A student that is presented with an assignment often takes a less complicated path to completion. This is not unusual when the overwhelming requirement is to memorize a set of literary vocabulary, a series of critical events, or the significance of a historical figure at a given point in time. This is primarily accomplished through study groups, scribbling on paper, or some form of visual or auditory recall of class or book related information. At a minimum, a student who takes this measure will pass the course and eventually graduate. But, what have we really learned? This portion emphasizes the strategy of note-taking in an academic setting. This is how a student begins to exhibit proficiency in written form.
“I write down everything and never assume that I will remember something because it seemed vivid at the time.” (Paul Theroux, The Wall Street Journal)
The first place to start when acquiring knowledge for a given course is by writing the information in sentence form. At the end of class and hopefully by the completion of a course, a student’s notebook will be filled with sentences, phrases, or words that retrace the lesson through its entirely. These sentences hold the essence of a much greater concept that is being relayed by the teacher, one that can be captured within an outline. Granted, most elements of an outline will not be found in the lesson. But, it is a practical place to begin sorting the information in a manner that complements the student’s learning pace or level of interest. Most of the sentences gathered from the classroom can be readily transferred to a corresponding location on the outline. Any part of the outline that is lacking in substance can be researched further by checking an encyclopedia, a dictionary or any other resources befitting the course theme.
For an advanced curriculum, the outline may be need to be supplemented with another method of study known as charting. This method can begin with paper but has the potential to expand into poster size dimensions. For instance, a course assignment that requires a cross section of historical inventors can start with a blank paper that is folded into three columns. One column contains young inventors such as Louis Braille, another column that contains inventors that remain unrivaled by the number of inventions they embarked upon, and finally a third column that highlights the unique achievements of female inventors. For a simple report, a chart of such inventors committed to paper will suffice. However, for a more rigorous goal of—retrace the timeline for a major inventor including the pivotal moments leading to the invention and the many ways in which that invention has impacted people and places over a period of time along with any controversial aspects—the poster approach will determine who earns a better grade than one who chooses the quicker route. The benefit of charting in the note-taking process cannot be overemphasized in any field where a student is contemplating mastery.
Another way to manage the influx of knowledge related to a topic is by mind mapping. Through mind mapping of the critical process of an event, the student can follow the path of any significant correlation. When a concept is viewed as geometrical objects such as a circle or a rectangle, the mapping can be regarded as the angles and the line between those angles. A vital point of information is represented by a corner in the rectangle, while the flow of that information is represented by a line connecting one angle to another angle that is located diagonally to the first. This shape can be simplified into a triangle or extended into an octagon based on the needs of the task. In the case of the circle, the circumference would represent an alignment of magnitude while the endpoints of the diameter signify one of many possible paths from one point of the circle to another. In this way, the circle serves to organize interrelated groups of information, i.e. longitude and latitudes, northern or southern hemispheres, or polar caps such as those found on a globe. The best example of mind mapping is national or international airline routes. The destinations are connected by intermediate stops that are not always on a straight line and can be scattered due to terrain or atmosphere. In other fields such as astrology, a stellar constellation is often approximated through an arrangement of geometric shapes so that it stands out from the surrounding cluster of stars.
Most students enter their school years with a mission to become as proficient as possible through the classes they choose or that are mandatory. The note-taking techniques suggested thus far are the most flexible of the options explored. A truly committed student will undergo a deeper level of learning with the Cornell method of note-taking. This particular variety of knowledge retention is a combination of the earlier skills. That is: it collects vital content, from a course or the textbook, through sentences that are placed on the right side of the paper. The left side of the paper is devoted to extraction of key points culled from the right side. Then, the bottom of the paper is reserved for a summary of the upper halves of the paper; namely, full ideas and succinct themes. The bottom section of the Cornell system provides reinforcement of the lesson based on several resources open and available to the student.
For all pupils, there are less obtrusive and more traditional approaches. A book that absolutely needs to be internalized can be better absorbed by inserting Post-It notes, where and when necessary. An oral examination that hinges on flawless execution of speech can be navigated through simple shuffling of index cards to remind the speaker of matters as they unfold. In general, the studying completed in a course or at a library is the most important requirement for becoming knowledgeable in a given field. When implemented thoroughly and properly, note-taking leads to the best level of writing at any point in the curriculum. Whatever the level of urgency or the lesson complexity, the planning effort invested is proportional to the grade or score achieved.
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