Kareem Ibrahim

Mrs. Isenkul

10/16/19

Note-taking Strategies

Note-taking is an important part of higher-level education. Having good note-taking skills in college can really help to better one’s learning experience and could also help to improve one’s grades. Note-taking strategies not only help one to adjust to different words not usually used but also help the reader to develop new skills. There are three different variables that influence my note-taking skills and they are summarizing key ideas, outlining different material, and strengthening memory retention.

The first step into taking good notes is to summarize key ideas. When one summarizes key ideas from informative text and learning materials it helps to make learning the main ideas of a chapter or work much simpler. This also helps one to focus on the details of the information that the notes are being taken from. This is another point of emphasis while taking notes. Staying focused on the topic and listening to the instructor. Paying attention to the key ideas the instructor says in class can go a long way in helping taking better notes. Also, summarizing the key ideas of something could lead to easier retention of the knowledge written down. When one has easier retention of knowledge it can help them to pass exams on that material in the future.

Another method that helped to influence and better my note-taking skills was outlining the material given to me. When I began to outline the study material given to me, my grades got much better and I started to excel in not only getting good grades in my courses but also actually understanding the material. The key to success while note-taking is making sure that one can understand the material they are taking notes on. Other key aspects of outlining the material are to make sure that while outlining one does not rush and make any vital mistakes that may compromise one’s ability to read the notes. The notes must be legible and able to read or else they are useless and serve no purpose.

The last thing that influenced my note-taking skills was strengthening my memory retention. There were only two ways I could strengthen my memory retention and they were by writing note cards for definitions and questions that may be asked on a test and by structuring and organizing my notes. Other ways that helped the note-taking process were visualizing the different concepts I learned, using mnemonic devices to help memorize different processes and cycles. Another concept I used was to relate the new information I had learned to past concepts or ideas I had learned previously. This helped me strengthen my memory because when I relate my notes to something I know or use in the real world, I think of the notes I had taken that related to that topic.

To finish, the variables that influenced my note-taking skills were to summarize any key ideas, outline the source material, and to strengthen memory retention. These three things and many others helped me become a very skilled note taker and also helped me understand what I was learning at a higher level.