Associate DegreeGeneral English I

(LCE 001)2004 – 2004

Study Skills: Listening to Lectures

TSIM Kam Wan

Listening to Lectures

What problems do I have in listening to Lectures?

Why do I need to listen to the lectures?

How can I get the most out of the lecturing?

How can I take notes?

• You can hear about 500 words per minutes, but only write about 30 words per minute, so you have to be selective in what information you write down.

• A lecturer can speak about 5 to 6 times faster than you can take notes.

• You will forget 80% of what you hear and see in a lecture if you do not take notes.

• Listen carefully. Selectively record. Reflect.

Problems you have

Why do we have lectures?

• Information procedure enquiry demonstrate

• claim evidence support

• argument critique research apply

How to prepare for the lecture?

BEFORE CLASS 1. Prepare ahead of time--read assigned chapter, re-read notes, etc.

2. Think ahead; anticipate what is going to be said.

3. Avoid distractions--noisy students, open windows, etc.

4. Sit where you can hear and see clearly, preferably toward the front of the classroom.

While Listening1. Listen for ways to relate ideas to

previous lectures, to the textbook, and to previous experiences.

2. Listen for what is being said, not how it's being said.

3. Do not try to write everything down. 4. Be ready to participate. 5. Look for clues from the professor that

indicate what he/she considers important. (vocal, postural, and visual cues)

After Listening

1. Review what was said as soon as class is over.

2. Seek answers to questions that arise.

A checklist of cues• repeating ideas• repeating a particular word or phrase• repeating something very slowly so that it can

be noted down word for word• re-positioning - standing up, moving closer to

the audience…• Talking more quickly, or louder, or with

more emphasis, or making dramatic pauses• using particular hand gestures, looking

serious• focussing attention on the audience• writing something on the board/ohp• saying students must know something or be

able to do something

What are the purposes for Note-Taking?

•For using the boring time in–class?•For copying?•For revision? •For examination?•For learning?

(What? Why? How? When? )

How to take notes?• Re-writing or typing notes.

• Audiotaping lectures (because it has to played back in its entirety).

• Writing down notes in short-hand (because the notes have to be transcribed).

Which Note-taking Method?

Depending on the type of class, you may have to choose a different approaches to note-taking. 

1.Sentence Method

2.Cornell Method3.Outlining4.Table5.Concept Mapping

(1) SENTENCE APPROACH TO NOTE-TAKING:

When information is presented quickly in a lecture and it is difficult to determine how the points fit together.

(2) CORNELL SYSTEM OF NOTE-TAKING.

1. The Cornell System was originally developed by Walter Pauk in How to Study In College (2nd ed). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.

2. Take out a sheet of looseleaf notebook paper. (A looseleaf notebook works better than a spiral notebook because you can shuffle the papers later to organize them).

3. 2½ inches from the left edge of your paper draw a vertical line from the top to the bottom of the paper. The left hand column will be used for key words or cues that you think of after the lecture. The right hand column is used to take notes from lecture.

4. When you take notes, abbreviate or write down key ideas.

5. Avoid writing down the lecturer’s comments verbatim (i.e., word for word).

6. Record information in your own words.

7. Space your comments on the page so they are legible instead of crowding them.

8. Think of a key word or phrase or summary that you can write into the left hand column that will help trigger your recall of the information on the right.

9. Reflect on your notes.

10. When you review, cover up the right side of the paper and look at the key words on the left. Try to remember what was written on the right and summarize it in your own words.

11. Recall and review the information about 10 minutes per week to strengthen your recall of it.

12. Draw a horizontal line 2 inches from the bottom of the page. In this box, in your own words write a summary of the main ideas that you want to remember from that page.

(3) OUTLINING APPROACH TO NOTE-TAKING:

• Write down the main point near the left margin. With each more specific piece of information, indent a few spaces to the right. Indent minor points under the major points. The more specific the point, the more it will be placed to the right.

• You can use Roman numerals or numbers or letters to show the hierarchy of ideas, but simply indenting can be sufficient.

• This approach works well if the lecture is organized and does not go too fast.

(3) OUTLINING APPROACH TO NOTE-TAKING:

Structure

You can use the following sample format if desirable:

I. Main PointA. Supporting Point or Related ConceptB. Supporting Point or Related Concept

1. Relevant Fact 2. Relevant Fact

C. Supporting Point or Related Concept1.       Relevant Fact

      a. detail      b. detail      c. detail II. Main Point

A. Supporting Point or Related Concept

(4) TABLE APPROACH TO NOTE-TAKING

• If the lecture includes many categories of information and a number of examples in each of these categories, you can arrange the information in a table.

• This method can help compare different examples of each category.

The pictures are `worth a thousand words‘. They make use of a massive range of cortical skills:

colour, form, line, dimension, texture, visual rhythm and especially imagination - a word taken from the

Latin imaginari, literally meaning `to picture mentally'.

(3) CONCEPT MAPPING APPROACH TO NOTE-TAKING:

Mind maps use pictures

Lars-Eric Edvinsson The fictional Mind Sports character

French revolution

Benefits of Mind Map Notes and the Master Mind Map

1. They enable you to keep the whole knowledge “picture” in view at all times, thus giving you a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of the subject in its entirely.

2. They take up far less space than linear notes. Between 10 and 1000 pages of text can be summarised on one large Mind Map page.

3. They give your brain a central focus and structure within which integrate your knowledge of any subject.

4. The increase your brain’s ‘hunger’ for knowledge.

Benefits of Mind Map Notes and the Master Mind Map

6. They allow you to relate your own thoughts and ideas to those expressed in books, lectures or presentations.

7. They are far more effective and efficient for review purposes.

8. They enhance your memory and understanding of books, lectures and presentations, enabling you to excel in any course of study.

Summary of the Mind Map Laws/Techniques

1. Use emphasis -Always use a central image- Use images throughout your Mind Map- Use three or more colours per central image- Use dimension in images- Use synaesthesia (the blending of the physical senses)- Use variations of size of printing, line and image- Use organised spacing- Use appropriate spacing

2. Use Association- Use arrows when you want to make connections within and across the branch pattern- Use colours- Use codes

3. Be Clear-Use only one key word per line- Print all words- Print key words on lines- Make line length equal to word length- Connect lines to other lines- Make the central lines thicker- Make your boundaries `embrace' your branch outline- Make your images as clear as possible- Keep your paper placed horizontally in front of you- Keep your printing as upright as possible

4. Develop a personal style/Layout1 Use hierarchy2 Use numerical order

Mind Mapping for Lectures

• When taking notes, especially from lectures, it is important to remember than Key words and images are essentially all that is needed.

• In note taking, it is the content and not the look (ie tidy notes) that is important.

Old and New Study Techniques

•Learning •Thinking •Recalling •Sensing •Creating •Note Making •Studying

The Mind Map Organic Study Technique is divided into two main sections:

• Preparation and Application. Each section is divided into four sub-sections. – Preparation

• Browse • Time and Amount • Knowledge Mind Map • Questions and Goals

– Application • Overview • Preview • Inview • Review

Advantages over the linear form of note-taking.

1. The centre with the main idea is more clearly defined

2. The relative importance of each idea is clearly indicated. More important ideas will be nearer the centre.

3. The links between key concepts will be immediately recognised.

4. Recall and review will be more effective and more rapid

5. Addition of new information is easy 6. Each map will look different from other maps,

aiding recall 7. In the more creative areas of note making, the open-

ended nature of the map will enable the brain to make new connections far more readily.

Uses of Mind Maps• Notes. Whenever information is being taken in, mind

maps help organize it into a form that is easily assimilated by the brain and easily remembered. They can be used for noting anything -- books, lectures, meetings, interviews, phone conversations.

• Recall. Whenever information is being retrieved from memory, mind maps allow ideas to be quickly noted as they occur, in an organized manner. There's no need to form sentences and write them out in full. They serve as quick and efficient means of review and so keep recall at a high level.

• Creativity. Whenever you want to encourage creativity, mind maps liberate the mind from linear thinking, allowing new ideas to flow more rapidly. Think of every item in a mind map as the center of another mind map.

Uses of Mind Maps• Problem solving. Whenever you are confronted by a

problem -- professional or personal -- mind maps help you see all the issues and how they relate to each other. They also help others quickly get an overview of how you see different aspects of the situation, and their relative importance.

• Planning. Whenever you are planning something, mind maps help you get all the relevant information down in one place and organize it easily. They can be used for planning any piece of writing from a letter to a screenplay to a book (I use a master map for the whole book, and a detailed sub-map for each chapter), or for planning a meeting, a day or a vacation.

• Presentations. Whenever I speak I prepare a mind map for myself of the topic and its flow. This not only helps me organize the ideas coherently; the visual nature of the map means that I can read the whole thing in my head as I talk, without ever having to look at a sheet of paper.

(1) Different Kinds of Mind Mapping

(2) Different Kinds of Mind Mapping

(3)Different Kinds of Mind Mapping

(5)Different Kinds of Mind Mapping

(6) Different Kinds of Mind Mapping

(7) Different Kinds of Mind Mapping

Web-sites for note-taking

1. Aston University, Birmingham Study Strategies Online

• http://www.aston.ac.uk/welfareservices/studyskills/note_taking.htm#Note%20Taking%20in%20lectures%20-%20General%20Advice

2. LaTrobe University-LISTENING TO LECTURES AND NOTE-TAKING

• http://www.latrobe.edu.au/lasu/services/handout.pdf

3. College of Saint Benedict• http://www.csbsju.edu/academicadvising/help/

lec-note.html

Websites for study skills

• ACADEMIC SURVIVAL GUIDE

• http://www.oleanbusinessinstitute.net/study.htm