Summary notes: are they necessary?

[oooo]

Hello! Are summary notes absolutely necessary? I've never wrote them because I honestly think they're a waste of time, but everyone I know seems to write them. Should I just go on with my own study methods or start writing them? I've been told that I've should because I do really content heavy subjects but I think doing practice questions and simply reading the content is enough. Since we're approaching the final exams, should I start writing notes to make it easier to study then?

Oh, and I'm doing HHD, History and Food Tech if that matters. .

Thanks in advance for all help. 

[Aaron]

For a subject like HHD, definitions are extremely important (so I would definitely be writing a glossary as a starting point). In terms of summaries - they don't work for everyone. As I mentioned in an earlier post, you'll be told by x y z how to study and what the best way is, but the important thing is to know that everyone optimally studies in different ways.

I would try and answer some questions from the past exams on the VCAA website and see if you can confidently answer them without the aid of a textbook/other resources. If you can't, then this may be a sign that you don't understand the content to an adequate standard.

[zsteve]

Hello! Are summary notes absolutely necessary? I've never wrote them because I honestly think they're a waste of time, but everyone I know seems to write them. Should I just go on with my own study methods or start writing them? I've been told that I've should because I do really content heavy subjects but I think doing practice questions and simply reading the content is enough. Since we're approaching the final exams, should I start writing notes to make it easier to study then?

Oh, and I'm doing HHD, History and Food Tech if that matters. .

Thanks in advance for all help. 

Summary notes are only *one* way of studying a subject. Necessary? No. Helpful? Possibly.
Other ideas include flashcards (quizlet) and writing a glossary.
Another thing which helped me revise bio in swotvac (for uni, that is) was getting a list of words from the lecture summaries and then writing out a short paragraph for each one. I'd say this is applicable to VCE subjects such as those you're doing, although I know zilch about them :3

[Burt Macklin]

Personally, summary notes were effective in two ways:
1. to make sense of how the course is structured and how the concepts are organised/linked in my own way
2. to provide a resource that I know I can rely on and check answers with when revising / attempting practice questions (that meant I wasn't just 'reading' the summary notes and hoping I would 'get it' by osmosis (which would be awesome))

Of course, as others have said, do whatever you think would benefit you personally - you would have to factor in if writing notes from scratch (if that's what you are doing) would be worth it during these next 3-ish months.