Penstripe Student Planner Catalogue 24-25 - Flipbook - Page 114
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CHOOSE YOUR PENSTRIPE PAGES
WHEN CREATING YOUR NOTES
Study and Exam Preparation
STEP TWO: CREATE
Study and Exam Preparation
•
Chunk information into bite-sized manageable sections of content and
use clear headings and sub-headings;
•
Paraphrase where possible, that is, use your own words which
are different from the original text to achieve clarity. Abbreviate or
develop your own shorthand too e.g., ed for ‘education’ or mgmt. for
‘management’;
•
Summarise information, aiming for notes that comprise about 25% of
the original text. Include only the most important information in your
notes; and,
•
Use images and words. This is known as dual coding and helps you to
recall information, as it draws on multiple neural pathways. We also
know that the human brain loves images and colour.
In our example below, the student used flashcards for Step Two. These cards
are compact, the notes are bite-sized chunks of information, and they are
portable enough for ‘revision on the go.’
Using class notes and textbooks as the original texts, the student created
flashcards that condensed the total amount of information by topic. When
notes were created for each topic, the student added a ✔ beside each on the
syllabus map to keep a record of progress.
Step Three: Retrieve
Retrieval is the act of bringing information to mind. We recommend that
approximately 45% of your revision time is set aside for this step because it
includes several reviews of your notes using your questions/answers, and
then practice tests as the dates of exams near.
Cognitive science research has demonstrated that review systems help
commit information to long-term memory. Researchers have shown that
spaced retrieval practice is very effective. This involves a schedule of
deliberate practice which spreads out your revision activities, each time
increasing the amount of time between reviews.
Review 1 Review 2 Review 3
QUANTITY OF INFORMATION REMEMBERED
When creating your notes, keep these four key principles in mind:
Review 4
Review 5
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Passive re-reading of notes is much less effective than active reviews. Why?
Re-reading helps your brain to recognise information, and, because of this,
you may think that you know it. However, recognition is very different to
recall. When reviewing your notes, you must try to recall the information from
memory in an active manner, such as questioning yourself without your notes
or answers to hand, teaching someone else what you know, or giving your
Q&A cards to someone else who can question you.
By actively reviewing information you can commit it to long-term memory. And
implementing these retrieval (review) activities in a spaced and structured
way also leads to deeper learning.
But whatever retrieval activities you use, make sure you are effortful. It is
this effort which will help you to build up your brain’s storage and retrieval
strength.
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Description
When Creating Your Notes
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Time permitting, we suggest that you try to complete five active reviews of
your notes, each time leaving a bigger gap between each. Mix up the order of
your topics for revision too. This keeps your brain active and means that you
don’t fall into any unintentional habits where certain topics are always first or
last.
Page Ref.
T-5
Description
Step Three: Retrieve
Page Ref.
T-6
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Once a set of notes is completed for each topic, it is essential to generate
questions for later retrieval.
