Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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224 CHAPTER 9

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3. Use an Indenting Form for Writing Notes. Start main points at the mar-
   gin and indent secondary ideas and supporting details. Further indent
   material that is subordinate to secondary points. The outline format
   helps you see how the lecture was organized and helps identify the
   relative importance of the content when studying for an examination
   (see Figs. 9.1 and 9.2). If the instructor’s presentation is not well organ-
   ized, do not spend too much time during the lecture trying to figure
   out the outline. Get the main ideas down in your notes and reorgan-
   ize them after class (McWhorter, 1996).


4. When the Instructor Moves to Another Idea or Topic, Show This Shift by
   Skipping Two Lines. One of the most confusing aspects of analyzing notes
   after class is following the instructor’s main ideas. By skipping lines in
   your notes, you are alerted to the fact that the instructor moved on to
   another idea or topic. This procedure helps make sense of your notes.

After the Lecture

The most important part of note taking is the activities that are com-

pleted after you take notes. The activities presented here were devel-

oped by Heiman and Slomianko (1993). They involve generating and

answering two types of questions from notes. The first is called a mir-

ror question, because it directly reflects the information in your notes

(see Figs. 9.1 and 9.2). The second is called a summary question,

because it reflects the major theme or main idea of the total lecture. If

you know the answers to these questions, you understand your notes.

You need to set aside about 5 to 10 minutes per lecture shortly

after class to review your notes and complete the following activities:

1. Add Any Important Information You Remember the Instructor Saying but You
   Did Not Write Down.


2. Locate Information You Did Not Understand in the Lecture From the Instruc-
   tor, Another Student, or the Textbook.


3. Play a Form of Academic Jeopardy and Think About Notes as Answers to Ques-
   tions. After class, carefully read over the notes. Write mirror questions (in
   complete sentences) that the notes answer in the lefthand column of your
   note paper (see Figs. 9.1 and 9.2).