Study Session 1: Take Note

 Main Points:
 Why take notes?
 How take notes? focus on
 Linear way
 Spray diagram
3.1 Why take notes?

 understand
 remember
 explain
 highlight the points that will be useful
in an assignment
 help you revise
 reveal the underlying structure and
arguments
3.2 Guidance on note taking

 They should be personal

 They should have a purpose
 They should be the length you want
 They should make sense later
 They should be readily available
3.6 Alternative ways to take
notes
 Linear ways
 A non-linear way is the ability to visualize the connections
between different ideas:
 Mind maps and Concept maps are used when developing your
own ideas on a subject, for ex, when planning a report or essay.
 Spray or spider diagram summaries ideas that other people
have written or spoken- in other words they are ideal for note
taking.
 Spray Diagram
 Figure 1 shows an example of a spray diagram about note
taking. The core topic is shown in the circle in the centre of the
diagram. Main themes are linked by lines from the central
circle. Some of these themes then have sub-themes that
branch outwards. The points further from the centre are
usually more detailed and specific than central topics.
3.6 Alternative ways to take notes

 Do Activities 1 and 2 for practice on

linear and spray diagram ways
1 Communication between
devices

 1.1 Getting an overview

 This section starts with an article from
a technical journal – the sort that is
read by academics and professionals
working in a related technical field. It
sets the scene for some of the
technologies (that will be introduced
later on in this part)
Why Skimming?
 Getting a quick overview, if you are looking for
specific info.
 It’s easier to navigate on a journey you’ve travelled
before.
 Avoid taking passive approach the outcome is a
set of unconnected facts with very little coherence
or structure
 as you skim a text, questions will probably occur to
you ‘what is the author is trying to say here?’
‘ what is the evidence for this’, ‘do I agree?’
Seeking ans. To these questions will let you focus
to your reading  Using an active reading
approach with purpose
1.2 Skimming to get an
overview
 A well-structured document usually
contains a number of clues about its
contents. Skimming is the practice of
finding and using these clues. These are:
1) Visual clues such as doc. Title, headings,
subheadings, figures and figures captions,
words in boldface and italics, lists
2) Verbal clues as intro., conc. Or summary
and the first( or the last) sentence in the
paragraph.
1.3 Skimming – an example

 We'll shortly be asking you to skim an article

which appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of
a journal called IEEE Technology and
Society Magazine. ‘IEEE’ is usually referred
to as ‘i-triple-e’ and stands...
 Do Activities 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to practice
on skimming and then active reading.