As those revising are probably finding out at the moment, making good notes when studying will save you hours of time during revision. As different people learn in different ways, different notes work for different people, and you need to find your own way to make notes.
During lessons and lectures, it’s unlikely you’re going to be writing anything more than bullet point notes or short sentences. Especially during lectures, where all the information may not be written down, it’s even more important to not think about fancy colour coding or neat thought bubbles. You just need to get the information down as quickly as possible.
Sometimes, it can be appropriate to make notes in grids, with boxes for each key subject of discussion. For example, watching a video on animals from different environments, it would make sense to split a note sheet into boxes for each different environment. It’s a quick and easy way to put some order into notes without missing anything else that is said.
After writing the initial notes, it’s a good idea to write up notes later (once a week is a good rate to keep on top of everything). This is where the colour coding and thought bubbles come in.
Colour coding is actually a really good idea technique for helping to organise your notes. Having a different colour for examples, key points, and important data, for example, will help when revising. Colour coding will have to depend on what subjects you’re studying, but in the past, I’ve had different colours in maths for examples and step by step how to guides, and in geography for key definitions and case studies.
Sometimes “neat notes” can be written up in differently to the original style. Power points, for personal use only, can help consolidate the knowledge and make for a useful revision technique. Mind maps, revision posters, and flash cards all make good notes that you can use to revise later.
When writing up notes neatly, there is very little point simply rewriting the notes. As a lot of you will know, it’s easy enough to copy come thing out without reading what you’re writing. The revision begins as soon as you’ve finished the lesson or lecture, including writing up your notes. Something as simple as colour coding would help as you need to pick out the important information and actually read your notes.
It’s worth experimenting with different note forms, as everybody learns differently. Whilst your best friend might swear by making power points for all their revision, you might find something else much more effective for you.
The Ghoul Student 