How to take good notes?

[shadows]

I'm doing both psych and bio this year. I've been reading ahead and taking notes. I think I'm paranoid and  every little thing I read I think is important and include in my notes. My notes have been just a clump of disorganised info.

With definitions.. is it best to just copy it word for word and memorise it because I hear examiners are extremely picky with wording?



Do you keep it brief, detailed? Summarise paragraphs? Can someone please give me some tips.. or tell me the process/ approach you took for subjects that require quite a lot of memorising.

[LastOfUs]

I too would also like an answer for this.

I did business management this year and for literally everything I memorised it before even understanding what I was learning. I would just associate a sentence to a word for a definition and would continually remember it which takes a LONG time and it is extremely boring. I would really like to know what the most effective way of approaching 'study' and 'notes' are, as going into each SAC remembering definitions is alright but I don't want to have my exam at the end of the year again and have to almost relearn everything like I did.

To OP, if you are wanting to know about WHAT to write in your notes go to your study design. You will have AOS's with dot points and you essentially have to have enough information to suffice and feel comfortable in your self with regards to the knowledge of aforementioned dot points. If you do this, come exam time you should have everything you need.

[Robert243]

I'm not a V.C.E student yet  , but i think i can give you some valuable tips on taking good notes .

Read the notes a few times , then when finished reading write the definition in your own words and what you believe something means and if your not happy with your definition read the notes again . Examiners aren't really picky with wording  ,the key to explaining key concepts  on V.C.E exams and Sacs, is to explain them in a way a lawyer would convince a jury . So in your notes explain in that way.

Drawing tables and diagrams would also help , that way you get you memorize the concepts explained coherently .

Hope that helps and good luck with all future exams

[Scooby]

Examiners aren't really picky with wording

Hmmmm, gonna have to disagree there. While the quality of your writing isn't assessed (unless it's an English subject of course), knowing how to use terminology appropriately, and also knowing when to use it, is extremely important, especially in subjects like Bio and Psych.

I guess it depends on what exactly you mean by "wording" though

explain them in a way a lawyer would convince a jury

Not sure what you mean there. You don't need to write persuasively 

[Yacoubb]

Ensure that when you synthesise a definition for a particular term, that you have integrated appropriate terminology that demonstrates your thorough understanding of the topic. I found it very effective to re-write notes as opposed to just reading over them. So, instead of reading a paragraph about topic A, read over it once and then begin to write out the notes once looking at your notes, and eventually you'll come to a stage where you have embedded into your mind the topic.

In regards to note taking - personally, I'd take down a lot of notes when my teacher was talking about an upcoming SAC that we had. I'd write down everything my teacher hinted out about the SAC, to maximise my SAC score & ranking. My notes were short, succint and to the point. They would encompass both things I already knew + handy little notes to further broaden my understanding. If you don't kniw whether something is important, refer to the Key Points section of the VCE study design. Adhere to the study design, and you wont go wrong.

Best of luck
Yacoubb

[ECheong]

I can second the writing technique. I did global politics this year and I have an absolutely 0/10 memory LOL. To learn definitions I tried a process of:
1. Read the definition
2. Say it from memory
3. Write from memory

and it worked brilliantly for me.

as for note taking, there's not much I can recommend that hasn't been said already except the cornell note taking system as it forces you to keep the notes organised and simmer them down; aiding memory.

edit:hyperlinking

[Robert243]

Not sure what you mean there. You don't need to write persuasively 

 To explain the scientific concept coherently
I recently went to a lecture at monash , with my brother and that's what they explained .
But i might of not explained myself this right on AN .

[Robert123]

I can second the writing technique. I did global politics this year and I have an absolutely 0/10 memory LOL. To learn definitions I tried a process of:
1. Read the definition
2. Say it from memory
3. Write from memory

and it worked brilliantly for me.

as for note taking, there's not much I can recommend that hasn't been said already except the cornell note taking system as it forces you to keep the notes organised and simmer them down; aiding memory.

edit:hyperlinking

One efficient memorising strategy I used to memorise essays is using first letters.
Basically you read a copy of what your trying to memorise then try and read a copy with only the first letters in it. For instance if you are trying to memorise the first sentence in the quote you will use icstwt. Their some online programs which can automatically do that process for you, if you want I can post the link.

[Butterscotch]

I'm not at the stage to give major advice, but I do take notes myself and have a general idea in how to do so. Generally I read through a particular section, once I've finished I recall what I've just read, after that I take a look at what I've missed from what I just read. I write down those parts and everything that I feel might occur in a test.

With definitions if you know what a word means, I guess you need not rote learn its definition. Just put it in a concise and succinct way.

 

[alchemy]

I think that this is more of a personal preference, but I tend to write in 'broken english' because I'm FOB, and things just tend to make more sense to me that way. LOL.
I suggest this method for all FOB's out there as it makes a great difference. No offense intended.

[jeanweasley]

Try the Cornell Note Taking system!

[methods 1 2 resources]

I too would also like an answer for this.

I did business management this year and for literally everything I memorised it before even understanding what I was learning. I would just associate a sentence to a word for a definition and would continually remember it which takes a LONG time and it is extremely boring. I would really like to know what the most effective way of approaching 'study' and 'notes' are, as going into each SAC remembering definitions is alright but I don't want to have my exam at the end of the year again and have to almost relearn everything like I did.

To OP, if you are wanting to know about WHAT to write in your notes go to your study design. You will have AOS's with dot points and you essentially have to have enough information to suffice and feel comfortable in your self with regards to the knowledge of aforementioned dot points. If you do this, come exam time you should have everything you need.

for business I'm doing the same thing lol, did u do well in business this year?

[LastOfUs]

for business I'm doing the same thing lol, did u do well in business this year?

Did well until the exam. Questions like 'describe a social and ethical responsibility for the operations system' f'd me up as I believe social and ethical responsibilities are two different things so I just identified 2 for each so I would have got 0/6 for a question I would have got 6/6 if they wrote 'or' and were grammatically correct.

Another question was just vague so I'll drop another 6 marks on the 'indicators of CC' 0/6.

I did so shit on the exam but couldn't care less. I found the notes I did didn't help at all and I just used shinnys notes.

[wanna fite]

Did well until the exam. Questions like 'describe a social and ethical responsibility for the operations system' f'd me up as I believe social and ethical responsibilities are two different things so I just identified 2 for each so I would have got 0/6 for a question I would have got 6/6 if they wrote 'or' and were grammatically correct.

Another question was just vague so I'll drop another 6 marks on the 'indicators of CC' 0/6.

I did so shit on the exam but couldn't care less. I found the notes I did didn't help at all and I just used shinnys notes.

based on what u just wrote, theres no chance you'll get 0/6. they wont take off marks for writing too many m8. theyll probs only look at the first however many u were sposed to write and ignore the others tho. even if you only wrote the definition u'll get mark(s) for that.

tbh i reckon ur selling urself massively short here. chin up.