Note Taking, Reading Textbooks, Study Habits & Techniques

Note Taking

   For me, taking notes during class is imperative for me to do well. It makes me pay attention and the physical act of writing something down really helps things stick in my mind. My english 1010 teacher is constantly saying, "Good students take notes!" and I totally think that is true, it sends a good message to the professor and really helps you remember the finer points of a lecture.

   It is sometimes hard to know what to write down during a lecture. When taking notes I will notice that I am getting too caught up in making sure that I write every little thing down that I am not learning anything from the lecture, I turn into an automaton. Good things to look out for when writing notes are:

• repeated words or phrases
• words or phrases restated or explained
• body language 
• different inflections
• whatever your professor writes on the board  

Reading a Textbook

College textbooks cost a whole lot of money so why not get your money's worth out of them? Textbooks help reinforce what is learned in lectures, answer questions, and provide visual aids. The book offers tips to becoming better at reading text books:

• Start with a positive attitude
• Choose a good enviornment
• Don't put it off
• Review your notes first
• Skim ahead
• Do it in chunks
• Take notes
• Look up words
• Pause to review
• Create questions and look for answers
• Turn statements into questions and answers 
• Get your ears involved- read aloud to yourself 
• Two heads are better than one
• Use practice problems
• Take breaks
• Get rid of distracting thoughts
• Work on reading faster 

Study Habits and Techniques

   In college you are expected to do just as much, if not more, learning and work outside of the classroom as you are inside. For every hour in class professors expect you to to spend 2 more doing out of class work. For a 3 credit class, thats 6 hours. 

   Some good study habits to create are:

• Study at the same time everyday so that your brain gets used to being ready at that time.
• Find a location that works best 
• Begin to study for your tests the first day of class
• Don't study for too long but definitely study for long enough
• Find techniques that work best for you, make it something more active than just reading your textbook.