Effective Note Taking

Everyone has their own unique learning style.  In lectures some people pick up things simply by listening, others needs graphics/videos to take information in and some people prefer to read information in bullet points.  It is essential to discover which learning style applies to you in order for you to make effective notes while studying.  Information about discovering your personal learning style is available from here.

Personally I am a visual learner.  I need images, colours and videos to make sense of information.  The following is just a few simple ideas I find useful to make my studying as effective as possible:

• Mind maps.  These visual aids are great for brain storming and pulling information out of my head.  They allow you to organise information into sizable chunks in a method which makes sense to me.  Mind maps can be as big or small as you want, contain colour and images.
• Coloured pens.  These are great for differentiating between information and important information.  A particular word written in green pen may act as a trigger to recall the rest of the information.  Colour coding my notes is also extremely helpful to me.
• YouTube.  If you are having difficulty understanding a particular topic, search for a video about it on YouTube which explains it better.  In the exam you may be able to recall what was said-just try avoid getting sucked into YouTube and looking up funny cat videos!!!
• Diagrams.  They say pictures are worth a thousand words.  For me this is most definitely true.  I can pick up complex subject matter from diagrams easier than reading through pages of text.

Which ever learning style applies to you, it is important to find a method of note taking which works best for you.  It will avoid wasting time when studying and ensure you remember the maximum amount of information during an exam.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is something I had never thought about before I started college.  In secondary school we are thought how to use direct quotes and ideas from texts in our work, but nobody ever mentioned anything about referencing where this quote came from. 

Essentially this was stealing.  By not mentioning what book we took the information from, you are taking credit for the authors ideas and passing it off as your own.  There are a few different methods of referencing out there.  From my experience the Harvard Referencing Style is the most popular and recognised.  An online tutorial about this can be found here.

A few quick things to remember when citing someone else's work:

• Paraphrasing.  By re-wording what the original author has said, you are using their idea but not stealing it and claiming it as your own.
• If you do decide to include a piece of information directly from another source, ensure you use quotation marks to show this is not your original work.  This is perfectly acceptable-as long as you reference where it came from!

Time Management

Like most college students, I found myself struggling to effectively manage my time.  Assignments were not being completed until the final minute, striking a work/college/leisure life balance seemed impossible.  Personally it felt like I was busy all of the time, yet I was always so far behind with college work.

How did I overcome this issue? The following is a few simple ideas which radically improved my time management skills:

• Create a personal timetable.  For example, I knew my college timetable and when I had to work at my part time job.  I could fill this information into my personal timetable, then I could see what time I had free to do study, assignments and fun activities.  You do not have to be extremely rigid within this timetable but the structure is extremely beneficial because it allocates time for everything and prevents wasting time while also creating a routine.
• Prioritise your tasks in order of importance.  Decide which assignments are most important and require the greatest amount of work and complete them before the lesser important ones.  This avoids procrastination and wasting valuable time.  It also ensures these assignments are not left until the last minute.
• With regard to assignments, read the brief and break it down into smaller manageable chunks.  I think this makes tasks seem much less daunting.  Also by completing the assignment one chunk at a time allows you to keep track of what has been completed and what is left to do.
• Ensure regular breaks are included in your routine.  These are vital to rest the brain and to avoid hitting the dreaded "study slump"!  Also I recommend one day of the week to be free from study or work related activities, which is time dedicated to yourself!

Critical Reading & Thinking

Essentially "Critical Reading" means researching a topic from different sources and viewpoints in order to make an informed opinion about a piece of information. It is the ability to question and analyse information which we receive before accepting it as fact. It is important to understand that information in a text may be one author's personal viewpoint or opinion. It is therefore logical that we should challenge this opinion and research its authenticity.

The ability to critically assess a piece of information is a skill every student needs to learn in order to successfully compile essays for college. Personally, critical reading wasn't something I had ever thought about until I began this course. I used to Google information, accept it as fact and insert it into my assignments. Quickly I discovered that Google is full of information about everything-but this information is usually inaccurate!!

By checking your information is cited by more than one author, you know there is strength and truth in your information. I also think it proves the information is not bias or an example of persuasive writing on behalf of the author.

Also I think it is extremely important to ensure your information is coming from reliable resources. Take the time to make sure the author, publisher, year of publication etc can be found. These bits of information validate the research.

Effective Presentations

Presenting a topic in front of an audience can be an extremely daunting task for most people.  This kind of experience tends to evoke feelings of fear because, essentially, it requires you to put yourself forward in front of an audience to deliver a specific piece of information.  This kind of experience makes you feel exposed and vulnerable.

But presentations do not need to be a scary or stressful experience.  All you need to do is follow these few simple guide lines:

•  Organise your information in a logical manner.  This means have an introduction (to inform the audience about what you are going to speak about), a main body (the information on the topic you are delivering), and a conclusion (to recap on the information you have just covered).
• Practice! Practice! Practice! By undergoing essential preparation you will fully learn your topic and script and become confident in delivering the material.  Also the audience will know immediately know if this is the first time you have presented the topic.
• Cue cards can aid your memory and knowledge of your topic.  Also if your mind simply goes blank when you are standing in front of your audience cue cards can provide you with a starting point!
• Use clear and concise information and try to keep language "jargon" free.

When I had to do a presentation in front of my class I was extremely nervous but the following video really helped me by highlighting a few other things to bear in mind when presenting to an audience:

Presentations should not be a source of panic or worry if you follow the guidelines set out above.

Good Luck!! :)