The value of notes is in their capacity to help you develop your thoughts, highlight connections between various ideas and spark new ideas from your documented work. Good notes influence your capacity for comprehension and recall, making it easier to revise classwork.
Unfortunately, many students go at note-taking as if they were on a marathon to jot down each word that spews from their tutor. This results in stacks and stacks of books that make it hard to find the key ideas in various sections leave alone to highlight the connection between various concepts.
This article will tackle various tips for note-taking for different types of learners. This guide will help you gain objectivity when taking your notes and ensure that you boost recall and comprehension.
Creative note-taking ideas
The key to note-taking is to understand the medium through which you learn best. Some learners, for instance, learn better from listening to recordings while others depend on visual content.
Before settling on any particular approach for note taking, apply varied methods and take tests to determine the best method for you. Without further ado, let’s investigate various note-taking methods you could employ.
Note taking for visual learners
Visual learners are those who rely on pictorial presentations to grasp various concepts. Some characteristics of visual learners include:
- learns best with visual representations
- tend to visualize ideas to make meaning of ideas
- easily distracted when the lecture method is used without aids
Visual note-taking method: Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is an effective note-taking style for the visual learner. This approach relates the central idea to other concepts with branches, helping a learner make a mental image of various concepts.
You may also couple this approach with color coding to highlight keywords, making it easier to recall a concept in totality. When possible, we recommend that a visual learner consult various videos and charts to find the best illustration of various topics.
Note taking strategies for auditory learners
Auditory learners often do better with audio as opposed to written words or pictures. As such, this type of learner requires to have summaries of concepts in audio form to enhance their recall capacity.
For this, a learner may acquire a recording device, pay attention to the lecture, and revisit the recording later to make note of the essential content. If no audio is available on a topic, the auditory learner may record themselves reading out the summary of a lesson and easily come back to the summary during revision.
Note taking tips for kinaesthetic learners
This category of learners employs a hands-on approach to learning and does better with interactive activities. Some of the tactile learner study tips include:
- act our various ideas to engage your motor memory and boost your recall of ideas via various physical cues
- Take breaks as you study to retain focus and reflect on various ideas in action
- Find hand-on activities that allow you to manipulate objects and see how various mechanisms work
- Draw graphs and flow charts of concepts to further cement your comprehension
- Take questions of a similar kind over and over again to find patterns in information/calculations and foster a better understanding
- Study with a partner to get a range of reactions and cues that will come in handy for better recall
Note taking tips for read-write learners
A read-write learner prefers information in print and can easily extract ideas from books as opposed to audio-visual media. Ideally, a read-write learner should employ the Cornell note-taking approach.
The Cornell approach ensures the neatness of your work by organizing your notes into three columns. The left column usually comprises keywords you have come across in a topic while the right column contains the notes taken during a class.
The bottom column provides a summary, allowing for more efficient revision. This approach also makes it easy to connect various topics by keywords, ensuring easier revision.
Tips for efficient note-taking
- Practice active listening to determine the key points discussed within a lecture
- Revise notes with friends to fill in areas you might have missed
- Connect new ideas with prior knowledge to facilitate easier recall and to build on ideas
- Have a separate book for each subject to avoid confusion during revision
- Highlight keywords and phrases in your notes to ensure easier comprehension
Final take
Quality notes are essential for your revision, comprehension, and recall. We hope you have found these tips useful for determining your ideal note-taking style and working towards improving your note-taking approach.
