Rapid learner skills(3)——Shallow vs. deep note-taking

Shallow vs. deep note-taking

The typical note-taking approach is to copy down everything that is being said, in the way that the speaker says it. I call this transcription style notes because they resemble a somewhat reduced transcript. This method only allows for shallow processing.

But the key is that the act of note-taking should serve as an orienting technique. That means it is a task that, simply by performing the task, you are guaranteeing that you will think about the information in a deeper way and implement deeper processing.

One method which is simple and fairly general-purpose is paraphrasing notes. This may sound trivial, but when you actually hold yourself to this rule you wil quickly realize how much of your current note-taking is simply copying what the other person says.

When you are no longer allowed to use the exact phrases the lecturer uses you have to really start thinking about what is being said in order to translate it into your own thoughts. Which, of course, is exactly the point. This method allows for a much deeper level of processing as you take notes, which will result in greater recall over time.

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Words:

transcription:
 n.
 a written record of words or music
orient:
 v.
 to make someone familiar with a new place
fairly:
 adv.
 more than average, but less than very
paraphrase:
 v.
 to repeat something written or spoken using different words, often in a humorous form or in a simpler and shorter form that makes the original meaning clearer
trivial:
 adj.
&esmp;having little value or importance