Page 48 - DENG101_Communication Skills-I

Unit 5: Note Taking & Note Making

help you throughout your college and professional careers. You can increase your comprehension Notes
and retention of information through accurate and meaningful note taking. But nonetheless, the
key to good note taking habits is effective and active listening. A good note taker is one who
listens to what is being communicated carefully and critically.
Note making is an advanced writing skill which has acquired importance of late due to knowledge
explosion. There is a need to remember at least the main points of any given subject. Making
notes is a complex activity which combines several skills like reading, writing, understanding,
presenting and summarizing. We take notes to reduce the source material, like a chapter of a text
book or an article, to a minimum, while still being able to follow the key points of an argument.
Making notes helps you in retaining what you have read in much better manner. It also helps in
your revision.

5.1 Importance of Note Taking

Note taking is without a doubt one of the most important and essential tools in a student’s life.
Note-Taking is important because:
1. It is essential for providing you with the necessary evidence to inform and develop your
argument
2. It assists you in concentrating on and understanding the information you are reading by
helping you to summarise the ideas and arguments in the text
3. It allows you to focus on the points relevant to your purpose
4. Well-organised notes make the writing process much more effi cient
5. Notes developed using an active and critical approach will also allow you to refi ne your
argument before you begin writing

5.2 Methods of Note Taking

Note taking is useful only when it is done properly. When you wish to acquire learning in the
right manner, you need to be sure that you are concentrating on proper techniques in note taking.
It is important to ensure that you are following the right methods in taking notes so as to not miss
out on the important details and also to follow the lessons well.

Perhaps the simplest method of note taking is the sentence method. You can write every new fact,
thought or any piece of information in a new sentence. This way your notes will looks slightly

more organized than paragraph. However, it can sometimes become difficult to differentiate
between major and minor facts. So, it is advisable that students use different fonts or different
style (say, simple writing for major points and italics for minor points) so that they can easily
figure the main and minor points.

We will discuss some more popular methods of note-taking in subsequent subsections.

5.2.1 Cornell Method

Lecture notes are an essential part of a successful student’s life, whether it is high school or
university level. Notes are of no use if they are not well organized and difficult to read. One of

the most popular ways of taking notes is by using the Cornell method.
In this method, you need to divide the paper into three sections.

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