Сычева Алина Вячеславовна, студентка РЭУ им. Г.В. Плеханова

НАВЫКИ КОНСПЕКТИРОВАНИЯ КАК УСЛОВИЕ УСПЕШНОГО
ОБУЧЕНИЯ
Демидова Ирина Викторовна,
старший преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков №2 РЭУ им. Г.В.
Плеханова
Аннотация
Конспектирование - основной вид работы студента на лекционных
занятиях и при самостоятельной работе с текстом. В статье рассматриваются
типичные этапы конспектирования и методы «сжатия» информации для
наиболее эффективной мыслительной переработки и фиксации изучаемого
материала.
Ключевые слова: конспектирование, навыки, этапы и система
конспектирования.
NOTE-TAKING AS AN ESSENTIAL SKILL FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Demidova Irina Victorovna,
senior teacher, foreign languages department №2, Plekhanov Russian
University of Economics
Abstract
This paper examines some note-taking techniques used by students during
lectures and while reading textbooks. Note-taking is the hegemonic study activity at
university and, in many cases, the main ground for educational interaction between
teacher and students. There are many different ways to take and make notes and some
tools one may want to try. Thinking over the ways your notes can be made and used
for revision and for writing your assignments is also important. These techniques are
intended to save time so students can focus on essential ideas and information.
Keywords: note-taking, skills, steps and system of taking notes.
Effective notetaking from lectures, listening and reading is an essential skill for
university study. Providing students with skills of note-taking will be useful in a
variety of settings from the lecture hall to the meeting room. It also helps them
become more attentive listeners and improves general comprehension. The notes
students take in class are their primary tool for learning academic material. Most
students take notes on a daily basis but fail to utilize them until a week before a
scheduled exam. Students often take a “stenographer” approach to notetaking. They
might feel that they need to record everything they hear. As a result, they may miss
vast chunks of information as they struggle to write quickly.
In order to be an effective learner one must learn note-taking techniques that
enhance the material presented to them both in texts and in classes. Effective note
taking is an essential component to improving the studying process and enhancing the
ability to remember thus truly learning course material. Good notetaking allows a
permanent record for revision and a register of relevant points that students can
integrate with their own writing and speaking.
Note taking is not a one step process. It encompasses the following stages:
-recognizing the main idea. Some students have a tendency to equate note-taking
with dictation and set out to try to write every word, which is often impossible.
Activities that focus on writing only main ideas and key content words address this
issue and help develop short-term as a well as long-term memory. When students
write down a few important words as they listen, seeing the words is a memory aid
and helps them follow the flow of the ideas. This strategy is essential when dealing
with authentic listening texts at higher levels of language study and, by extension, in
real world situations. Authentic texts are likely to contain chunks of unfamiliar
language that become “roadblocks” if students are not able to move past them and
keep listening for key words.
-identifying what information is relevant to the task; Students should focus on the
following questions: What information is most likely to be of use later, whether on a
test, in an essay, or in completing a project? They should only consider the points that
directly relate to or illustrate their task. The kinds of information to pay special
attention to are:
1. definitions; Like theories, these are the main points and should be written down;
2. theories; Any statement of a theory should be recorded as theories are the main
points of most classes;
3. names of people; Being able to associate names with key ideas also helps
remember ideas better and, when names come up again, to recognize ties between
different ideas whether proposed by the same individuals or by people related in
some way;
4. dates of events; Dates allow students to create a chronology, putting things in
order according to when they happened, and understand the context of an event
5. arguments and debates; Any list of pros and cons, any critique of a key idea, both
sides of any debate related in class should be recorded. This is the stuff that
advancement in every discipline emerges from, and will help understand both
how and why ideas have changed but also the process of thought and
development within the particular discipline being studied;
6. questions; Students have to record their own questions about the material as they
occur to them. This will help them remember to ask the teacher or look something
up later, as well as prompt them to think through the gaps in their understanding.
-having an efficient individual system of taking notes that works. Students may
use a variety of organizational systems such as outlining, concept maps, graphic
representation of information, tables, diagrams, word webs, etc. This enables students
to follow the development of a speaker’s ideas and remember them from start to
finish as they read or listen. Presenting several ways of organizing notes shows that
note-taking is essentially a personal task. Each person has to find a system that works
for them. For instance, students may reduce the information to note and diagram
format or create their own abbreviation system or use standard ones.
Whichever note-making layout they choose to use, you may find it useful to
use abbreviations and shortened versions of commonly used words. This will help
you save time with writing so that they can concentrate the essential points or ideas.
Some common abbreviations are listed below.
About, regarding, concerning
re
Against, opposite, versus
vs
Agree
☺
And
&, +
And others
et al
And so on, so forth
etc
Approximately, roughly, round about
≈
At
@
Because
∵
Before
b4
Can't, couldn't
cx
Change
Δ
Characteristics
chx
Confused, clarify
?
Confused totally
???!!!
Copyright
©
Definition
defn
Don't, does not
dx
Down, declining, decreasing
↓
Each way
↔
Equal to or greater than
≥
Equal to or less than
≤
Especially
≡
Example
eg
Frequency
fr
Greater than
>
Important
*
Infinity, forever, always
∞
Less than
<
Man/men, male(s)
♀
Member of
∈
Micro
µ
Negative, bad, not
—
Necessary, necessarily
□
Not
nx or —
Not a member of
∉
Note
nb
Not the same as, does not equal
≠
Number
#
Parallel
‖
Percent
%
Plus or minus
±
Positive, good, plus, in addition
+
Possibly, possible
♢
Same as, equals, identical
=
Should be
s/b
Sum of, collectively
∑
Therefore
∴
That is
ie
Unequal, not the same as
≠
Up, rising, increasing
↑
Very important
**
With
w/ or c
Without
w/o
Woman/women, female(s)
♀
[Charles Darwin University «Note-taking strategies: Abbreviations for making notes»,
2015].
Students may also substitute numerals with symbols (“one”-1, “third”-3-rd),
abbreviate (drop the last several letters of a word ("appropriate" with "approp." );
drop some of the internal vowels of a word ("large" with "lrg.")
- putting the information in your own words. Copying what others have said is not
note-taking and is only appropriate when you want to directly quote an author. It can
be tempting, especially if the material is online, to copy and paste straight into a
document. If students do this then they are unlikely to learn what they have read.
Moreover, copied text often ends up in plagiarism, which is a serious academic
offence
-recording the source of the information;
-reviewing of the notes as soon as possible for optimum memory. This will enable
students to focus on what they have just learnt for long-term retention [M. Weimer,
2015].
Students often express that it is difficult to really listen and take notes at the
same time. They wonder if they would be better off just really focusing on listening
and not taking notes. The research shows that students usually concentrate better and
learn more when they take notes. Studies have been done where the class is divided
into two groups- those who take notes and those who just listen. Studies have shown
that students taking handwritten notes performed better on comprehension tests than
those taking notes with an electronic medium such as a laptop or tablet. The reason
for this is that handwriting is slower than typing. The writer has to summarize
content, which involves more mental processing than faster typing. This in turn leads
to better understanding and retention [A. Mueller, D. Oppenheimer, 2014].
Note-taking is an important skill for any university student. Regardless of the
discipline, the ability to keep a record of what have been read in a text and
experienced in a lecture is critical to long-term academic success. Many students do
not learn reliable note-taking strategies before they get to college, and other students
learn strategies but do not understand how to apply them to the right situation
properly. It takes time and a willingness to try several methods before you find a
note-taking strategy that best meets your learning preferences and coursework, so it is
not realistic to expect a single strategy to solve all academic needs.
References
1.
Charles Darwin University “Note-taking strategies: Abbreviations for making
notes”. http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/studyskills/studyskills/notetechniques.html
(дата обращения 10.10.2015)
2.
M. Weimer “How to Help Students Improve Their Note-Taking Skills” Faculty
Focus, published online 30.01.2015. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teachingand-learning/help-students-improve-note-taking-skills/
(дата обращения 10.10.2015)
3.
Mueller, Pam A and Daniel M. Oppenheimer. The Pen is Mightier Than the
Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand over Laptop Note Taking. in Psychological
Science, published online 23 April, 2014.
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/04/22/0956797614524581.abstract
(дата обращения 10.10.2015)