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202 CHAPTER 8McWhorter (1995, p. 235) made the following suggestions for
developing an effective outline:- Don’t get caught up in the numbering and lettering system.
Instead, concentrate on showing the relative importance of
ideas. How you number or letter an idea is not as important as
showing what other ideas it supports or explains. Don’t be con-
cerned if some items do not fit exactly into outline format. - Be brief; use words and phrases, never complete sentences.
Abbreviate words and phrases where possible. - Use you own words rather than lifting most of the material
from the text. You can use the author’s key words and special-
ized terminology. - Be sure that all information underneath a heading supports or
explains it. - All headings that are aligned vertically should be of equal
importance.
Here’s a brief outline of the information-processing system dis-
cussed in chapter 2:I. Information Processing System
A. STSS- Memory lasts few seconds
- Capacity is large
B. WM - Memory limited in capacity and duration
a. 7 2
b. Memory lasts 5 to 20 seconds
C. LTM - Storage of info is permanent
- Organization is like filing cabinet
- Flow of info in two directions
- Consider Representing or Mapping the Material. I’m sure you have
heard the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words.” In learn-
ing, students often find it helpful to represent knowledge in terms of
maps or diagrams to show how a topic and its corresponding infor-
mation are related. Sometimes academic content is more easily learned
by using a visual display of its organization rather than reviewing an
entire chapter or section of a textbook. Consider, for example, how
much discussion it would take to describe the functioning of a human
heart. A good graphic representation in the form of a diagram can
quickly illustrate the key components of a heart and the flow of blood
through it.