Note-making: Principles and Practice

This guide examines the process of making 3. Deep-level learning: by implementing a

notes rather than taking them. Note-making more critical approach to making notes,
plays an important role in developing the skills your learning will be more in-depth and
involved in being critical – whether in thought permanent. In other words, you will
or writing. In this guide, you will find an remember more for longer periods of
explanation of note-making, as well as some time.
useful advice on how you might practise it. 4. Relevance and usefulness: by selecting
information according to its usefulness,
Note-making versus note-taking you will inevitably produce notes that are
What is the difference between note-making more relevant, meaningful, and easier to
and note-taking? use.
5. Reflection: as we will see, practising note-
Note-taking making also gives you the opportunity to
Note-taking, as its name suggests, is a passive reflect on the breadth of your knowledge.
process: it involves simply writing down as Just as you might make a note of relevant
much as you hear from a tutor – or read in information, you can also keep a record of
a textbook – without discriminating any ideas or concepts that require further
between useful and less useful information. investigation.
The notes that are produced tend to be very
descriptive and broadly focused. Since note- Criticality and note-making
taking is passive in nature and involves less
thought, it leads to surface-level, temporary
Evaluation
Note-making
learning.
Synthesis
Note-making
Note-making is a more active process that Analysis
involves carefully selecting relevant pieces of
information as you listen to your tutor or Application
Note-taking

read a textbook or journal article.

Therefore, the objective of note-making is Comprehension
not to write down everything you hear or
read, but to keep note of anything relevant Knowledge
or that requires further investigation or
clarification. Notes made in this way are
more meaningful and purposive, as well as As this table demonstrates, note-making is
being better organised and of greater closely associated with those higher order
relevance. The active nature of note-making skills at the heart of criticality. Practising note-
means that it requires the application of a making will allow you to develop these skills
range of skills related to criticality. It and thereby enhance the critical edge of your
therefore allows you an opportunity to work.
develop these skills as you learn.
Approaches to note-making
Why is it better to practise note-making rather There are a number of ways to make notes. It’s
than note-taking? Consider what has been up to you which method you use – different
discussed above: people will have different ways of learning, and
1. Active process: note-making is an active so one method is not necessarily better than
process that involves thought and the another. Remember, you can adapt any of
application of skills associated with these approaches to suit your needs.
criticality.
2. Criticality: note-making provides a. Mind-maps: mind-maps aren’t for
opportunities for practising the skills everyone, but they do have two distinct
associated with criticality (for more on benefits: (i) by including graphics or
this, see below). pictures, they offer the opportunity of
learning visually, which for many students

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Note-making: Principles and Practice

is a more effective way of remembering d. Summary technique: summarising the

information; (ii) mind-maps allow you to content of a book chapter or journal article
get an overview of a topic and establish provides an effective way of practising
connections between points, which helps those higher order critical thinking skills, as
to foster critical thinking. well as gaining an insight into how an
argument is constructed, developed and
expressed. You can do this by using post-it
notes, index cards, or even a blank piece of
lined paper. Simply note down the key
points – often reflecting the subject of each
paragraph – on a separate post-it note,
card, or line of the page. The advantage of
this approach is that it encourages you to
think carefully about the content of the
work as you are summarising it. Try to put
as much of what you read into your own
words as possible. By doing this, you will
maximise the opportunity offered by this
b. Post-it notes technique: this approach
technique to develop those higher order
requires a printout or photocopy of a
skills.
textbook or journal article. You simply add
post-it notes on the page at relevant
e. Three-column approach: perhaps the
points. The principal advantage to this
most useful of these techniques and the
method is that it encourages you to be
one you are most likely to use on a daily
selective; you can’t cover an entire page
basis, the three-column approach offers a
with post-its because you won’t be able to
simple yet highly effective way of making
read it if you do so! (Adobe Reader allows
notes. Divide up a piece of paper into three
to add post-its or annotations to pdf
columns: (from L to R) major themes,
documents, a very useful alternative to
notes on text, reflection. ‘Notes on text’
using paper copies.)
should be wider than the other two. Pick
out key words related to the point you are
c. Factsheets: perhaps more useful for
making and add it in the left-hand column;
revision purposes, factsheets encourage
provide supplementary notes in the middle
selective reading of a range of sources in
column; and in the ‘reflection’ column, add
order to pick out key points related to a
any further notes or memos, such as
topic. These points are normally presented
reminders for you to look at a point again
succinctly on one side of a piece of A4 or
or compare it to another piece of
A3 paper. Similar to mind-maps, factsheets
information noted elsewhere.
offer opportunities to learn visually; they
therefore promote deep-level learning. Themes/ Notes Reflection
key
words

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Twitter: @CardiffMet_AST
© Academic Skills Specialists, Cardiff Metropolitan University