In middle school, the tests were so easy that I didn’t even need notes. It would suffice to listen to the teacher in class at least once every week. The questions for every subject were so straightforward and required basic levels of common sense.
Fast forward to AP Biology freshman year of high school, and I quickly realized that I do not know how to study or learn complex material. It was the biggest slap in the face. At first, I would read and re-read each paragraph in the textbook chapter we are studying, hoping that the info would stick. I would try to imagine the biological processes and treat the material like a big movie that I’m watching, but it wasn’t helpful… the tiny details would slip.
There was soooo much to learn. Unlike middle school classes, these courses needed less common sense and more comprehension, memorization, and application. None of it was intuitive. It was like trying to drink from a fire hydrant.
But as with many things in life, rough experiences teach you, more so than the effortless ones. Slowly, I adapted to this rapid-fire learning and started approaching all of my classes in the style that their content demanded. And this was the turning point in my high school experience, and in my identity as a learner. My biggest lesson from this experience is that: your results are as good as your systems. Thus, I would like to share the systems that I have been using that have changed my results for the better.
Attitude of a Learner
Nothing hindered me more in my first semester of high school than my terrible mindset. I was so bitter, frustrated, and mentally fatigued. I doubted myself and made very negative thought-statements, like “I don’t know how to do this, no matter how hard I try.” and “maybe I should transfer to an easier class, I will never understand this.”
It was true that “I didn’t know how to do this,” but what wasn’t true is that I will remain that way. With time, deliberate practice, and desire, any skill can be acquired. That was the new thinking that made the difference. Instead of “I’ll never understand this,” it became “I don’t understand this yet.”
This new attitude was transformative. It gave me the ability to love where I’m at on the way to where I’m going. I was now trying to be a better learner, trying to find the most effective methods of learning, instead of trying to “crack down” a specific class just to pass it. I encourage you to start here before you go on to the actual note-taking systems.
Structured Notes:
This structured system came the most naturally to me during my first real “textbook learning”.
You write the title of each topic, then 3-5 main points from each, and beneath each point, as many subpoints as you wish. Feel free to include doodles, diagrams, page references, quotes, or whatever you feel accurately represents the material from the class. On the side margin, you give yourself little cues in the form of questions, so that you can use them to quiz yourself on the content of the notes later. At the bottom, you summarize all of the information from the notes in 3-5 sentences. Keep it simple and to-the-point (lol).
To me, this was perfect for my biology class. I have two giant notebooks from that class, full of what I came to later know as “Cornell Notes”. This method of note-taking was my savior when it came time to take the AP exam at the end of the year because all of the topics were neatly covered in simple detail, with questions for review, and a little big-picture summary to help me conceptualize the relevance of whatever process or topic I needed to know.
This system works best for comprehension-heavy courses like STEM courses (science, technology, engineering, and math) and the social sciences.
Visual Notes:
Next came Sophomore year, wherein I took my first college-level history class and felt equally frustrated with my inability to conceptualize the content using my newly acquired Cornell note-taking system. And it took me some odd 5 weeks to come to the conclusion that history is by nature different than science, and so to understand it, I would have to use different means.
History is really just a story; a story of the world’s change and continuity over time. Like all good stories, there is a plot, themes, events, characters, and points of view. History classes are trying to break down all of those aspects for each time period and in each geographical location. For me to understand the whole story, I have to take all of these pieces one by one and then put them back together into one coherent whole.
This is where visual notes come in handy. You draw each aspect of the story line. You make visual representations to show: what happened, when it happened, who was involved, where it happened, why it happened, and from whose perspective was the most widely-accepted version of this story told.
Illustrations (no matter how simple) are the best method for history related note-taking because drawings portray a memorable narrative. Unless you want to write down word-for-word what happened with Ronald Reagan’s administration during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 80s, you would be better off drawing it and representing the story in your own style.
Concept Maps:
And then there were other classes that never fit either style. Cornell notes were too structured and detailed and Visual notes were too broad and narrative-heavy to fit classes that were based on concepts, not facts or stories. Those classes were AP Seminar (a communication and presentation course), physics, philosophy, and digital arts.
Although those classes have very little in common, they all share one feature: they are based on the application of certain concepts. You are given certain ideas that are said to do specific things, and then you use those ideas to do those things. Concept Maps do just that. They help you record the concepts and branch out into their applications or other related or resulting concepts. Concept Maps also work perfectly for abstract ideas that we cannot prove empirically and that don’t have data/specific facts to correspond to them.
You start by placing the main topic or concept in the center and then draw out “nodes” of all the other interrelated topics or resulting/causing factors.
Flow Notes:
This is the holy grail system for the efficiency-oriented student. Flow notes are incredible for those of us who want to maximize every moment in the classroom or in lectures and minimize review time at home.
Most of what I do in class is take flow notes during lectures or presentations. Flow notes are so holistic and entertaining. You actually learn because you are actively engaging with the content as it is being given to you. Taking better notes is just taking notes that will help you understand and retain the content quicker.
This is precisely what happens with Flow notes as you jot down ideas, draw arrows, make little diagrams, side notes, and graphs. You get to go wild! There is no structure, nor any particularities. It works for history, foreign languages, math, science, technology, philosophy, communications, and every other subject under the sun. There are literally no rules or limits. Just you and what you are given.
However, while this system is great for capturing information in the moment, it may be too chaotic and difficult to review later. For some people, that may work just fine because they are visual/auditory learners and can optimize class time the most. If you are not one of those people, then while you take your Flow notes, try to pose some side questions on the content to review later for tests (kinda like Cornell notes).
Conclusion:
Ultimately, taking good notes that work well for the subject you are studying is the best way to capture and retain the content. But to actually study it and be prepared for test day, you must review, review, and review. By using spaced repetition, quizzing yourself on the content, and understanding its broader implications you can ensure not only success on the test, but long-term success for you as a learner and citizen of the universe.