Note Taking Abilities
I've decided to publish our informal assignments for ICS 602 as blogs. While they are informal, I think it is still appropriate to have them out there for the betterment of my fellow CICS Masters Candidates at Ball State.
Our first Informal Assignment was to evaluate our note taking abilities and here is what I wrote on that first day of class:
"I feel that I am a Competent Note Taker, I feel that I get enough of the information to successfully review the information, but the nuances and extremely detailed information can get lost. I give myself a 'C'. "
Note Taking can be broken down as follows:
Note comes from the Latin nota or notare which means to mark.
Taking comes from Old English tacan which means to capture. Tacan comes from Old Norse taka which means to grasp, lay hold of.
Combining the origins of these words we can infer that Note Taking means to mark that which we grasp (or understand).
After having spent an entire semester working to improve my note taking abilities I have come up with the following qualities of good notetaking:
Write MORE than just the basic information
Keep track of any quotes given (this leads to a nice understanding of details later on)
Clarify with others if you don't understand
Share notes with others in order to enhance both parties notes
Constantly document what is being said AKA write ALL the time
Attention to detail is the essence of note taking. Anyone can remember the basics off the top of their head, but the attention to details are what really bring you to the next level of strong note taking.
Having evaluated my progress over the semester, I would say that I have moved from an Adequate note taker to a Good note taker, so I would give myself a B.
Here are some helpful links and software solutions to improve note taking:
University of Cornell Mini Lecture