Importance of notes

[poppingsoda]

Hi all,
As you might already know from my signature, I'm studying Biology 3/4 and Methods 3/4 this year. Because of this, I was wondering if some people could share some advice. More specifically, I want to know how important writing notes is. So far, I am making a bound reference for Methods which, I think, helps me cement in what I've learnt. It also serves as some nice revision when I take a break from Methods. I plan to make a "notes" book for Biology, which will include everything (not the most obvious things, of course) I have learnt from textbooks, teachers, etc. My concern is this:

Is this a waste of time? Especially since Biology is such a large subject in terms of content.

Should I just be dedicating my time to doing more questions? (I think this applies more to Methods)

Thanks everyone.

[upandgo]

hey!  i did bio 3/4 last year and i can definitely say notes are helpful. since there's alot of content, i personally found it hard to remember every detail throughout the year, so looking at chapter summaries was beneficial. drawing diagrams is also useful for processes (ie, cellular respiration/photosynthesis). from my experience, exam questions are just as important as it allows you to apply your knowledge to different situations, and really prepares you for the end of year exam!

i'm not 100% sure about methods (i'm doing it this year though) but so far i think both notes and questions are useful (doing mote questions is better though), especially for revision. hope i helped!

[wyzard]

Hi all,
As you might already know from my signature, I'm studying Biology 3/4 and Methods 3/4 this year. Because of this, I was wondering if some people could share some advice. More specifically, I want to know how important writing notes is. So far, I am making a bound reference for Methods which, I think, helps me cement in what I've learnt. It also serves as some nice revision when I take a break from Methods. I plan to make a "notes" book for Biology, which will include everything (not the most obvious things, of course) I have learnt from textbooks, teachers, etc. My concern is this:

Is this a waste of time? Especially since Biology is such a large subject in terms of content.

Should I just be dedicating my time to doing more questions? (I think this applies more to Methods)

Thanks everyone.

Definitely take notes!

I think the notes you're referring to is the neat, condensed version where you summarize nicely everything you've learned. I will advice against doing that early on, instead have a 'sketchbook' instead where you just note down everything you learn and don't worry about being neat. Being neat will usually hinder your learning as you'll get concerned about keeping the notebook neat. The main goal is to process and engage with the concepts you've learn. I wrote an article about keeping a sketchbook you should check out! http://www.thenerdofpassion.com/blog/keeping-a-science-sketchbook

As for the 'formal' notes you're talking about, it's optional to have them. Some people find that writing them helps them reinforce their learning and allows them to come back to them easily in the future. On the plus side, if your notes are really neat and informational, you can sell them in the future

Personally I don't have such a neat notebook, as I store everything in mind and keep practicing retrieving the information. This is more difficult, but saves me the time to write neat notes and focus on practicing on the questions instead. So like I said, it's personal preference where you'd like to make "notes", and I'd strongly recommend keeping a sketchbook instead and have fun learning!

[jefftong]

Hi all,
As you might already know from my signature, I'm studying Biology 3/4 and Methods 3/4 this year. Because of this, I was wondering if some people could share some advice. More specifically, I want to know how important writing notes is. So far, I am making a bound reference for Methods which, I think, helps me cement in what I've learnt. It also serves as some nice revision when I take a break from Methods. I plan to make a "notes" book for Biology, which will include everything (not the most obvious things, of course) I have learnt from textbooks, teachers, etc. My concern is this:

Is this a waste of time? Especially since Biology is such a large subject in terms of content.

Should I just be dedicating my time to doing more questions? (I think this applies more to Methods)

Thanks everyone.

Hey poppingsoda!

I didn't do biology but this is a common question I've heard being asked about psychology as well because both subjects require a bit of memorisation. I personally made a note book for psychology and kept this updated throughout the year, adding sections of the textbook as well as extracts from other sources here and there. I found this helpful because it served as revision for me and also made it convenient to have all this information collated into the one resource. Whether this is a waste of time or not is really dependent on you; if you have a good memory for biology content then maybe it's not so worthwhile making extremely detailed notes, whereas if you need to constantly revise to keep the information in your head then maybe writing notes is worth it. You should try it out for a few weeks and see what works for you!

For methods, I don't think it's as worthwhile writing extensive notes. Ultimately in methods they test your ability to apply the knowledge you learn, so in my opinion it's better to expose yourself to a lot of questions and build up your application skills, rather than writing out notes. Having said that, this is not necessarily a bad idea, but I found that many of my high-scoring friends didn't make any notes and didn't make a bound reference at all because after doing a number of questions, they just knew the concepts very well. Again, this is completely up to you and you should do whatever you think will work out better in the end, just my 2c!

Best of luck with your studies this year

[babushka818]

For methods, which I completed last year, I don't think notes are so important. If you're a strong student and you understand the content you're taught in class, I think it is better to just take the notes your teacher gives you in class, add worked examples, extra notes on things you don't understand, tutor notes if you have any, textbook notes, anything you find will help you, tips, reminders etc. Doing this throughout the year will consolidate your knowledge as you learn it and enhance your understanding instead of doing it all at the end of the year when you haven't understood the content and are trying to learn it all in the exam. More than anything, you don't want to be dependent on your notes in the exam. I was confident in most of my content,  but I referenced transformations and some probability in the exam. Things like derivative formulas and factorising,  these should come with practice and you shouldn't be looking at formula sheets for this (of course, you can have a mental blank in the exam, which is why I suggest you actually make a bound reference).

But methods is all about applying what you're taught. Take the notes in class, but put a focus on doing your textbook questions, practice sac questions, neap/checkpoints questions if you have them, practice exams etc. You can start open book, then become confident applying your notes. With practice you need them less and less, which is helpful for the exams. Something I can recommend though, is at the end of the year as you do more exams, make an exam section in your notebook, with tips on what you're getting wrong in exams (reminders of units, decimal places, transformations you might be confused with etc) and after that you can stick in some practice questions that you feel are important or might come up again or you didn't know how to do (put the right answers in though and make sure you understand it!). But the key to success in methods is understanding how to apply the content and that will come more from practice than from having quality notes. Best of luck!

[Callum@1373]

I didn't take notes for any of my 1/2's last year nor did i for bus man 3/4 last year. It's just boring, uninteresting, timely, and is likely to make you fall into the trap of reading but not absorbing information, but that might just me for me personally

[mtse]

Ultimately it does depend on how you study best... but for me, writing notes for both bio and methods was a waste of time.
Bio: 50 raw
- I wrote no notes - At the start of the year I attempted to write neat, concise notes to study,  but after writing about two pages in my notebook I gave up... I just did not have the time and also found that it didn't work for me. Summarising the textbook, class notes etc didn't help me remember nor understand anything. During class, I would type down everything my teacher said. When I had any spare time, even just five minutes, I would read through these over and over, particularly before SACs. Once I felt like I had a grasp of what was going on, I did questions, heaps and heaps of them (Checkpoints, trial exams, textbook etc etc), which helped consolidate my knowledge.
- For the exam, I studied notes that I bought, specifically AN's Exam Revision notes written by Thushan. I worshipped that book along with some of the notes I got from a exam revision workshop my school held. Besides that, I literally studied examiner's reports and Checkpoints, focusing on what was considered a "good" answer for worded questions.

Methods: 46 raw
- I did this subject in Year 11 so I had a bit more time to write notes. So in class, I wrote down everything my teacher said, particularly any difficult questions. Outside of class, I made the bound book, which mainly consisted of questions I had made mistakes on rather than notes explaining how to do questions.
- For maths, writing notes is not the best way to study for the exam... well cause being able to recite the quadratic equation or log laws doesn't mean you know how to use it... so just do questions, because after all practice makes perfect right?