Creating a Set of Notes

You have been asked to read a lot of material on Audience theories, and the first task you face is creating a set of notes which

  • help you process the information you have read
  • demonstrate you understand the significant aspects of what you have read
  • will help you revise audience theory for exams, when you don't have time to re-read all the original material.

You will hand this first set of notes in for the teacher to have a look at - this won't always happen, but be prepared for random checks on your notes in future. They should always be neat and complete.

Effective note-taking is a vital skill to have at AS. You should be able to take quick notes that do NOT need tidying up or rewriting later on - you won't have time to do it. Your notes are a record of what you have learnt, and a trigger for your memory when it comes to revision. If you take notes well, it shows that you have understand what you have read - if you have made the effort to put it into your own words, or even reproduce information in the form of a diagram, then you have processed it, or lodged it in your brain. If you find you are unable to take notes on a particular topic, or from a particular text, then you are probably struggling to understand it - either try a different text which deals with the same information, or ask for help.

Lastly, always review your notes, as soon after class as you can. This helps information stick, and you can often make additional notes or corrections whilst everything is fresh in your memory - you can't do this after time has passed.

What Should Be In Your Notes

Source - You will gather your notes from lots of different sources, and you should therefore write down exactly where they have come from, be it internet site (URL), textbook (title, author, year of publication, publisher, page number), or class (date, teacher).

Headings - what are the main items your notes refer to? You need to refer to these over and over again and it is helpful if you can just glance down the page to see what is relevant.

Bullet points - you should be able to summarise and rephrase the key points from the reading you have done (remember those IGCSE skills!). Your notes should not contain full sentences, nor should they contain phrases from the original material.

Selected Information - you do not need every piece of information in your notes. Select the key facts to keep them manageable. Note examples only when they are brief, useful and relevant to you - for instance a lot of UK textbooks use UK media examples that you will be totally unfamiliar with. Don't include them in your notes, or replace them with examples you know well.

Colours, pictures and lines - Your notes should be colourful - devise a personal colour scheme for underlining, linking facts, denoting information you need to read more about elsewhere, etc. Colourful notes are easier to remember than dull pages of black biro.

Further Tips On Note Taking

 

 

 

 

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