Southern Maine Community College

WISH Workshop on Note taking and

SQ3R

Notetaking goals: (1) memorizing essential facts

(2) creating a study tool

• Write to assist in memorizing

• Recording lectures helps some learners and makes good use of commute time

• Processing notes turns them into a study tool

It may seem obvious, but….

• Have a separate notebook for each course.• Use dividers to separate topics for efficient

studying.• File class handouts and related reading with your

notes on a topic.• Think, “I’m creating a study resource for this

course.”• Start each lecture on a new page: date, lecture

topic, key words and assignments from the board.

Listen actively

Always preview reading and Power points before lecture

Check syllabus often—know where the course is and where it’s going

Listen Actively

How is material presented-Theory? Case study? Experiential learning?

Listen Actively

Listen Actively

Is the information in the lecture different

from the text?

Listen Actively

Listen for important cue words

Can you identify some cue words?

Use Graphic Organizers

• Use the mental framework you gained from previewing the text to recognize what’s important and listen for details. (More detail when we cover SQ3R)

• Use outline format, abbreviations, shorthand, sketches to save time.

• Leave lots of space for information you missed.

Learning retention

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immediate 20 min 40 min 1 hr 9 hrs 2 days 6 days 31 days

time elapsed

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Percentage of new learning retained as time goes by, without review and relearning.

Processing (II)

Process the same day:• Fill in gaps. Ask someone for the info you missed.• Read your notes and underline, highlight, or “star”

sparingly, to help you locate information.• Write self-test questions and statements in the left-

hand column next to your notes.• Summarize information on the page at the bottom.• Don’t waste time rewriting—use the time self-

testing or making study notes.

The Cornell Note Taking System Recall Column Notes Column ------2 1/2”-------- ----------------6”-------------------- Reduce ideas and facts to concise jottings and summaries as cues for Record the lecture as fully and as Reciting, Reviewing, meaningfully as possible. and Reflecting. The format provides the perfect opportunity for following through with the 5 R's of note-taking. Here they are: 1. Record. During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts and ideas as you can. Write legibly. 2. Reduce. As soon after as possible, summarize these ideas and facts concisely in the Recall Column. Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity, and strengthens memory. Also, it is a way of preparing for examinations gradually and well ahead of time. 3. Recite. Now cover the column, using only your jottings in the Recall Column as cues or "flags" to help you recall, say over facts and ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in your own words and with as much appreciation of the meaning as you can. Then, uncovering your notes, verify what you have said. This procedure helps to transfer the facts and ideas of your long term memory. 4. Reflect. Reflective students distill their opinions from their notes. They make such opinions the starting point for their own musings upon the subjects they are studying. Such musings aid them in making sense out of their courses and academic experiences by finding relationships among them. Reflective students continually label and index their experiences and ideas, put them into structures, outlines, summaries, and frames of reference. They rearrange and file them. Best of all, they have an eye for the vital-for the essential. Unless ideas are placed in categories, unless they are taken up from time to time for re-examination, they will become inert and soon forgotten. 5. Review. If you will spend 10 minutes every week or so in a quick review of these notes, you will retain most of what you have learned, and you will be able to use your knowledge currently to greater and greater effectiveness. ______________________________________________ Summary Column 2 inches tall

©Academic Skills Center, Dartmouth College 2001

A great way to format your notetaking pages.

Then review

• After processing your notes and writing your summaries, go over them one more time.

• Cover up the notes column and use questions and cues in the recall column to recite the information on that page.

• Reflect—connections, insights• Review previous class notes starting a week or so

after the class. Make it part of your study time.

Textbooks as Study Guides

• Front Matter

• Back Matter

• Chapter Organization

Headings

Boldface & italicized words

Textbooks as Study Guides

Graphs, Charts, Visual Aids

Chapter Summary

Sample Questions

SQ3R :5 steps to better comprehension

• Survey

• Question

• Read

• Recite

• Review

Survey

Skim chapter- read headings, highlighted

Sections, chapter objectives, italicized words,

charts, etc

WHY? Consider it a warm for you brain to

receive and retain the information you are

about to read

Question

Turn each heading into a question before

you read. Then read section with question in

mind.

WHY? Helps you organize the information

and relate it to what you already know.

Read

Read the section to answer the question you

just asked.

Ask yourself “What is the main idea?” in each

paragraph.

WHY? The active involvement in your

reading keeps your concentration level high.

You read for the answers.

Recite

In your own words, recite what you have read.

Assess if you can fully answer the question

posed. Be honest! If not, do over.

WHY? Reciting the new information helps

move it from short term to long term

memory, available for future recall.

Review

Review chapter after reading. Can you answer the questions? Review chapter periodically.

WHY? More complete retention of material – makes for easier review for tests.