Purpose Statement
The purpose of this
brief activity is to help students improve their note taking skills. Many
students think they have good notes and don’t realize what good notes should
actually look like.
Description of Activity
Students are encouraged
to take comprehensive notes during the lecture. An overhead transparency with
an outline of the topics being covered is on the board. Either at the end of
that class period or during a subsequent class period, students are given a one
page handout with notes from that session. Students are then asked to compare
their notes to the handout. This can be repeated in a week or two so students
can assess their improvement.
Materials Needed
1) Overhead transparency
with a general topic outline
2) A handout containing a model of good note taking
Application
The handing out of a
good model of notes and time for comparison takes only five minutes or so.
Another good way of structuring this activity is to first have students compare
notes with a partner to see what each has written. Then have them compare with
someone else, and then give them the handout. This all helps them to put their
own notes in perspective. The expanded activity takes about 15 minutes or so.
It is also important, prior to note taking, to point out to the students that
the outline on the overhead transparency is just that, an outline, and that
they need to write more than what is on the overhead. Also writing on the board
additional names, terms, or concepts which are not on the outline will also
help the students focus on what is important to note. Also, while students are
comparing notes, you can walk around and look at the notes and see how they are
actually doing. This will tell you if you need to spend more class time on note
taking, or if you need to refer students for additional help at the LRC.
this web page was created
on 11/3/99 at 9:57:14 AM
and modified on 11/3/99 at 9:57:14 AM