HOW TO TAKE STUDY NOTES

Sometime it is very confusing how to excellently prepare for exams. Taking notes is one of a kind. But,
taking notes – if not done correctly – can be wasting time. So, this tips could help you to taking notes from
study materials, such as textbooks.

1. Be selective but thorough. You should not write down every piece of information in the book. Nor
should you write down one fact per page. Finding the right balance of writing enough but not too much
can be a challenge, but it is the key to taking effective notes. Using the strategy of reading a paragraph
and then summarizing it can help you target the right amount of information.
 Depending on the subject and the level of the textbook, writing 1-2 sentences of summary per
paragraph may be the right ratio of information to note-taking.
2. Paraphrase information from the text. You should write your notes in your own words. Paraphrasing
information usually shows that you genuinely understood what you read (it’s difficult to put something
into your own words if you don’t know what it means). It will likely be more meaningful to you later
when you are reviewing your notes if you have written them in your own words
3. Use a format that works for you. Your notes may take on the form of a bulleted list of information.
You might draw yourself a timeline of events so that you can see the order that things happened and
not just a list of events. You may draw a kind of flow chart to emphasize a sequence. Or you might do
a more traditional outline with big ideas at one level and then supporting ideas indented underneath.
Ultimately, the notes are your study aid, so it’s best to write them in a way that makes sense to you.
4. Add visual elements if it helps you. Visual learners are often helped by visual representations in their
own notes. You might want to jot down a brief copy of a graph instead of writing information about it.
You may want to draw a simple comic strip to show a specific event or interaction between people.
Don’t let adding visual elements distract you from the task at hand—understanding and taking notes
on the text—but add visuals if it will help you synthesize or remember the material more effectively.
5. Organize your notes in a meaningful way. Depending on the subject, you may want to organize your
notes in a particular way. History notes may be most logically taken in chronological order (or even in
the format of a timeline). Science notes, however, may need to be taken in a particular sequence that
shows mastery of one concept before moving on to the next.
 If in doubt about how to organize your notes, go with the textbook’s organization. If
information is written in a certain order in the textbook, and there is usually a reason for it