Read actively by stopping periodically to summarize the main ideas in your own words in a few bullet points rather than highlighting or copying text. Question the content and consider different perspectives. Maintain a reading grid to critically analyze and compare multiple sources. Record your reflections to prepare for assignments and develop your understanding beyond description to critical analysis.
1. Making Notes at Level 7
• You will be able to…
• Explain the reading and
note-making process
• Apply strategies and
techniques of note-making
to academic reading
• Evaluate an article to
develop your critical reading
2. Note-Taking v Note-Making
• In small groups discuss the
difference between these
terms?
• Why is there a difference?
• Was does this mean in
relation to your strategies for
creating notes?
3. Reading and note-
making for
assignments
• Reading for your assignments is the first step in
achieving good marks.
• You are now part of an academic community
that values evidence-based research, which
means using that research in your work.
• To read effectively, you need to be making
effective notes.
We refer to note-making rather than
note-taking: you create a set of notes
through active reading rather than
copying down information, which is
passive note-taking.
4.
5. Academic reading and note-making develops your ideas and provides the
evidence to support them better academic writing
Your
academic
writing
Your
academic
reading
6. Break the
process into
steps.
Remember that academic books
and articles are not written
specifically for your assignments.
Ask yourself whether it will
help you, how much of it is
relevant and why/how.
The following steps should
help you do this.
7. Overview
• Watch this film and take notes on the key points.
Work with the person next to
you to write a list of the steps
outlined in the film.
9. Why are you
making
notes?
• Consider the purpose: We take notes
for different purposes but in general it
helps with our understanding.
• When it comes to assignments, we are
generally taking notes for two broad
purposes:
• (1) to help us with a general
understanding of a topic
• (2) to record specific information to
support an argument.
• Either way it helps to think of some
questions you want to answer before
you start reading
10. Understanding Assignment Questions
This is a key stage in your planning
process.
Making certain that you
understand what you have been
asked to do.
This helps you undertake useful,
focused research, and then will
impact upon organising that
research into notes, an outline
plan and your final written piece.
Process
Discuss
Evaluate
Critically review
Describe
Explain
Dates
Locations
Aspect of a
topic
Formulate a
research plan
Areas to read
about and
analyse
11. Evaluate the question
Examine the use of Facebook in learning and teaching for
tertiary level students and teachers. Discuss the impact of
Facebook on tertiary education by outlining both positive and
negative effects. State your overall position. (Write 1200 words)
In groups have a go a breaking down this essay
question, and start to plan out the type of
information you would need to include in this
assignment.
What will you need to research?
What will you need information on? Notes
What will you have to check when you select
readings?
13. Examine the use of
Facebook in learning and
teaching for tertiary level
students and teachers.
Discuss the impact
of Facebook on tertiary
education by outlining
both positive
and negative effects.
State your overall
position.
Evidence
related to
positive effects
Engages hard to
reach students
Allows for peer
to peer
communicaton
Creates a
community of
learners
How is Facebook used in
universities?
Formal
Informal
Evidence related to
negative effects
Lack of student
engagement
Student see this as
informal platform and
not for learning
Outdated social media
Do this before you do your reading.
The aim of this is to help you focus
your reading, and make some
decisions about how you will
structure the material – the essay
will be the end product of your
reading.
Can you now identify three or
four key themes from your
initial ideas?
Overall postion??
15. Where to look?
• Your reading list: use it!
Everything on there will have
been carefully selected by
your tutors. It is focused and
of good quality.
• Make an appointment with
your Academic Librarian to
help build your knowledge of
where to look for reading
material.
16. Once you have identified books and
articles, you still want to make sure
that you are reading efficiently.
• Before reading the whole article or chapter,
skim titles, content pages, opening
paragraphs, introductions and conclusions
and read abstracts.
Most academic journal articles will have an
abstract and it is invaluable in helping you
decide whether to read the whole piece of
not. It is a summary of what the article is
about: what research was undertaken, why,
how and what the conclusion was.
17. Step Four: Start
making notes
Choose a technique but leave space for extra
notes and thoughts.
Of course, find your own
way of recording your
notes – you can still use
highlighters, sticky notes
etc. It is the active reading
and note-making process
that matters.
18. Keep it active…
• To avoid passively ‘copying out’ (taking notes) and
avoid plagiarism….
• Read through a section of the text (a couple of
paragraphs) without writing down or highlighting
anything.
• Write down three - five key words that come to mind
after reading (e.g. specific terms, type of method used,
a key finding). Write your notes directly from these key
words without re-reading the passage.
• Keep asking yourself key questions before deciding
what to write: is this what I need to know? How will I
use it? Keep your purpose in mind.
• Refer back to the original. Is your summary a true
reflection of it? You may need to add a little more
detail (e.g. statistics).
This will help you note down the most
relevant and important pieces of
information in your own words, and
help you to think about what you are
reading and how it relates to your
assignment.
19. Read the introduction of the article The Experience of using
Facebook as an Educational Tool turn the page over and write
down 3-5 words that reflect what you have read.
Repeat the process for the conclusion.
Turn these into 2-3 bullet pointed notes.
Compare with the person next to you. Why might you have
different points?
Using this method will help you to summarise the key point made
in a piece of reading concisely and in your own words because
the introduction and conclusion should always refer to
- why the research was carried out
- the methodology
- the key findings and conclusion
Have your notes?
20. Adding more detail
You may need more detail from an
article or book: sub-points/arguments,
detail from their findings, how and why
they have reached their conclusions.
• Use the same technique throughout
your reading: don’t just highlight or
copy out.
• To maximise concentration, stop
every 10 minutes or so and write
down what you feel was important
(if anything).
• You can always go back and
highlight or copy that key detail you
really need (e.g. statistics)
21. But for active reading, you need to do more than
select appropriate reading and make effective and
relevant notes…you need to read critically
Critical reading needs critical
thinking: what is critical
thinking?
22. Read Critically
• Standing back and thinking
about all the
elements of a topic
• Not taking information at face-
value
• Thinking about context
• Considering an issue from
different perspectives
• Analysing and evaluating
information, ideas and
perspectives before making a
judgement
• Critical thinking is about
asking and answering
questions: ‘Why? How? What
if? What next? So what?’
23. Active reading
and note-making
needs constant
questioning to
take you beyond
describing and
start critically
analysing:
What is the context (author, date, source-type) and
why is it important?
What is the main argument, conclusion or
recommendation?
What are the minor conclusions or key points made?
What are the measurable or observable facts
(evidence)?
Does the evidence support the argument fully or
partially?
Is there any bias or are any assumptions made?
How does this information compare with that from
other sources?
24. Remember
Your Purpose.
Use the
critical
questions to
focus on the
purpose.
Look back at the research
plans you made for the
assignment question.
Use this to write some
more focused notes from
the article.
25. Step Five
A reading grid can help you keep track of your reading and all that critical
analysis you will now be doing:
Author, title Topic Key argument Strengths/
Weaknesses -
Analysis
How to use
Bill Johnston (2010)
The First Year at
University: Teaching
Students in
Transition: Teaching
Students in
Transition (Helping
Students Learn)
Effect of
stress on new
university students
Students need to
have differences in
study practices
made clear at the
outset: this is the
responsibility of
the university
Very small sample
but longitudinal
study –
appropriate
methods
Rich data –
qualitative but is
this too
subjective?
Compare to Jones
(2010) -
emphasises the
responsibility of
the student; uses a
larger case study
Keeping a comparison of the key
arguments, findings and approach
such as methodologies, you com
across in your reading helps you t
think about how you will use it
Making a note of your critical analysis as you
read either here or on your actual notes,
helps you to prepare for your essay.
26. Summary
Read with your question in mind – have a clear
purpose. Think about how you will use it.
Never just write everything down. Be selective
and brief.
Choose your reading carefully so that you get a
wide range of different (academic/expert)
opinions.
Make a note of your own critical thinking as
part of your note-making.
As a starter, get them to note down why it is so important to make notes as they do their academic reading. Ask them for some ideas – helps establish their starting point but also allows you to validate some of their ideas and explain how the session will be building upon their initial thoughts.
You could explain to them that this is going to be focused on their essays but the skills will be transferable to any piece of work. This is important to help them see that the session (or ‘skills’) are not abstract. The point about the difference between note-taking and note-making is very important to get across right from the start, although you can point out that you will develop the meaning of active reading as the class progresses.
This is an opportunity to highlight to students the importance and foundational nature of their reading/research. This is also the time to draw attention to the high level of reading required to write academically and to effectively respond to a question , so their reading should be aligned to their breakdown of that question, and their initial ideas about what they should read and write about, which the next part of the lesson focuses on. Note that the reading might highlight areas they had not previously considered, but which, if relevant, should be incorporated into their answer.
Also the place to point out your expectations in terms of suitable source material; perhaps give examples of some to-be-avoided sources or source types.
This is a possible way of mapping out their ideas on a question to start identifying areas they need to be reading on. This example question is a just a generic one to show them how a collection of thoughts can be categorised into themes without leading them too much on the activity. This is a way of keeping the emphasis on how reading is part of the essay-writing process. Give them 3 minutes or so on the activity.
Stress that they have limited time, and so reading needs to be efficient Get them to discuss in pairs/threes within their larger group, depending on numbers in each class. Get them to feedback on why the made their choices to get them expressing their understanding of how to relate a piece of reading to their essay question. This is a point of assessment – if they have not quite understood the earlier process, this will be shown and can be addressed.
Hopefully, they will also see just how much information they can get from an abstract and so to start seeing the purpose of them and how they can help them read efficiently an quickly. So, by highlighting here the key features of an abstract – methodology, methods and findings/conclusion – they can see how they can start building up knowledge very quickly.
You could show them different types of note making here: Cornell (cue column for key terms, questions, or additions as they start to link, compare and contrast, with the summary area a useful place to highlight the key point from the whole article or chapter as a quick reference guide) and mind mapping (colour coding for different themes is useful in any format) as examples. Talk through these, the benefits of each and ask them which they like the look of, what they currently use but that you will encourage them to try something different later if they feel their current methods aren’t working. The main point is that they keep them brief and relevant – their notes should not look like an essay. The is also a good place to remind them of abbreviations – this doesn’t need to be lengthy – just the point that they can develop their own systems as only they need to be able to understand their notes. The point about leaving space to add their analysis is important to emphasise the active and thoughtful nature of their reading and links to the next part of the lesson.
This is a good place to remind them of what plagiarism is and the penalties for it – good note-making is essential in avoiding it as the notes will be in their own words and not copied out
Assure them that although this feels laborious at the start, they will feel the benefit of it and they will get much quicker
This is a good place to check whether they are keeping focus on their essay question when note-making by asking them for examples of the type of information they have noted down, and so acts as another assessment point. Is it important? Is it the most relevant? By exemplifying it for them, they could also start to recognise where they may have let their focus on the assignment drift. By comparing with one another, they can see another student may think something else is important – this doesn't necessarily meant they are wrong but it can open up a very fruitful discussion. Hopefully, they will see that they have made very brief notes, in their own words, that identify the key points from the article.
Could add in this activity if time – get them to start taking notes from either the methodology, the results or the discussion sections (tell each person in the group which of these they are reading as they will later on share their notes with the rest of the group in a later activity, which again will only be done if this one has and there is time)
Get them to discuss this question in small groups (4s?) and note down their ideas. Nominate a member of each group (especially if some of them have been very quiet so far) to feedback on their group’s ideas, which you can respond to.
To confirm/develop their initial responses – validating and stretching them. Remind them that their writing needs to show critical thinking, therefore critical reading is the first stage in achieving that.
It is worth spending a bit of time here going through these, asking them how they might apply these questions to reading in Sports Science and developing, confirming or correcting their contributions. Possibly go round each group, asking each a different question to help assess how they have developed their initial ideas.
It could be pointed out that keeping a document like this going throughout their reading should be encouraged. Again it may seem laborious but students who do this find their writing process is quicker and the end result is more well structured. I would recommend that you do a whole group Q and A at this point, asking them what they would put in this grid for the article they have been working on, to show them how it could be applied.
As a plenary, get each student to write a top tip on a post-it and stick it to the wall – quick review of them. If the session was longer, this could be turned into a poster creation exercise for a supposed Student’s Union Academic Skills campaign.
