Note Taking, Test Preparation

1. Note Taking, Test Preparation

2. Quiz • Let’s start with a 9-minute test • Based on Grade 10 math concepts

3. Taking Notes from Texts and Lectures A. Lectures and Note-Taking B. General Principles C. Note-Taking Systems D. New Technology

4. Purpose of Lectures • immediate event: lectures progress in real time and demand mental and physical participation. • stimulate FOCUS

5. Goals of Note-Taking • capture the essence of your lecture while you simultaneously listen, study, or observe • note taking serves two functions: learning and external storage (DiVesta & Gray, 1972) • Learning is the most important

6. How Notes Work • require abbreviations, short-cuts, paraphrases, reformatting • creative, effortful acts • effort = memorability • effort develops from speed difference between speech and writing

7. Note Taking & Speed • effort=memorability • effort created by difference between speech and writing • Writing speed: 0.2 to 0.3 WPS • Speaking speed: 2 to 3 WPS

8. Lectures Lecturing 3 words per second Writing 0.3 words per second Unequal speeds create challenge

9. Note Taking Effort • effort of note taking GREATER than that of reading, studying • Greater even than CHESS!

10. Distraction Effect (ms)

11. BUT—Bad Notes Are Bad • Many students are poor note takers • typically record less than half of the key ideas presented

12. Printed Notes? • pre-printed course packs ensure crucial material is accurate and complete • allow the student to concentrate on the lecture (reducing multi-tasking) BUT • reduce the student's role in note production—Problem?

13. Ideal Lecture Notes • ideally, work with prepared course note packages • annotate, highlight, and mark them vigorously Good point!

14. Note-Taking Principles 1.Get used to incompleteness • do NOT copy every word: as completeness RISES, comprehension FALLS • Even worse with a keyboard!

15. Note-Taking Principles 2. Classify the information. • Listen for “metamessages” as well as content • Listen to examples; record key concepts

16. Focus on Metamessages • Crucial hints, e.g., “the details of this process are not important at this point”

17. Focus on Metamessages • Crucial hint: “I don’t expect you to memorize them all” BUT • “you should recognize some properties of major groups”

18. Note-Taking Principles 3. Organize the information. • consider adopting a consistent, formal note-taking plan • may improve clarity or save time • works with PPT slides or bare paper . . .

19. Print slides in “notes pages” format • Provides space to add your own notes • Remember: The purpose of note-taking is LEARNING

20. Watch for “summary slides” • Identify key topics • Use as direct tests

21. Summary • Review readings & slides before lecture • Print slides and leave space to annotate them • Focus on metamessages • Use slides/notes as tests and test yourself

22. If You Know Everything Already . . . • Extend your knowledge: Develop questions • Test yourself: in REVIEW, everything looks familiar (“passive review” WEAK!) • Tests provide retrieval practice & knowledge of performance • Remember: you will not only have to know the material but retrieve it quickly and accurately

23. No Printouts? • Printouts are not always available • Printing requires time & money • What is the best way to take notes if printouts are not an option? • 3 Principles, 3 Formats

24. Three Note-Taking Formats 1. outline system 2. Graphic approaches 3. Cornell system

25. 1. Outline System • Illustrates the relative value of major points and supporting ideas • highly structured • effort of forming a coherent outline makes the material memorable • Organized appearance also makes the notes comprehensible • Drawbacks of outline format: • too slow for many situations • only useful for lectures with clear structure

27. 2. Branching &Mind Mapping: • informal, strongly visual ways of expressing relationships between ideas • start in the middle of the page with a key idea; draw a radiating line for each subtopic • indicate connections between ideas with branching lines

29. What is a Mindmap? • A mindmap is a way of organizing ideas in a highly pictorial way

30. Sample Hand-Drawn Mindmap

31. Why mindmap? • Make new connections between ideas • Fast and easy to create • Memorable (for some) • Fun!

32. 3. Cornell System: Simple system that • Leaves adequate room for later re-organization • Creates an automatic quiz system

33. Cornell System 1949 Cornell U Test preparation format Walter S. Pauk • Most major US law schools Developed-- • When? • Where? • Why? • By? • Now Used?

34. 3-Part System Phase 1: Before the Lecture • Review previous notes • Prepare paper for current notes (date, course, name, page numbers)

35. 3-Part System Phase 2: During the Lecture • record notes on the right-hand side of the page • capture main points writing quickly • you may NOT have time to re-write • only re-write notes if this is a crucial study activity for you! • notes should convey the necessary information the first time you write them.

36. 3-Part System Phase 3: After the Lecture • jot down key words and phrases on the left side of the paper • helps organize material • TEST: cover the right side of the notebook • use key words and phrases as test questions

37. Hybrids • Note that you can combine approaches—e.g., graphical approach plus Cornell

38. Branching/Cornell Approach One/several batches—1000s! -how ticks find cattle? -responses: warm/cold? -why does blood continue to flow in host? -host questing risky—adaptations? Releases apyrase (anti-coag.) & kininase (no itch) smells butyric acid in mammalian sweat “seed tick”

39. Testing as Study • Every diagram is the basis for a test (reproduce sketch diagrams to self-test) • highest learning gains from testing; best form of study! • Testing may actually replace notes—soon

40. Testing • Tests enhance learning and improve long-term retention, a phenomenon known as the “testing effect” (Agarwal et al., 2007) • In a 2006 experiment, subjects predicted they would recall more in the future after repeated studying than after testing

41. Know Thyself • They were wrong • testing enhanced long-term retention better than restudying • monitor and regulate your own learning—you may surprise yourself

42. Notes and Textbooks • Highlighting no substitute for study • Notes/Testing more memorable • Excellent chapter-end summaries and questions—use them!

43. Textbooks • Start with the questions—then look for the answers • Use end of chapter summaries as “advance organizers” • Take notes & test as well as read—passive review is a weak learning strategy

44. Last Word: New Technology • Technology claims are usually overstated (e.g., TABLETS!) • Some new devices look promising • Some do not

45. York-McMaster Study • “multitasking on a laptop poses a significant distraction to both users and fellow students and can be detrimental to comprehension of lecture content.” (2013)

46. “Smart” Pens? • Livescribe—not that I’m endorsing their product • Traditional pen with digital enhancement • Records audio, coordinates with digitized text

48. New Technology • Systems are maturing—and some may really be better • We are on the verge of HUGE changes • Most of the old principles will still apply!

49. Do you like Tests?

50. Top Tips • Apply Distribution • Use Self-Testing • Anticipate Test Form