TOPIC 2: Note-Taking/Note-Making and Summary

Writing
Importance of Taking and Making Notes

It is important that students should take down and make noted in a classroom
setting. This helps students during the lecture in several ways:

 To keep alert: Taking notes helps you to be focused on your subject area
and to the task at hand. Thus, taking notes in a lecture helps you to
concentrate on what the lecturer is saying. Doing something while listening
or reading helps the mind to concentrate on the subject of discussion. When
reading or listening your mind may wander off, so, taking and making notes
helps the listener or reader to keep alert. We learn more effectively when we
use multiple senses and multiple activities. When taking notes, we are using
listening and writing skills and we are using our brain and muscles. Note
taking makes you an active learner.

 To revive your memory: Taking/making notes will help you remember what
you have heard or read. Making notes helps you keep record of new ideas as
they come, and this in turn helps your memory. As an adult you are more
likely to remember what you have heard or read if you take an active part in
your learning.

 To improve your understanding: Taking your own note will promote a

deeper understanding of the content of the lecture. Making notes

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 facilitates understanding; this is so because it enables you to follow
relationships of ideas as they develop. Taking notes when listening to a
lecture helps one to understand the points clearly and keep a record for
future reference. Also by writing down notes, you are paraphrasing the
lecture or reading material into your own words and a format that you are
more likely to understand when you review your notes.

 Organisation of ideas: Note-taking helps you to organise the ideas you

are learning about. The whole process helps the mind to incorporate new
ideas into the already existing structure of knowledge. This facilitates
your intellectual development. This in itself can be a motivational factor
for your study.

Note-Taking
When taking notes avoid writing down everything you hear. You have to carefully
filter the information that you have received and choose a strategy that enables you
to understand the lecture quickly and make appropriate notes. Note taking includes
the following procedures:

o Listening: Apply the principles of good listening skills for better

comprehension. Listen carefully to the verbal message and pay much
attention to the nonverbal messages so that you fully comprehend the
message.

o Filtering: Do not try to write everything. Concentrate on verbal message,

recognise the organisation and identify the main points, supporting points,

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 minor points, and examples in the message. Observe the discourse marker or
signal words that point at important points.

o Paraphrasing and taking down notes: After identifying the core information,
rephrase it using appropriate words to maintain the meaning. Then write the
notes using appropriate reduction techniques such as abbreviations and
symbols to save time. Use suitable method of sequencing such as numerals,
numbers, decimalisation etc.

Note-Making
Note-making integrates both reading and writing skills. In order for you to take
down notes you need to adopt reading procedures that enable you make
appropriate notes. You can use the following reading procedures when you want to
write notes:

o Read the text quickly in order to identify its purpose, scope, central
idea, logical organisation and the writing technique;
o Read the text again in order to identify the main points and important
details that support the main ideas;
o Figure out the relationships among units within the text such as
examples, generalisations, supporting points etc.;
o Deduce meanings of words and phrases from their context and infer
relationships;
o If there are graphic aids in the text, interpret them.

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Apart from following appropriate reading procedures, you need to employ note-
writing techniques. You will find the following techniques very helpful when
you are writing notes from your readings:

o Copying - the act of writing down verbatim what is written.

o Transcribing - the writing down verbatim of what is said.
o Topicalisation: where you identify the central idea, the main
points and supporting details, written as they appear in the text,
excluding all unnecessary words.
o Schematisation: This is where you organise notes in the form of
tables and diagrams for easy reading. For example, most
scientific texts may contain certain information in the form of
figures, classifications, contrasts, processes, that can be
schematized for easy studying.
o Reduction: This is the shortening of expressions in order to save
time while making notes. For example, you can use symbols and
abbreviations to help you remember ideas when revising your
notes at a later date. You may common words and recurring ones,
and by writing in short phrases rather than full sentences. The
table below presents some of the most commonly used symbols and
abbreviations which are widely understood:

Commonly used symbols and abbreviations

Symbol Meaning
e.g. For example
Etc. And so on

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+ And
 Leads to
/ Increase/decrease
= Is equal to, is the same as, means
 Greater than
 Less than
 Therefore
i.e. That is
? Question
// Between
Xpt Except
 Before
w/ With
w/o Without
Etc. Etcetera: and so on
Cf Compare
Viz Namely
N.B. Note
C. About/approximately
≈ Approximately
@ At
& And
≠ Not equal to/the opposite of

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You can also use personal abbreviation if you find that certain words are recurring.
It is sensible to abbreviate them as in the following examples in Table 4 below:

Table
Abbreviation Full version
Maths. Mathematics
Bio. Biology
Stat. Statistics
H2O Water
CO2 Carbon dioxide
O2 Oxygen

Information Retention Strategies

Most of the information you read is lost after 24 hours unless you revisit the
information you have been reading. You need to adopt appropriate strategy which
suits you to improve your retention. One way you can improve your retention is to
write down notes as you read so that the information sticks your mind. However,
there are different strategies of note-making, but as already said you can always
choose the ones that best suit you. Some of note-making and retention strategies
which you might find very useful are outlined below:
 Outlining: Outlining is a means of showing major concepts, major
supporting details, and examples by numbering and indenting. It is a
summary in which letters and numbers are used to mark the main and
supporting points and details. The topic is divided into parts. Each of
these divisions is then divided into main parts. These subdivisions may
be divided further. Main ideas are always set at the same place on the
margin. Supporting points are indented under the main points and are
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kept consistently at the same spot of indentation. This is a highly
structured and organized method of taking/making notes. It is one way of
taking/making effective notes especially when your notes have a number
of headings and subheadings. It uses phrases and avoids complete
sentences. This can be done in the traditional number-letter format and
Decimal format as follows:

o Numerals and Letters: You use numbers (1, 2, 3), letters of the
alphabet (a, b, c), and Roman numerals (i, ii, iii or I, V, X, C) to
indicate the main ideas. Points which have equal amount of
importance are written using the same letters or numbers. For
example, you can choose Roman numerals (I, II, III …) to appear
beside main ideas; capital letters (A, B, C …) beside supporting
ideas; Arabic numerals (1,2,3…) beside major details; and
small letters (a, b, c,) beside minor details, as illustrated below:

I. First level of importance

A. Second level

1. Third level
2. Third level
a. Fourth level
b. Fourth level

o Decimalisation: This style of presentation uses decimal numerical

notation, as follow:
1. First level importance

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 1.1 Second level

1.1.1 Third level

1.1.2 Third level

1.1.3 Third level

1.1.3.1 Fourth level

1.1.3.2 Fourth level

1.2 Second level

2 First level importance

 Cornell System: You can use the Cornell system to produce excellent
notes which would make it easy for you to review the information. The
system has a two columned page. The two columns, a ‘Cue Column’ on
the left where you right key concepts, ideas, sequences, questions etc.
that would trigger your brain to remember, and the other column a for
traditional notes on the right - ‘Summary’ section. There is a small space
at the bottom page reserved for a brief summary, which you may find
useful when reviewing the notes. Below is an example of notes recorded
using the Cornell system based on the passage on:

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Notes recorded using the Cornell System
Population Control Mechanisms
Food availability Rarely important in controlling
Population size

Predation Availability of predation is seldom

a major factor in population
control

Diseases and Parasitism To some extent they do control the

population of the hosts, but rarely
do parasites for example destroy
their hosts. It is the infestation that
kills the hosts particularly, when
the host population is
overcrowded.

Most of the people do not clearly understand the factors that contribute to
environmental resistance and forces behind them that regulate population
size of many animal species.

 Mind mapping: This is a visual representation of the reading materials.

This technique appeals so much to those who learn better by their visual
senses. If you are a visual learner, you may find constructing mind map
very interesting because it keeps your mind active and focused.
Mind/concept mapping will help you to distinguish between main ideas
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and supporting points at a glance. When you use mind mapping you write
the topic at the centre and relate other ideas and points to it.

You can see the example of Mind mapping sample notes presented
below from a passage titled, ‘The Theory of Self- Concept’ extracted
from Louis, W. Holschuh, and J. Patrick Kerry, Academic Reading: A
Content-Based Approach, page 26:

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The self has four components: the real self, self-image, looking-glass self,
and ideal self. The real self is an objective view of the total person. The
self-image, the way individuals view themselves, may distort the objective
view. The looking-glass self, the way individuals think others see them,
may also be quite different from self-image, since people often choose to
project a different image to others. The ideal-self serves as a personal set of
objectives, since it is the image to which the individual aspires.

SELF -
REAL- SELF
IMAGE

THE SELF - CONCEPT

THEORY

LOOKING -
IDEAL - SELF
GLASS IMAGE

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* NOTE: Other circles that off-shoot are going to be inserted with explanation of
each concept.

Summary Writing

Summarising is a process of reducing information without changing the original

meaning and focus of the text. it is a reduction of a large quantity of information
down to the most important points. It requires you to thoroughly understand the
material you are reading and adopt appropriate techniques of summarising
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information. Thus, to write a summary, it is a must that you read the original
material. A summary should agree with the original material in presentation of
facts and emphasis placed on the material. The length of a summary depends on
the length of the text being summarised and your purpose for summarising; but
usually it should not be more than one-third of the text. Always write your
summary in continuous prose by linking up the points you have made from the
text.

Sometimes you want to summarise in order to integrate the idea(s) into your own
work. There are two ways of doing that; one involves condensation, and the other
involves abridgement. In condensation form, you present the original material in a
rephrased form, that is, you read the original material and use your own words to
write the summary without necessarily changing the meaning. The key emphasis is
on using your own words to retain the original idea (s). In abridgement form, you
retain the essential content of the work in its original version by closely
maintaining the original wording.

Sometimes you are given a task where you are required to summarise a passage.
You need identify the key words in the passage, and decide which part of it is
relevant to write down. You should also consider shortening the summary further
by dropping unnecessary words, whilst retaining the original meaning.

Summary Writing Techniques

Summary writing involves the following techniques:

 Outlining: After identifying the required information from the passage

you need to list this information in brief point form called an outline.
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 This is a sketch of the text containing main ideas only (see how to outline
in the methods of taking/ making notes above).

 Summarising: This technique involves three distinct processes in

handling the information. When making summary, you first of all select
important information from the text. The selection process is important
for you to source the right information. For you to identify important
information, you need to concentrate on the central idea, main points and
their supporting points. You should pay attention to the title of the
passage, the topic sentences in each paragraph, and special terms in the
passage. Then, you get involved in sieving the information through
rejection. This is a process where you reject and remove certain
information deemed unnecessary such as examples, repetitions, and
minor supporting details. In summarising a text, you are likely to
compress the information through substitution. Substitution is a complex
process in which you synthesise the text by combining several sentences
into one sentence, substituting short sentences for long sentences and
replacing several words or phrases with a word. Summarising creates a
new text by synthesising the original material and can follow the
outlining process, but still, you end up putting the information together in
your own words. As a student in a higher academic learning, you should
know that summarising is very important because it helps you to foster
deeper understanding of the topic.

 Paraphrasing: This is the process of rewriting a passage using different

words without changing the original meaning of the text. It involves
replacing words and phrases (for example, use of synonyms; generalise a
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 sequence of events or actions on one word or phrase; Use one word or
phrase to cover similar items or a list of examples); change sentence
structure (complex sentences to simple sentence; Link up related points
in one sentence etc.); change paragraph structure and changing the logical
presentation of the text. Paraphrasing can be very helpful particularly
when you want to integrate other people’s ideas in your own text. There
is a difference between summarising and paraphrasing. Unlike the
summary where you synthesise the information, paraphrasing retains all
of the original information. Paraphrasing simplifies the information
without changing original meaning. You do not change what is said but
how it is said.

Types of Summary
 Descriptive: This kind of summary you objectively present the main
points of the text. Thus, it contains principal facts and conclusions given
in the original work. Its function is to indicate the usefulness of the
original material. You do not include your evaluation of the text. Thus,
no personal feelings or thoughts are injected in this summary since the
main points are presented objectively. These are the kinds of summaries
that are found at the beginning or end of book chapter, or articles such as
abstracts and executive summaries.
o An abstract is a short, accurate, objective intellectual summary
that presents the main argument in a research paper. It provides a
brief summary of each of the main sections of the paper:
introduction, materials, methods, and main findings in a research
paper. An abstract serves the purpose of letting readers identify a

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 particular research problem in a paper, quickly determine if it is
relevant to their interests, and decide whether to read it or not.
o An Executive Summary, however, is mostly a business oriented
document with a very much shortened version, and often takes
bullet-point, or numbered sections format. Thus, section headings
and subheadings may present a starting format for bullet points. It
summarises lengthy proposals and reports presented in most
compact manner. It is the “heart” of the entire document written in
few lines for convenience. An Executive Summary is meant to
catch the attention and generate interest of the reader by providing
him/her with the entire idea without delving much on the content.
They are mostly used as plans of action, or tasks to be carried out

 Evaluative: Evaluative summary aims at assessing the original material.

This contains elements of judgement and is subjective in nature. Its
purpose is to analyse accuracy, completeness, usefulness, mode of appeal
etc. You include your thoughts and feelings since it is subjective
summary. However, make sure your opinions should be backed by the
original material (i.e. it should include specific points and references
from the original material). An example of this kind of summary is a
book or article review.

END OF NOTES

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