our future, your future 2007 distance and flexible learning handbook

STUDYING BY DFL
32
1. Carry out a concentrated and thoughtful
reading of the entire chapter or article.
2. Highlight important points, examples and
definitions with a pencil or a brightly
coloured highlighter. These will form the
basis of the notes you may wish to take in
the next stage.
3. Try to work out the meaning of difficult
or unfamiliar words rather than turning
to a dictionary. If you can’t work them out
then highlight them in another colour so
you can come back to them later and find
them quickly.
4. Think up questions that will focus your
understanding of the chapter or article.
For example, ask yourself ‘Why is the
material divided up in this way?’
5. Carry out any exercises given in the
course materials and record the results
immediately.
What is study reading?
The purpose of study reading is to record
information for learning immediately and
reviewing at a later date. You may want to refer
to the next section, ‘How do I learn through
note-taking? to support the process below. To
study read, follow these simple steps:
1. Record what you need to remember and
use.
2. Write out what you highlighted in stage
two. Where possible, it is useful to write
out the highlighted information in your own
words.
3. Analyse the results of interactive
exercises and see how they helped you to
understand the main concepts.
4. Before tests or examination, use the notes
you developed at this stage to test yourself
and your understanding of concepts,
theories, or arguments.
The next step in learning effectively is making
quality notes from what you are reading. If
they are well written and detailed enough then
your notes will be your personalised tools for
How do I learn through
note-taking?
learning. To be effective they should:
• Be brief and to the point, but clear and
easy to use for your revision later;
• Be an outline of main points and
arguments made in logical order;
• Be in a skeleton outline and not in a
continuous paragraph;
• Be kept systematically filed on numbered
pages, such as in a ring-binder which
allows you to add notes on the same topics;
• Be easier to remember by using
colour, diagrams, flow charts, underlining
and highlighting for emphasis;
• Include both the standard abbreviations
such as eg, ie, etc, cf and your own
‘shorthand’ that you understand, such
as ‘wrt’ for with respect to; ‘betw’ for
between; ‘diff.’ for difference; ‘\’ for
therefore; and,
• Include sources and other references cited
- this provides bibliographical detail
essential in avoiding plagiarism.
There are many ways to make notes and you
should develop a method which suits the way
you learn and the type of material you are
studying. Here are some suggested methods.
How do I use the ‘Brief Notes
Under Headings’ method?
This method is very useful when making notes
from readings that have clearly organised
passages and headings. Most people use this
method to organise their learning for revision
and for preparing assignments such as essays.
To make brief notes under headings, you
should:
1. Read the passage quickly to get an
overview.
2. Read the passage again more slowly and
highlight in a brightly coloured pen or
underline the main points.
3. Write detailed notes under headings
and subheadings, keeping in mind
the main points. If passages do not have
these, develop your own headings and/
or subheadings from the main topic
sentence(s)
[Source: Taking Notes, A CELT Study Sheet,
CELT, USP]
Below is an example of this method being used:
This is the Original Passage:
... and we begin in the west of Tonga, which by 1777, when visited by Cook, had developed one of the most highly stratified societies of
Polynesia. Cook observed commoners stooping to touch the sole of a chief’s foot as he passed, and the Duff missionaries, in 1797, observed
how a chief simply rode his double canoe over the smaller canoe of commoners in order to reach the English ship.
Bellwood, P. The Polynesians: Prehistory of an Island People, London 1978. HPF02 Course Book p101.
After step 2, the passage looks like this:
... and we begin in the west of Tonga, which by 1777, when visited by Cook, had developed one of the most highly stratified societies of
Polynesia. Cook observed commoners stooping to touch the sole of a chief’s foot as he passed, and the Duff missionaries, in 1797, observed
how a chief simply rode his double canoe over the smaller canoe of commoners in order to reach the English ship.
Results of step 3 would be:
STUDYING BY DFL USP