wherever possible, use your own words. When studying a technical subject with
precise definitions, you may have little choice but to use text wording.
■ Try to make your writing simple, clear, and brief. Eliminate less important
details.
■ Consider creating an outline of your notes or the portion of the text so you can
see the interrelationship among ideas.
1 7 ■ Include information from tables, charts, photographs, and captions in your sum-
CHAPTER CHAPTER ■ Combine word-based and visual note-taking forms that effectively condense the
mary; these visual presentations may contain important information not written
in the text.

information, such as a concept map, timeline, chart, or outline.
■ Use visual strategies such as a color-coding system to indicate different ideas or
different colored pens to indicate levels of importance for information.

Combine Class and Reading Notes
into a Master Set

Studying from either text or class notes alone is not enough, since your instructor
may present material in class that is not in your text or may gloss over topics that
your text covers in depth. The process of combining class and text notes enables you
to see patterns and relationships among ideas, find examples for difficult concepts,
MASTER NOTE SET
and much more. It strengthens memory and offers a cohesive and comprehensive
The complete, integrated note study tool, which is especially useful at midterm or finals time. Follow these steps to
set that contains both class
use a master note set:
and text notes.
Step 1: Condense down to what’s important. Combine and reduce your notes so
they contain only main ideas and key supporting details, such as terms, dates, formulas,
and examples. Tightening and summarizing forces you to critically evaluate which
ideas are most important. Key 7.11 shows a comprehensive outline and a reduced key
term outline of the same material.

Step 2: Recite what you know. As you approach exam time, use the terms in your
bare-bones notes as cues for reciting what you know about a topic. Many students
assume that they know concepts simply because they understand what they read. What
they are actually demonstrating is a passive understanding that doesn’t necessarily
mean that they can re-create the material on an exam or apply it to problems. Make the
process more active by reciting out loud during study sessions, writing your responses
on paper, making flash cards, or working with a partner.

Step 3: Use critical thinking. Reflect on ideas as you review your combined notes:
■ Generate examples from other sources that illustrate central ideas. Write down new
ideas or questions that come up as you review.
■ Think of ideas from your readings or from class that support or clarify your notes.
■ Consider what in your class notes differed from your reading notes and why.
■ Apply concepts to problems at the ends of text chapters, to problems posed in class,
or to real-world situations.

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