Reading and note-taking

Download: Reading strategies  |  En français : Stratégies de lecture

Reading is an important activity that supports your learning. This resource outlines three strategies to make the most of your readings. Try them individually or as a holistic single strategy to help you stay focused, engaged, and motivated as you move through your readings.

Previewing

• What? Get a sense of the big picture of what to expect from the reading.
• Why? This prepares your brain to process this information by familiarizing yourself with the general content and structure.
• How? Scan through the reading to look at headings, images, bolded words, or the first line of each paragraph.

Questioning

• What? Create questions that the reading should answer for you.
• Why? This will help your focus and motivation because in searching for the answers you are giving yourself a reason to read.
• How? Turn keywords, charts, or images into questions to guide your reading.

Paraphrasing

• What? Start reading – BUT break down the reading into manageable chunks by stopping regularly to paraphrase what you just read.
• Why? By processing the reading and regularly putting it in your own words you will avoid false starts, like re-reading the same sentence over and over. This will foster a deeper understanding of the content.
• How? After each paragraph stop and write or say aloud that information into your own words. Move on to the next paragraph and paraphrase, and also fold in information from the first paragraph. Repeat!

Reference: McGuire, S. Y. (2015). Teach students how to learn: Strategies you can incorporate into any course to improve student metacognition, study skills, and motivation. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Download: Reading research articles  |  En français : Comment lire les articles scientifiques

Read, reflect, consolidate: This is a strategy to read and understand jargon heavy science and social science research articles.

Title

• Read: to understand broadly what the article is about.
• Reflect: What do I expect this article to be about?

Abstract

• Read: to survey the contents of the article.
• Reflect: Do I want to read the entire article, based on what I have learned in the abstract?

Introduction and literature review

• Read: to understand the goals of this study and what previous research exists.
• Reflect: What was the gap in knowledge that the authors are trying to fill?

Methods

• Read: to understand what the study is testing, and to assess the quality of the study.
• Reflect: Are these methods valid, reproducible and reliable? Are the methods aligned with other methods for the current standard in the field? Who were the participants? What was the sample size? What is the theoretical foundation?

Results

• Read: to understand what the results are portraying, how the data is being analyzed and interpreted.
• Reflect: What are the main findings? What conclusions can I draw?

Discussion and conclusion

• Read: to understand what conclusions were drawn from the results.
• Reflect: What question are the authors trying to answer? Did you come to the same conclusions as the authors came to? What future research could be done?

Additional reflection questions

• How is the article relevant to course discussions?
• How does it inform my own research?
• What are my main takeaways?

Consolidate

• Create a summary sheet of your readings with a few sentence about each of the sections. Doing this for multiple readings will also allow you to find trends, patterns, or various arguments in research.
• These references can aid in constructing a literature review and will also help you to identify gaps in the literature that you may want to close with your own project.
• For example: Prince et al. demonstrated x but were not able to explain y, while Sam et al demonstrated evidence for both x and y.

References

Keshav, S. (2007). “How to read a paper” ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 37(3), 83–84.

Academic Learning Centre, University of Manitoba. (2020). “Reading Academic Journal Articles”

Download: Note-taking methods

Effective notes: Taking good notes helps you remember what you have learned through readings and lectures. Quality notes are a valuable tool to use while studying and preparing for exams.

Selecting your method: Note-taking is personal! No single method will work for everyone, so try out a few of the methods below and figure out what works for you.

Note-taking tips

• Write in phrases, not sentences
• Record key words
• Summarize the material in your own words
• Use abbreviations and symbols
• Remove distractions such as your phone and choose a study location that will allow you to focus
• Refer back to your notes regularly to incorporate new information
• If possible, opt for taking notes by hand rather than typing

Method: Outline

The pdf has an example of Outline notes, where there is the text “This is your main topic” at the highest bullet point level, and then indentations below that are sub-topics and then examples of the main topic.

Create a structure that starts with broader points, and then use indentations to add details for each topic.

Advantages

• Provides an easy to follow structure
• Outlines content and hierarchical relationships
• Limited editing is needed
• Easy to review material

Disadvantages

• Can be too structured for some students
• Can be difficult to show some types of ordered relationships or patterns
• May not show comparisons or connections well

Note: always add the date to your notes! This will help you find and refer to them later.

Method: Cornell notes

There is an example of Cornell notes, divided into four sections. A small section at the top has class title and date. A small section at the bottom, about 1/5 of the page, has “Summary: After class write a summary of the content on this page”. In the middle part of the page, the left third has “After class: Fill in this section with main topics, prompts, and questions.” The right two-thirds has “During class: write key pieces of information.”

Divide the page into four sections. During class or while reading, fill in the right section. After your class or reading, go back to the left to add prompts, and summarize the whole page in the bottom section.

Advantages

• An organized system for writing and reviewing notes
• Easy way to identify important topics and questions
• Ready-made summaries of content

Disadvantages

• Takes time to set up the system
• Limited space to record information on each page
• Might be too rigid a structure for some learners

Method: Charting

There is an image example of charting, which creates a table that has three columns and seven rows, though in an actual chart it can contain as many columns and rows as is appropriate for the subject matter.

Decide on categories to divide up the content you are learning. Fill each section with a summary of information for that category.

Advantages

• Helpful to compare and contrast information
• Easily visualize relationships
• Consolidate information from other notes
• Pull out information quickly

Disadvantages

• Can be difficult to decide upon the categories
• Limited space to record information in each section
• Not well suited for fast-paced or unstructured lectures

Method: Concept mapping

There is an example of a concept map. In the middle of the page are the words “This is your main topic” in a circle, and then it links around it in all directions to subtopics, also in circles, and supporting information or examples off of those sub-topics.

This is a visual way to demonstrate relationships between content. Begin in the center with a core topic, and then link out to nodes around that topic.

Advantages

• Easy to engage in self-study for exam prep
• Creates a one-page representation of important ideas
• Shows relationships between ideas
• Can help create questions or identify points of confusion in material

Disadvantages

• Could become messy
• can be hard to create during a lecture, may be better suited for review
• There is limited space for notes or explanations

Check out McGill Library’s guide to concept maps for more information on tools and examples!

Method: Flow notes

There is an example of flow notes that has “main topic” at the top of the main, then under and around it are arrows connecting to sub-topics or other information. The points below connect to one-another to show linkages between concepts.

Organize information spatially, connecting with lines, arrows, or even images. Avoid transcribing the information and focus on creating a mental picture of the topics and how they connect.

Advantages

• Encourages very active engagement with the material
• Flexible and adaptable
• Can show relationships between ideas
• Supports comprehension of material

Disadvantages

• Might be too messy for some
• Lack of explicit structure
• Potential for information overload