Note-Taking

Note-taking has always been something that I've wanted to improve. It's a skill that some people have mastered learned throughout school, but for me, I find myself changing my techniques often. Going from writing notes on my computer, to writing detailed notes in my notebook, and sometime not even writing notes at all, just listening (which never works).

For a class like Chem (CHE 116), I've found that I've tried all of those techniques above, but I still don't have a comfortable note taking strategy. When the different startegies were presented in class, there was one specific one that was recommended for a science class, 1-Plus-3 Notes. For this strategy you write your notes on one side and leave the other blank when writing notes in lecture then accomplish these following steps

1. In lecture, write notes like you would usually do

2. After class, reread the written notes

3. Then, on the opposite side, blank side, draw a box (like shown).
   -->Box A: Write key terms/concepts
   -->Box B: Make a graphic organizer to represent those key terms
   -->Box C: Predict test questions

4. REVIEW WEEKLY
   
   
   

This strategy was a great change-up from my normal note-taking. 1-Plus-3 Note-Taking forced me to summarize the notes on each page, which I would have never done before. It also erased the extra information I didn't need. The charts are going to be extremely helpful when it comes time for the 2nd exam. Plus, CHE 116 has a lot of equations and definitions that we need to know by heart for each exam and especially for the final.

My second technique that I tried during the process of finding note-taking strategies that work for me was Plug-In Notes. This strategy works especially well on a computer note-taking program. I use Preview, which is a viewing application for lecture documents. Preview has a great feature where you can annotate and highlight text. I just started using this application in BIO 123 because Dr. Wiles just allowed lecture notes to be posted before class. During class I write any side notes that he mentions other than what is written on each slide. Having this application also allows me to write predicted questions as I go along. I love this application because it makes my notes neat and organized. These annotated notes can also be printed for feature use....(hint-hint: studying for the final)