Introduction to Physical Science Reading/note Taking Guide

Do yous ever copy down pages of notes while reading but nevertheless struggle to recall what yous read? Alternatively, do y'all read through texts without taking notes and while only one-half paying attention? Perhaps you highlight or underline your texts simply feel like mayhap you're not getting the most from your reading. If you fall into 1 of these categories, chances are expert that yous're non getting the most out of your reading. This handout discusses the importance of taking good notes while reading and provides several different strategies and formats you tin can attempt.

The importance of good notes

Taking good notes while reading is an important part of academic success in higher. Well-nigh courses crave significant reading, and it can be difficult to understand and chief the material and do well in grade without solid note taking and reading skills.

Adept notes from your reading can help you lot:

• organize your ideas and information from the text
• continue focused and stay engaged while reading
• keep a record of what yous read then you tin more easily locate it in the future
• retrieve critically virtually what you read while you read
• depict conclusions and place main ideas of the text
• be prepared for form and build a foundation for lecture
• take solid materials to use to study for exams or prepare for assignments

How to accept good notes while reading

Good notes can take dissimilar forms and may vary from person to person—or even from text to text. 1 of the key ideas of proficient notation taking is that it is not necessary to re-create down loads of data from the text. Copying down information does not appoint your brain and is not a potent strategy for learning and remembering content. It also takes a lot of fourth dimension and energy. In contrast, just highlighting loads of data is simpler simply does not exercise much to actively engage the brain. Instead of copying downward tons of notes or over-highlighting, try some of the active and effective strategies and formats listed below. These will help you decrease the amount of time and free energy you spend on notes and increment your comprehension and memory from reading.

Dissimilar formats/strategies for notes

There is no one correct way to take notes while reading. The important thing is that you experiment with a few effective strategies, find some that work for y'all, and utilise them. You lot may find that different formats or strategies work better for different types of texts, too, and you may want to use different ones for different classes. Below are some examples to try:

Try taking notes from memory

• Students frequently miss the opportunity to digest the information from their texts because they're besides busy worrying about taking good notes—instead of actually comprehending the content, they're thinking more near what they should write down.
• Try reading brusque sections of your reading (likely a paragraph or two or up to a page) and pausing to remember nigh what you just read—then take notes from your retention of what you just read. This will assistance you focus on the principal points instead of getting defenseless up in details.
• If you lot are taking notes digitally or online, endeavor creating a Word or Google Document for each article or textbook affiliate you have read. Write a summary of the key points from each reading without looking back at the text. Then fill in the details by consulting the reading simply after you lot first accept recalled everything you can.
• It's okay to not remember 100% of what you simply read; focus on the main points, and then refer dorsum to the text to fill in details as needed.
• This method may have slightly longer, merely many students say it's worth it due to the increase in reading comprehension.

Check out our Taking Notes While Reading video for more tips on how to make your notes more efficient and effective.

Mark straight on the text

• If you have a print version that allows it, simply use a pen or pencil. For online texts, some digital programs as well allow annotating, highlighting, and commenting.
• Underline, circle, or highlight fundamental words and phrases—this can be helpful for students who need to practice something with their hands to help them stay focused.
• Annotate margins with symbols, abbreviations, or summaries of the text in your own words. See our annotating handout for more explanation.
• If y'all have an online text, yous can still record your thoughts, primal words, and summaries in this way. Just grab a manifestly canvas of paper, label information technology with the text and chapter/page number, and jot them downward on the newspaper instead of in the volume.

Cornell style notes

• Divide a piece of paper into 3 sections—approximately two inches blank at the lesser, and the top portion divided into a one-third section on the left and a two-third section on the right.
• Have notes on the right two-thirds of the page.
• List key words or questions in the left column.
• Summarize the entire folio in the space at the lesser.
• Larn more by readinga more detailed explanation of Cornell mode notes, or effort out of these MS Give-and-take templates.

App-based notes (EverNote and OneNote)

• EverNote is a popular notetaking app that tin can sync notes on all your devices. You can organize notes into individual "notebooks" relevant to different classes or topics. Its fans find it useful for full general note-taking and class notes every bit well as for daily tasks and organization.
• OneNote is an app that comes with Microsoft Office, which is free for UNC students! If you have not downloaded it yet, you tin download OneNote here. Much like EverNote, OneNote allows you to sync your notes and access them on any device. You can annotate notes, clip and salve multimedia content, and record audio notes.

Create a graphic organizer or concept map

• This method is good for texts that have a lot of higher level concepts that require explanations or texts that have remember-level facts, dates, terms, etc.
• Organize information visually.
• Differentiate main ideas from back up in an appropriate format: concept map, table, flow chart, hierarchy, timeline, or Venn diagram.
• Good for texts that take a lot of visuals, timelines, etc. like science or history.
• Generate Your Own Q&A or Study Guide.
• Formulate questions from headings and keywords before you lot begin. Then seek answers equally you read
• Are y'all studying for exam a that will require a lot of visual identification? Consider creating your own Pinterest lath to organize image-based notes.

Helpful tips

• Write notes in your own words instead of copying downwardly information from the volume.
• Avoid over-highlighting. Highlighting doesn't do much to actively engage the brain, so it'south not the most useful strategy. Too, highlighting too much can go along you from focusing on the primary ideas. For tips on highlighting more than thoughtfully, come across the strategies on our highlighting handout.
• Await until the end of a folio to take notes so that y'all tin better focus on what you are reading then that you tin can try to summarize in your ain words rather than copy.
• You don't need to write pages of notes—keep them brief and focused.
• Preview the affiliate before yous start reading by looking at the text features to proceeds clues most the main ideas of the chapter.
• Focus on the main ideas and concepts.

Other resources

While taking good notes when reading is important and will go a long way, it's likewise helpful to employ other UNC resources—not only for notation taking and reading, but also for any academic area. Bank check out some of these resource to provide supplemental support:

Bookish Coaching: Make an appointment with an academic coach to talk one-on-ane most note-taking—and any other bookish business concern.
Office Hours: Make an appointment with your professor or TA to talk virtually annotation-taking for his/her specific class/text.
Related Learning Centre handouts: Many of our handouts go into further detail virtually reading. Check out some of these for additional strategies:

• Annotating Texts
• Increasing Reading Comprehension
• Skimming
• Reading Textbooks

Works consulted

"Concept Mapping." Cornell Academy. Retrieved from http://lsc.cornell.edu/concept-maps/.

"The Cornell Annotation-taking System." Cornell University. Retrieved from http://lsc.cornell.edu/notes.html.

"Constructive Reading and Note Taking." MIT. Retrieved from http://uaap.mit.edu/tutoring-support/study-tips/tooling-and-studying/tooling-and-studying-effective-reading-and-annotation-taking.

"Reading a Textbook for True Agreement." Cornell College. Retrieved from https://world wide web.cornellcollege.edu/academic-support-and-advising/report-tips/reading-textbooks.shtml

"Reading Note Taking Strategies." UNSW Sydney. Retrieved from https://educatee.unsw.edu.au/notemaking-written-text

---

This work is licensed under a Creative Eatables Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
You lot may reproduce it for non-commercial apply if yous use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Learning Center, Academy of North Carolina at Chapel Colina

If you relish using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

Make a Gift

ashbyartiontily.blogspot.com

Source: https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/taking-notes-while-reading/

Share this post