What’s the BEST way to write study notes?
If you are a student or if you WERE a student (to those parents reading this post), I dare bet that you would have at least attempted to write some study notes.
You should be proud of yourself for doing that since it shows that you are willing to put in the work to learn. HOWEVER, not all notes are equally effective or efficient in helping you learn so in this post, let’s walk through 4 types of study notes that students come up with and find out which is the BEST study notes that you should be using to achieve the best results.
But WAIT, before that we need to first…
UNDERSTAND why self-created notes help
Even if nobody instructs students to create notes, it is almost natural for learners to do so! This is because the very process of preparing these notes forces the learners to:
- Revisit the content in detail
- Process the content to sieve out critical content from the less important information
- Consolidate and present the information in a more presentable and intuitive manner
Simply put, it is the PROCESS of preparing the notes that help learners engage the content! This is also the reason why I deem it extremely important that we are aware of these helpful elements in the note-writing process so that we can focus our energy on these aspects and not more.
With this common understanding established, we are ready to rate the 4 main types of study notes and identify the champion. Let’s get started with the 4th position…
#4th: Paragraph Notes
Efficiency: ★★★★★ (0/5)
Effectiveness: ☆★★★★ (1/5)
Overall: ✰★★★★ (0.5/5)
Mostly done on foolscap paper with the school notes or textbook right beside. This type of note contain chunks of information in the form of paragraphs, separated by headers. The only difference between this and the original textbook/notes is that you can claim that it is an artisan’s work — handcrafted with blood, sweat and tears. Unless you aspire to be a human photocopying machine (sorry, as part of the sustainability movement, prints are going softcopy) or a master penman, this is an utter waste of time and effort. There is almost no mental engagement or meaning-making involved in this mindless copying. If you are doing this, STOP! You are way better off doing any of the other approaches to come.
(You HAVE to read this: Stop wasting your time preparing for exams the wrong way.)
#3rd: Bullet Notes
Efficiency: ☆★★★★ (1/5)
Effectiveness: ☆☆☆★★ (3/5)
Overall: ☆☆★★★ (2/5)
Most students will fall into this category. I will own up that I, too, didn’t know better when I was a student! The key difference between Paragraph Notes and Bullet Notes lies in that paragraphs are summarised into bullet points. From the sound of it, it seems like a trivial difference but this allows for a greater level of organisation, expressed through the different levels of indentation for each point. For this reason, not only are learners forced to further distil the content into key points, they are required to nest these points under the right point or sub-point. This process granted the Effectiveness to be bumped up to a 3☆.
If you have gone through this process, you will understand that this is still a very time-consuming process since the fact that it is written in the format of the lines (commonly on a foolscap pad), encourages the learner to write more than is required. More amateur learners copy entire sentences or even paragraphs and just put a bullet in front of those chunks of text. Once again, a huge waste of time and effort.
So what can be better than bullet notes? Read on!
#2nd: (Classic) Mindmap
Efficiency: ☆☆☆☆★ (4/5)
Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆★ (4/5)
Overall: ☆☆☆☆★ (4/5)
Once a hot favourite, mindmaps seem to have fallen out of trend (at least in my opinion). By Mindmap, I am referring to the “spider”/semantic map (i.e. the classic mindmap by Tony Buzan) which features a spiderweb-like chart where a central idea splits into many more ideas (that splits into more sub-ideas).
One key reason for its fall in popularity is that teachers HATE mindmaps. Since mindmap is a creative compilation of how content is organised, each mindmap is unique and it is very difficult for teachers to validate the accuracy of each mindmap. With teachers being responsible for every piece of feedback provided (i.e. to the level of putting a “seen” or tick on the mindmap), we are hesitant to incorporate the creation of mindmaps into our assignments due to the challenges involved in grading.
Nonetheless, mindmap is one of the most efficient and effective ways to organise and make sense of the content that we interact with. One useful tip in making the most out of mindmap is to consider it as a “working document” where there will always for room to create an improved version. Do not attempt to create that one perfect map. Instead, treat it as an interactive process where you constantly challenge yourself (1) revise the map regularly and (2) think of better ways to connect the content. Let go of the need to correct the best map and instead, focus on creating many better maps. This way, you will be able to achieve the best efficiency and effectiveness.
#1st: Concept Map
Efficiency: ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5)
Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5)
Overall: ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5)
Here’s our top pick for the BEST study notes! You must be wondering what is the difference between a mindmap and a concept map. The fact is that they are almost identical with the only difference being that concept maps introduce an element that is critical to the organisation of information — the hierarchy of concept.
Unlike the mindmap that starts from the centre and radiates outwards, concept maps require the main concept to be at the very top of the page and the subpoints to branch downwards. While one may argue that this is merely a difference in orientation, I have observed that this has a profound effect on helping learners with their learning.
Ideally, a concept map should be readable not just in the vertical direction but also horizontally. Each horizontal band will showcase the concepts on the same “level” of detail. Generally, the lower the band, the more detailed and specific the content would be. Conversely, the higher up the band, the more generalised the concepts. Having all of the content organised in the vertical and horizontal orientations make not just the reading but also the construction of the map more intuitive as compared to reading it radially. This is the reason for the 5-star rating in effectiveness.
In terms of efficiency, the reason for the increase in rating is due to the ease in construction of a concept map with the use of existing learning resources (e.g. textbooks or notes). This can be done easily following the steps below:
- Start with the main topic header (i.e. the name of the chapter). This will be the topmost band.
- Flip through the entire chapter and write down the main sub-headers. Often, if you are working on chapter 2, the subheaders will read 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc. These sub-headers will form the second band.
- Look into each subchapter and build your concept map downwards. Here, you will fill in the details of each subchapter. Personally, I do not align the horizontal bands anymore for levels 3 and above in order to be more space-efficient — there will usually be arrows tunnelling into the empty spaces around the canvas so it is difficult to stick to the bands.
By following this 3-step approach, you can get a concept map out relatively quicker than any of the previously mentioned methods. Similar to that of a mindmap, you should not concern yourself with getting everything right at the first few tries. If it is too daunting to “just do it” and you find yourself stuck in this long-drawn process, one method to overcome that will be to title your work as DRAFT. This is a simple yet effective means to help us overcome the mental barrier of having to be perfect.
With these all said, I hope that you have taken away some useful tips and nifty hacks to learn more effectively and efficiently. If this article helped you in any way, it will mean the world to us if you share it with your friends and whoever is learning something right now. Let me also invite you to visit LEARND.online where you will find learning resources (many for free!) and also more such articles aimed at supporting learners like you on your journey.
Happy learning and all the best!
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