Page 211 - Keys to College Success

get analytical

FACE A NOTE-TAKING CHALLENGE

Complete the following on paper or in digital format.

Analyze the note-taking task ahead of you in your most difficult class.
1. What is the name of the course that is most challenging for you right now?
2. What factors make this class challenging?
1 7 3. Consult your syllabus, and then list what you have to read (text sections and/or other materials) before your next
CHAPTER CHAPTER 4. Which note-taking strategy will best help you make meaning from your reading assignments for this class?
class meeting.

5. Which note-taking system is best suited to the material and instructor for use in class, and why?
6. Name three note-taking strategies that will best help you address the challenge of this class.

Timelines. Use a timeline to organize information into chronological order. Draw a
vertical or horizontal line on the page and connect each item to it in order, noting dates
and descriptions.

Hierarchy charts. Charts showing an information hierarchy can help you visualize
how pieces fit together. For example, use a hierarchy chart to show classification levels
of plants.

Electronic Strategies

If you take notes using an electronic device, saving them safely is essential. You can
save notes on your device or on a remote server (known as “the cloud”) connected to
the Internet. Evernote is a software package that lets you take notes using any com-
puter or Android phone. These notes include text, webpage URLs and content, photo-
graphs, or voice memos—all of which can have attachments. You can save your notes
on your own computer or on a special Evernote server.
Google Drive is another example of a documentation and note-taking tool
that lets you save text to the cloud. With Google Drive, you need only connect to
the Internet, open Google Drive, and start typing. When you’re done, you save your
work to a collection (folder) of your choice, hosted on a Google server. You can also
download the file to your own computer. You can allow other people in a study
group to access your file in Google Drive and edit it, adding new information where
necessary.
Finally, recent note-taking technology has added recording capabilities to your
arsenal. The Livescribe “smartpen” records exactly what you hear and write with the
pen on a specialized notebook which saves everything electronically, enabling you to
store and review the lecture and your notes on a computer. SoundNote is a similar
application that works with tablet computers. When you type notes on a tablet,
SoundNote will record everything you type, as well as what you are hearing if you are
attending the class in person. Students who have challenges similar to Chandra’s may
find that recording devices help them go back through the lecture to find the key
points they missed.

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