CL111: Module 2

Note Taking & Note Making

Skills

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 Briefly into module three
2.1 Purpose for writing notes
2.2 Style in spoken and written texts
2.3 Listening to and understanding
lectures
2.4 Techniques for note-taking/note-
making
2.5 Taking notes from written texts

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 2.1 Purpose for writing notes:

 Different people take notes for different

reasons.
 Most of the time, the reasons dictate
the way notes are taken.
 Students need to take or make notes for
these reasons:

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2.1.1 Keep record for future use
 Notes keep a written record of information
presented in lectures and reading materials.
 Taking notes also helps you concentrate on
the subject matter,
 Notes are primarily intended to assist in the
recall of information and for revision
purposes - you often recall additional facts
and concepts that you did not record in
your notes.
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 2.1.1 Cont…
 Your notes contain valuable insight into what the
instructor thinks is important; But unless the
lecturer wrote the textbook, they will often take
a different approach to explaining a concept, or
mention facts that don’t appear in the book (and
on rare occasion point out errors in the book).
 This supplemental information can prove crucial
to the completion of your homework and tests,
and to mastering the course.
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 2.1.1 Cont…
 It is important that notes represent a concise and
accurate record of what was spoken or written.
 Your notes often contain information that can’t
be found elsewhere.
 Few lecturers teach directly from the textbook.
But Most of the lecturers develop their lectures
using their own knowledge and understanding of
the subject matter.

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 2.1.1 cont…
 Thus, if an instructor mentions a fact or
concept, you can bet that they believe it’s
important for you to know it.
 Taking notes in class is one of the best things
one can do to increase ones chances of
getting a good grade.

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 2.1.2 Understand the subject better
 The skill of recognising and understanding
main and subsidiary points in speech and
writing is crucial in efficient and effective
learning and essential for good note-taking,
 It is usually easier to distinguish between
sections of information in writing - the
main features in writing, which signal the
way information is organised are sections,
paragraphs and headings
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 2.1.2 cont…

 writing that the main ideas of each

paragraph are often given at the beginning
of that paragraph i.e. The topic sentence
 The topic sentence can help you understand
the main ideas more rapidly when you are
reading.

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 2.1.3 Keep track of what you read or
hear
 Taking notes while listening to lectures (or
reading) helps us keep attentive and alert.
 Taking notes enhances your memory of the
subject matter.
 It also improves your writing and thinking
skills.

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 2.2 Style in spoken and written texts
 spoken and written language are common in the
following ways:
1. Use of signals to indicate the organisation of
information
2. Have introductory statements that introduce
the topic – pay special attention to initial
sentence
3. It is possible to predict what information will
be presented next, in both written and spoken
11
texts.
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 2.2 Cont…
 However, there are also differences in the style of
presentation in that:
1. Written texts seldom have errors because they
have been edited while spoken texts have errors,
false starts, gap filler, hesitations, repetitions, etc.
2. Written texts are permanent while spoken texts
are ‘temporary’ or can be easily changed or
rephrased
3. Written texts can be legally binding while
spoken texts are not
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2.3 Listening to and understanding lectures
 If you really want to do well in a course, you
must promise yourself that you will go to class
faithfully and take good notes.
 This module offers you a series of tips on how to
take effective lecture notes.
However, these tips will not be of value if you do
not attend lectures. Most lectures in a course are
connected-missing one makes you feel lost.

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 2.3 cont..
 Using someone else’s notes can seldom
substitute for the experience of being in class
and hearing the lecturer talk about key ideas in
the course
 These ideas are often the ones you will be
expected to know on exams.
In order to understand lectures, you need
to pay attention and listen to what the
lecturer is saying.
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 2.3 cont..

In particular, pay attention to points that your

lecturer has emphasised by what he/she:
 Writes on the board,
 Repeats,
 Says with emphatic tone/voice,
 Says it slowly for you to feel the effect,

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 2.3 cont..
 Says precisely that it is an important point
to remember, such as:
 “This is an important reason…”
 “A point that will keep coming up later…”
 “The chief cause of X was…”
 “The basic idea here is…”
 “Don’t forget that…”
 “Pay special attention to…” and so on.

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 2.3 cont..
It is important to write down the examples that the
lecturer provides; and to understand them, think
up of similar examples or try to remember those
that you have heard before.
Take notes every time the opportunity arises, for
example, in addition to lectures and from your
readings, you can take notes during discussions,
debates, observations, site visits.
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 2.3 cont..
 It is very useful to read or revise your
notes on the same day you took them.
 This will enhance your memory on them.

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 CL111 Module 2(ii)
2.4 Techniques for note-taking/note making

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 2.4 Techniques for note-taking/note-making
 Note-taking is a means of recording the main points of
information in a lecture or a written text.
 The notes can be written by hand on cards or in a
computer/laptop.
 When writing on cards:
a. If the lecturer gives you the lecture outline, quickly
write the outline,
b. Label the cards with titles or sub-titles of the topic; e.g.
historical background, objectives, method used, possible
solutions, etc.
c. Avoid the temptation to fill each card,
d. Write only on one side of each card or sheet of paper,
e. Use ink because pencil can fade.
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 2.4 continue
 When writing on laptop:
a. Keep backup copies of all your notes on CD or floppy
disk,
b. Avoid filing up screen with uninterrupted notes,
c. Label each note to categorise its content.

 Notes need to be written in such a way that it can be

done quickly and that the resultant notes are clear and
easy to revise from. These two aims can be realised if
you use the following techniques:
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 2.4.1 Selectivity and brevity,
 From written or spoken text, select only the main points as notes.
Consider the paragraph below.
 Parapsychologists (psychologists who study claims of more-than-
normal happenings) have proposed four types of extrasensory
perceptions, or ESP, each of which is said to occur without using
the physical senses. Telepathy is one person’s sending thoughts to
another. For example, in an experiment, one person may look at a
picture and try to “send” this picture to a “receiver” in another
room. Clairvoyance is perceiving distant events, such as sensing that
one’s child has just been in a car accident. Precognition is “pre-
knowing” (foretelling) future events, such as the assassination of a
political leader. Psychokinesis is “mind over matter” – for example,
levitating a table or, in an experiment, influencing the roll of a dice
by concentrating on a particular number. (108 words)
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 2.4.1 continue
 Selectivity and brevity in relation to this paragraph means
selecting only the main points and writing them as briefly as
possible.
 For example:
 Parapsychologists propose four types of extrasensory perceptions
(ESP). Telepathy is one person’s sending thoughts to another, like a
person may look at a picture and “send” it to a “receiver”.
Clairvoyance is perceiving distant events, like sensing one’s child in
an accident. Precognition is “pre-knowing” future events, like
assassination of a political leader. Psychokinesis is “mind-over-
matter”, such as levitating a table or influencing the roll of a dice
by concentrating on a number (73 words)
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 2.4.2 Use of Point Form,
 In addition to being brief, notes need to be written in point form
or as a list, rather than in grammatically complete sentences.
 Parapsychologists propose four types of extrasensory perceptions
(ESP).
 Telepathy is one person’s sending thoughts to another, like
looking at picture and “sending” it to “receiver”.
 Clairvoyance is perceiving distant events, like sensing one’s child
in accident.
 Precognition is “pre-knowing” future events, like assassination of
political leader.
 Psychokinesis is “mind-over-matter”, like levitating table or
influencing the roll of dice by concentrating on a number (68
words)
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 2.4.3 abbreviation and symbols;
 To further reduce/economize your notes you need to use
abbreviation and symbols as much as possible.
o Parapsychlgsts propose 4 types of x-trasensory prcptns (ESP).
• Telepathy = 1 person sends thghts to another, i.e look @ pict. &
“send” → “receiver”.
• Clairvoyance = percvng distnt evnts, like sensing one’s child in
accdnt.
• Precognition = “pre-knowing” futr evnts, like assassintn of pol’cal
ldr.
• Psychokinesis = “mind-over-matter”, i.e. levitatng a table/ inflncng
roll of dc. by concntrtng on no. (65 words)
 Other common abbreviations:
 AM, PM, NASA, CIA, UNESCO, AIDS, DNA, etc.
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 2.4.4 layout
 When making notes from a lecture or from a book, it is
important that your notes reflect the way in which the
lecturer or writer has organised his/her information.
• Main sections and sub-sections need to be separated in notes
• The layout must distinguish between main and subsidiary
ideas and also indicate the relationships between these ideas.
• Numbers, spacing, capitalisation and indentation can be
used to clearly show sections and how they relate to one
another.

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 2.4.4 illustrated
 Parapsychlgsts propose 4 types of x-trasensory prcptns (ESP).
1. Telepathy = 1 person sends thghts to another,
e. g. look @ pict. & “send” → “receiver”.
2. Clairvoyance = percvng distnt evnts,
e.g. sensing one’s child in accdnt.
3. Precognition = “pre-knowing” futr evnts,
e.g. assassintn of pol’cal ldr.
4. Psychokinesis = “mind-over-matter”,
e.g. levitatng table, or inflncng roll of dc. by
concntrtng on no. (65 words)

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 2.4 Concluded
 As you can see from the above example, each technique
used changes the size and appearance of the original text.
 In terms of size the number of words has gone down
from the original 108 words to 65 words.
 In terms of appearance the text has changed from
continuous prose to a list of points to outlined notes.
 It is important to apply all these techniques to get the
best results in note-taking.

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 CL111 Module 2(iii)
2.5 Taking notes from written texts

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 2.5 Taking notes from written texts:

 identifying topic sentences,

 main ideas,
 summarising paragraphs and
sentences, and
 paraphrasing

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 2.5.1 Notes from written texts

 In the course of your university studies, you

will need to read many academic texts from
which you will be required to take notes.
 If you are lucky, the lecturers will give you an
outline of what the reading is about;
 but most of the time you will be given a list of
references materials (whether books, journals
or reports) and will be expected to read and
make your own notes.
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 2.5.1 continue
 As you take up your reading, be clear in your mind what it is that
you want to get out of your reading; i.e.
 What information are you looking for,
 What ideas you wish to develop further, etc.
 Before you start reading and taking notes, survey the whole
material first.
 Go over the table of contents and see how the material is
organised.
 Look for special features in the material: Is there an index or
special vocabulary?
 Get an overview of the material as to what it is about or what it
contains.
 Look at the pictures, tables, graphs, charts and other illustrative
items and read the captions beneath them.
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 2.5.1 continue
 When you read and take notes you may use as your
basis the paragraphs, the sections or outlining the
whole material, or combine all these techniques.
 Take note of the main ideas/topics, the sub-topics
as well as the reinforcement ideas and examples
that illustrate the points.
 Be alert for special vocabulary whose meaning you
can get from the context or look it up in a
dictionary. Sometimes you may come across a
seemingly familiar word that happens to take on a
new meaning.

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 2.5.1 continue
 As soon as your finish taking notes, review and relate
them to your objective(s) by asking yourself the following
questions:
 What new information have I learnt from these notes?
 Do they answer or meet the objective of my reading
assignment?
 Is there anything I don’t understand?
 How will I learn it?
Taking good notes, understanding and reviewing
them will help you commit the ideas to your
knowledge bank. This forms the basis for you being
an expert in that area of study.
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 2.5.2 Identifying topic sentences
 The topic sentence gives the main idea of the
paragraph.
 It is the most general sentence in a paragraph to
which the other sentences in that paragraph are
tied or relate.
 Read the paragraph below and see if you can
identify the topic sentence.

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 2.5.2 continue
 The products of engineering are all around us. The computer on
which these words are typed is an obvious example, as is the air
conditioning system that keeps us (and our computers)
comfortable even though it is hot and humid outside the building
– which is also a product of engineering. When we do go outside
physically, we often ride in a car on roads and highways with
tunnels and bridges; and when we go outside metaphorically, we
use telephones, videotapes, faxes, and computer networks. All of
these are products of engineering design, manufacturing and
construction. Indeed, the world of our everyday experience is
shaped by the practice of engineering and technology and the
world shapes those activities in turn. But what is engineering,
what are its origins and how do engineers practice it? What is
technology, what are its roots and how does it relate to the rest of
experience? (150 words).
(Adopted from Petroski, H. (2002). Invention and Design: How Engineers get from thought to thing.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
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 2.5.2 cont…
 In the above paragraph, the topic sentence acts as an
umbrella to all the other sentences in the sense that it is
the most general sentence.
 All of the other sentences in the paragraph relate to it.
 This happens to be the first sentence, which read:
The products of engineering are all around us.

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 3.5.3 Recognising main points from other details
 The main points are those sentences that directly relate to
the topic sentence in a paragraph.
 The paragraph above has been reproduced below with the
main points underlined.

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 3.5.3 continue
 The products of engineering are all around us. The computer on
which these words are typed is an obvious example, as is the air
conditioning system that keeps us (and our computers) comfortable
even though it is hot and humid outside the building – which is also a
product of engineering. When we do go outside physically, we often
ride in a car on roads and highways with tunnels and bridges; and
when we go outside metaphorically, we use telephones, videotapes,
faxes, and computer networks. All of these are products of
engineering design, manufacturing and construction. Indeed, the
world of our everyday experience is shaped by the practice of
engineering and technology and the world shapes those activities in
turn. But what is engineering, what are its origins and how do
engineers practice it? What is technology, what are its roots and how
does it relate to the rest of experience?

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 2.5.4 Summarising paragraphs and sentences
 The products of engineering are all around us including
computers, cars, highways, tunnels, bridges, telephones,
videotapes, faxes, and computer networks. All of these are
products of engineering design, manufacturing and
construction. The world of our everyday experience is
shaped by the practice of engineering and technology; and
the world shapes those activities in turn. However, one
may ask what is engineering? What are its origins and how
do engineers practice it? What is technology, what are its
roots and how does it relate to the rest of experience? (88
words).
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 2.5.5 paraphrasing
 The products of engineering surround us as illustrated
through computers, cars, highways, tunnels, bridges,
telephones, videotapes, faxes, and computer networks. All
these are products of engineering design, manufacturing
and construction. Our everyday world experience is
shaped by the use of engineering and technology, which in
turn shapes those activities. Even then, one may ask what is
engineering? How do engineers practice it? What are its
origins; and what is technology, what are its roots and how
does it link to the rest of experience? (84 words)

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 Concluding…
 This marks the end of Module 2

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