Color-coordinate the folders and notebooks for each of your courses. For example, buy a green notebook and folder for science, a blue notebook and folder for history, a red notebook and folder for literature and so forth. On the first page, write the title of the lecture and the date and begin taking notes. Start each subsequent lecture on a new page and again write the title and date. If you miss a class, leave several pages blank in your notebook, ask a friend or your teacher if you can get those notes and insert them into the blank pages. Another way to organize your notes is by purchasing a three-ring spiral binder, loose-leaf paper, subject dividers and 3-ring pocket folders for handouts and assignments. For your first course, insert plenty of loose-leaf paper, then insert a 3-ring pocket folder and finally a divider. Repeat for the next course. If you are on an alternating-day schedule, purchase two 3-ring binders. Put science and history in one and literature and art in the other, for example. If your teacher allows you to use your laptop in class for taking notes, create a folder for each course. For each lecture, either a) start a new document and “save as” the date followed by an abbreviated title of the lecture (doing this will help when it comes time to study as you will be able to quickly see the order of the lectures by date) or b) create a running document, in which you type the title of the lecture and the date at the start of each lecture. Leave some space between lectures, and bold and enlarge the font of the lecture title and date so you can easily see when a new one begins.
Sometimes teachers will make course materials available online, including lectures, readings and helpful resources. If not stated in the course syllabus, ask your teacher how to access these materials. If your teacher uses electronic media in class but does not post it online, ask if he or she might do so.
Doing this before each class meeting will have a multiplying effect, making all subsequent study efforts more, well, effortless. It also has the added benefit of being ready for the often inevitable and generally dreaded pop quiz!
Space out the time between studying each set of lecture notes. For example, read over your notes within 24 hours of taking them. If you do this, you will retain approximately 50% of the material. If you wait longer than 24 hours, however, you will only retain about 20% of the material. [6] X Research source Then wait another week or two to read that lecture’s notes again and so forth. While waiting to reread might sound counterintuitive (Won’t you forget a lot by waiting, after all?), cognitive psychologists have found that the closer you are to forgetting the material, the more you will cement the information to your long-term memory through the process of re-exposure and remembering. [7] X Research source [8] X Research source Additionally, read your notes aloud. This converts a passive activity into an active one and creates auditory links in your memory pathways. [9] X Research source Mix up the topics you study. Let’s say you’ve set aside two hours of studying per day. Instead of spending an entire study session studying your notes from one class, spend a ½ hour studying one subject, a ½ hour studying another subject, and then repeat. Mixing up topics in this way (interleaving) requires a type of information reloading that forces your brain to notice similarities and differences – a higher order of information processing that leads to greater comprehension and long-term retention. Part of this study technique’s modus operandi is that as soon as you begin to feel like you really know the material, you need to switch it up and work on something else for awhile. So put away that blue notebook and pull out the red one.
Another way to do this is by constructing a concept map, which is a diagram that encourages critical thinking by visually showing relationships between concepts that help you organize and evaluate both the main ideas and supporting details presented in your lecture notes. The more connections you make between concepts, the more likely you are to both remember the material and to understand the “bigger picture,” a particularly useful ability for essay questions, essay exams and finals. [11] X Research source Of note: Recent research has found that, while students tend to record more of what the teacher says verbatim when using their laptops as typing is faster than writing, students who take written notes comprehend and retain more because taking notes by hand requires active listening and purposeful selection of what to write. [12] X Research source Nonetheless, many students still try to hand write everything the teacher says. To promote retention and efficiency in studying your notes, create an outline from your notes. It will make your likely copious notes more manageable and help move the information more quickly down those neural pathways toward cementation through the process of repeated exposure.
Reciting is one of the most active means of studying and learning. It will help you discover the gaps in your memory and understanding, elaborate on the main ideas and concepts, test your overall comprehension and help you make connections between issues. You can also create cue cards to use when reciting. Pick up a pack of unlined 3x5 or 4x6 notecards and write cue words (never full sentences) – or a main idea, date, diagram, formula or name – and begin discussing it aloud. If you’ve created them in order with, say your outline, shuffle them before reciting. This plays back to the idea that mixing up information forces your brain to work harder, thereby storing the information more securely.
“Why are these facts important?” “How can they be applied?” “What else do I need to know to make the pieces all fit together?” What experiences do I have that relate to this information?” How does this all relate to what I already know or think about the world?”
Keep all of your flash cards in one stack instead of separating them into smaller stacks. Doing this initiates the spacing effect, which enhances recall and retention. After you have gone through them several times at spaced time intervals, separate the cards that you consistently get right and focus on those that you do not.
Concepts related to the identified words might include examples, reasons why the identified word is important, related issues, sub-categories and so forth. For both flash cards and concept cards, pick up a few index file boxes or cases/holders to store your cards. The cases/holders, particularly, come in a variety of colors and can be matched with the colors you chose for your subjects’ folders and notebooks, if you went that route in organizing your notes. You can also carry one or both sets of cards with you and use them in your down time, such as when you’re waiting at the doctor’s office, while riding the bus or between classes.
After the first exam in a particular course, you often, though not always, will have a good idea of the test format your teacher prefers and uses. If the test was all multiple choice, for example, consider creating more multiple choice questions from your lecture notes for that course. When constructing your practice test questions, try to anticipate and construct questions that might show up on the real exam. Look in your notes for cause/effect relationships, examples and hypotheticals, definitions, dates, lists and diagrams. After your first exam, look at the questions you missed. Go back to your notes and see if that material was in your notes. Perhaps it was in your text, or perhaps it was in your notes but you didn’t consider it as important as your teacher obviously did. Use this insight to adjust not only your practice tests but also your note taking and studying in general.
An additional benefit to this approach is that you will likely identify areas that you initially did not deem particularly important to study but later recognized were when your study partner presented them. It also helps fill in holes in your notes when your study partner presents something you don’t have recorded. You also could spend your time together (or apart) creating practice tests for each other.
Some schools have Web-based learning management systems that allow students to sign up for study groups within courses. If this is not an option, talk with your teacher about how to facilitate forming one. If you know others in the class, ask them if they would like to join. A study group should have 3-4 committed members. Too many voices can create chaos and little work accomplished. Your group should meet once per week. This will ensure that you do not try to cram in too much material in each meeting.
General: “Why does this make sense?” “Why is this unexpected given what I already know about this topic?” Specific: “Why do things only stay in our short-term memory for about 18 seconds without rehearsal or review?” “Why does cramming for tests so often result in lower grades?” The technique is so effective because it forces you to draw upon prior knowledge, to think critically about the information, to make connections between the two and to respond in your own words. Simply put, these processes help to hardwire the information into your brain.
