In the process of learning any knowledge and skills, we often have to record new information so that we can later reproduce it again. Because it is difficult or even unnecessary to write everything down, it is important to be able to summarize the information received in the form of a note. In this article you will learn how to take notes correctly using the example of taking notes in history lessons. Here we will discuss such concepts as reference notes, speed note-taking, shorthand, Cornell method and other useful ways of compact presentation and visualization of information.
What is a synopsis?
Word " abstract"came to us from the German language (der Konspekt); in German it was borrowed from Latin (conspectus), in which it had the meaning “review, outline, appearance, appearance.” In turn, this noun in Latin was formed by combining the prefix con- and the verb specio (to look, look). Thus, the original meaning of the word “note” is a short recording or transcription of something (it does not necessarily have to be a lecture or lesson summary - there are notes of books and articles; in the natural sciences, verbal information is usually accompanied by visualized formulas and algorithms, which also need to be translated into graphic or text information). In this meaning, concepts such as “compendium” (a condensed summary of the sum of the main provisions of a science) and “abstract” (a summary of the contents of an article or book) are close to the word “compendium”.
However, a summary is not just a word-for-word transmission of material perceived from an external source. It is also an act of creative comprehension of what is heard and seen, the expression of one’s own thoughts on paper, the moment of forming doubts and questions (Kodzhaspirova G.M., Kodzhaspirov A.Yu. Interdisciplinary Dictionary of Pedagogy. M., 2005. P. 136-137).
A “creative” note is not only copying thoughts from a book by an authoritative scientist or a lecture by a teacher; This is always a reflection on information, accompanied by the development by the author of a summary of a complex system of mnemonic signs that is often understandable only to him (underlining; highlighting text in different colors; constructing tables and logical chains based on available information). From the methods of taking notes and presenting material in the form of theses, many new genres of scientific research were born - from commentaries on the books of the Holy Scriptures and legal codes of the times of the Roman emperors in the Middle Ages to the publication today of courses of lectures by outstanding university professors (including posthumously, by their students).
Differences between note-taking and shorthand
Many students often wonder: if both note-taking and shorthand can restore the original meaning of the material presented, what is the fundamental difference between them? Isn't a note a special case of a transcript made using not universal notations, but a system of signs unique to a particular person?
The answers to these questions are provided to us by the work of St. Petersburg professor E.V. Minko (Methods and techniques of accelerated note-taking and reading: Educational and methodological manual. St. Petersburg, 2001. P. 20-25). Firstly, as already mentioned, note-taking reveals the purely individual characteristics of an individual; Often even his fellow students are not able to “decipher” the information contained in the notes. This situation is unacceptable for a stenographer: when learning this specialty, it is mandatory to memorize a certain set of universal symbols and signs. Secondly, the outline should be easy to “read”: a person should always be able to return to what has already been written and correct subsequent text. This is precisely why the “Cornell Note-Taking Method” is valuable, which we will discuss later. Thirdly, a summary of a lesson, lecture, visual information is not a copy of what was seen and heard, not a literal rendering of the text, but a transposition of its meaning.
“Rational” (speed) note-taking
"The Cornell Note-Taking Method"
This type of note-taking is called the Cornell note-taking system after the university where Professor Walter Pock, the author of this method, worked (Pauk W. How to study in College. Boston, 1962). It is rightfully considered one of the most common among students and is equally well suited for taking notes in both natural sciences and humanities.
The most important distinctive property of this method is the division of the space of a vertically oriented sheet into three fields: two fields are separated by a solid line vertically (in a proportion of approximately 1:3); At the bottom of the page it is necessary to leave an undivided space about 7 cm wide. The main part when taking notes is the right side of the sheet, where the main thoughts presented by the lecturer/teacher during the lesson are written down. Moreover, in the process of transferring verbal information onto paper, it is important to consistently move from writing down the main idea to facts and examples that should explain it.
Immediately after the end of the lecture, you can begin reflecting on the material displayed on the right side. To do this, you need to select and enter in the left field the maximum number of words or short remarks - questions that will illustrate the main content of the lecture contained in the text from the right field.
In the field at the bottom of the sheet, you must enter (after filling out the two fields above it) a detailed description of the main idea of the entire lesson (i.e. its dominant, in the language of foreign teachers - summaries), note its peculiarity in comparison with other lessons. This will allow, after a long time, to more vividly reproduce in memory the content of the lesson as a whole. In addition, it is useful to allocate 10-20 minutes a day to repeat the basic facts and patterns displayed in the lesson notes recently: this will prevent them from being quickly forgotten, analyze and resolve doubts that arise during the lesson itself.
Schematic plan
In part, Cornell notes are reminiscent of the note-taking method of compiling schematic plan. However, the fundamental difference between the first type of recording material and the second is that in a schematic plan, questions are first written down, to which during the study of the material it is necessary to give a short answer (consisting of 2-3 logically related sentences). Thus, if you combine the principles of filling out a schematic plan and the form for Cornell notes, you will notice that the schematic plan requires filling out the left field first, followed by the right one (i.e., the order of filling is the opposite of the “Cornell method” note-taking").
In such notes, which are written under dictation, mastery of the technique of speed writing and “condensing” material in writing is of particular importance. For example, many people use such a technique as eliminating vowels and replacing some words with conventional signs. In historical science, conjunctions, words meaning cause-and-effect relationships are especially often replaced, for example, “depends on...”, “mutually depends” (→, ↔), “therefore” (=>), “A is the cause of B” (A →B). Ligatures are also used, for example, NB (nota bene - Latin “remember well”). Colored markers, pens, and pencils are often used to highlight especially important thoughts. Some students and even schoolchildren who know foreign languages well can use abbreviated versions of foreign words (for example, def. from to defend instead of “protect”, “defend”; corr. from to correct instead of “correct”, “correct”). Some lessons and lectures, where the explanation of cause and effect relationships prevails over the event history (in particular, this applies to any topics explaining the structure and composition of government bodies, their functions), sometimes when written down take the form of a diagram with one or more key concepts in the center, from which there are branches to more specific terms or phenomena. An example is presented at rice. 1.
Figure 1. Example of Cornell notes
Experience in natural sciences. Supporting notes
The reference summary as a method of memorizing and reflecting material was developed in the 80s. last century Donetsk teacher of mathematics and physics V.F. Shatalov (see, for example, his books: Reference signals in physics for grade 6. Kyiv, 1978. 79 pp.; Reference notes on kinematics and dynamics. From work experience. Book for teachers. M., 1989. 142 pp.; Geometry in faces. M., 2006. 23 p.). Nowadays, in school lessons in the humanities (especially in history lessons), the method of compiling supporting notes is becoming increasingly recognized. For example, recently the publication of reference notes for individual lessons and entire educational blocks in history and social studies has intensified (Stepanishchev A.T. Reference notes for the history of Russia. Grades 6-11. M., 2001. 128 pp.). The popularity of this type of note-taking is explained quite simply: partly by the unusual, even playful form of presenting the material, partly by the poor memorability of individual events and dates. Thus, the supporting summary is an attempt to analyze in the most imaginative, visualized form the cause and effect relationships between various events, statements and actions of historical figures. In addition, the lesson material in the supporting notes is presented as whole blocks of topics. If we keep in mind history and social science, then the thematic and temporal coverage of the material varies depending on its specifics (for example, the time of coverage - from several months to several centuries).
Each topic (block - topic) is encrypted in the supporting outline into a system of signs - supports that make up a mini - block. Based on these signs, often unified, an individual note can be “deciphered” by other people. The optimal number of mini-blocks for presenting an entire block-topic is considered to be 8-10.
In addition, the system of supporting notes allows the teacher to implement an individual approach to teaching: if there are students of different educational levels in the class, compiling such notes allows you to regulate the pace of studying block topics and individual subtopics, make the learning process more understandable and interesting, and introduce an element of creativity into it (when students compile their own system of signs - supports and entire supporting notes at home).
The main supports in such a summary are symbolic - verbal (letters, syllables, signs of conjunction / disjunction, indicators of logical connection: →, ↔, sign of cause-and-effect relationship - =>, similarities - ~, etc.), pictorial (pictographic) and conventional graphic (fragments of plans, terrain diagrams with symbols) signs. An example of compiling a background summary on Russian history is presented at rice. 2. It remains to add that the reference summary can be used as an effective means of checking the material covered (then the basis for it is written and drawn at home, and in a lesson or lecture, students reproduce from memory diagrams and logical chains learned at home and consolidate this material by repeatedly drawing them on a piece of paper), and as a means of developing new knowledge, skills and abilities (i.e. when recording a new topic or subtopic presented by the teacher).
Figure 2. Background notes on history. Topic: “Eastern Slavs in the first half of the 1st millennium AD.” (compiled by S.V. Selemenev.)
Notes as a form of independent preparation for a report at a conference or seminar
Outline:
This type of note-taking is no less widely used in modern pedagogy; This is especially often true for the disciplines of the humanities. To compile such a summary, you need to carry out certain preliminary preparation: before the lecture, you need to write a lesson plan on several sheets of paper, highlighting sections, questions and problems in the presented material with special signs or numbers. Each of these headings can be expanded during the recording process behind the lecturer and supplemented with coherent text illustrating the general position. From the above, it should be concluded that ideally, the outline should be as close as possible to the text that the lecturer reads at the pulpit; in the description of this note-taking method one can find many similarities with the Cornell method.
However, the plan-note, as experts in didactics and pedagogy note, has a great advantage over the reference and Cornell notes. Since all the headings of topics and individual sections, as well as a certain amount of factual material, are prepared in advance, it is possible to write them down without abbreviations and symbols. This increases the likelihood of correct and quick decoding of the notes by other students or students.
The latter circumstance is the reason that when preparing for reports at school and seminars at the university, the outline shell of the outline is often used by speakers as the basis for their own message. Firstly, in such a structure it is quite easy to make various kinds of notes. Secondly, it is enough to simply insert the necessary quotes and references to sources into the text of the summary, which is especially important in historical science. If the material is properly organized, they will “stand” directly opposite the corresponding theses. Our example of the basis for a plan - a summary on the topic “The First World War 1914-1918.” we presented at rice. 3.
Figure 3. Shell plan - outline
