What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of taking notes by writing down key points?

Pathways 1st Semester                                                                                             28 September 2017
Lesson 3 - Quiz Assessement Activity


There are definite pros and cons to note-taking. Firstly I will focus on the advantages of note-taking. The level of quality and effectiveness is dependent upon the method of note-taking.  I believe that to have a functional system, it should at least have a good combination of the following attributes; organized, systematic, methodical, functional, concise, structured, clear, simple and easy.

Now I will focus on a few disadvantages. Sometimes you can overthink your note-taking and make it so complicated to the point that you can lose the information because of the complexed nature of the method. You can overcrowd your note-taking that it starts to look so busy with too much information, cross-references, extra supporting material and so on. The method must be relevant to the note taker because there is no use taking down notes unorganized and all over the place and you not knowing the order or you cannot remember the chronological order of things. Your notes are mainly for you, however, there could come the rare occasion that you may have to do group activities or assignments and you might need to refer to your notes and the other people will be depending on your notes.  You will need to refer to them often when studying and teaching so it is imperative that you learn to tailor some method that suits your style.

When I was in High School, I did typing as a subject and this was the pre computer era.  In this class we learned typing and shorthand. This form of note taking was most effective what one is being dictated to. Shorthand is where you use symbols in lieu of words.  It was a great form of note taking and I think for verbal lectures I might possibly revert back to this method.

I remember when I started my first year of Seminary and I started to mark my scriptures and write notes on postit notes and I would just stick them all in my scriptures, sometimes they would fall out  and when it came time to find all the scriptures and places in the manual I need to go to I couldn't find them because I had nothing to refer to. I found it difficult to study and find exactly what I needed to and know exactly where it is.  I learned the hard way. I changed and became more organized. I kept a journal of loose lined paper, I recorded the date and what I was studying up the top with my name on it.  I wrote down the main bullet point keywords and Scriptures and I would hightlight the scriptures and on the postit was a summary of my thoughts or feelings that were relevant to the scripture.  I would leave the bottom part of the postit note exposed out the side like a tab with keywords such as, Sacrament / Faith / Baptism / Nephi Plates or Nephi builds ship etc.. Then in my journal I would write the Scripture in one collum, bullet points in one and then I would elaborate and go into detail about my facts, feelings and anything else that was important and relevant. This method has stuck with me until now and I am 37years old.