About five weeks ago I took my first nutrition exam. I thought it would be a piece of cake- the professor had told us all of the test questions the class before the exam! I didn't need to study anything else... How wrong was I? Let's just say that I was a little disappointed with my grade and I knew I needed to change my methods of studying and note taking for that class.
I was pleased to see that CLS 105 had a project that was the perfect opportunity for me to try new ways of studying for NSD 225. This week for note-taking I chose to do the 1+3
method. The 1+3 method has three separate parts that help you to identify important information from readings, or in my case, the online lecture notes that my professor always provides us with.
Previously, I printed out the lecture notes, highlighted them whenever something important was mentioned, and then put them away in my binder until the night before the exam. This time I decided to try out more active note taking.
I chose a lecture we haven't gotten to yet and dove right in. Yes, I was a little lost as I was reading, but I went back a few times and finally it all started to make sense. After I understood the reading I made the skeletal form of my 1+3 notes: dividing the paper into three portions. Then I went back to my reading and pulled out the key terms or concepts that I thought would be important to studying and to understanding the material.
After the key terms were pulled out I made a graphic organizer involving those terms to show how they were all related. As a visual/kinesthetic learner graphic organizers are a great way for me to better understand the material. Rewriting the material helps to keep the information in my mind and visualizing the connections and relations reinforces it too.
Once I was done with the graphic organizer I filled in the last box. I made a bunch of questions from the reading and the key terms and the graphic organizer. These questions helped me to think about all aspects of the material- not just the key terms, but also the little details that may not be a main concept of the reading, but still important to an explanation. After completing all parts of the 1+3 notes I went back and answered the test questions and then reviewed the key terms.
The 1+3 notes were kind of a pain to make on the computer, but the format is now saved on my computer, so the next time I make them I will only have to fill them in. Other than that, I have no complaints. As a visual/kinesthetic learner repeating key terms, making graphic organizers and making test questions are all very active methods of studying and taking notes. The repetition and the visuals help me to remember the information.
Another thing to note is how easy 1+3 makes studying later on. If you have a bunch of 1+3 notes for a class and you have an exam coming up, instead of going back through all of your class and textbook notes, you can just gather each of your 1+3 notes. The key terms can be made into notecards, the graphic organizers can be combined or made bigger so that all of your material comes together. And the test questions can all be brought together so that you have the whole unit covered as you study.
I used this note taking method for the test prep that it seemed to give me... Hopefully my NSD 225 exam goes well!
I agree with you that the 1 plus 3 note-taking method is so convenient for studying before exams. I think it is so helpful to organize my notes and prepare questions from the notes I took in class. You can totally study off of what you wrote down and it builds up to the final test and it is a breeze if you keep up the 1 plus 3 strategy. Awesome pictures too, you seem so organized!
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