Advanced Note-Taking
£on requestAbout this course
The transition from Key Stage 4 to Key Stage 5 is a big shift in the depth of the content and the demands put on the student. Many struggle through trying to apply the reading and note-taking skills that worked in KS4, but now don’t work so well in KS5. This compact workshop shows your students how to become active readers and how to apply the Cornell Method for taking efficient and effective notes; a technique that will serve them well as they progress on to higher levels of study.
Rationale
Whether it’s taking notes in class (Kiewra, 2002) or from books (Chang & Ku, 2014), note-taking has been shown to improve student learning. If you want your students to remember more of what they learn in your class, it’s better to have them take notes than it is to not have them take notes. The idea behind this is that note-taking requires effort. Rather than passively taking information in, the process of encoding the information into words or pictures forms new pathways in the brain, which stores it more firmly in long-term memory. Additionally, having the information stored gives students the opportunity to revisit or ‘revise’ it and reinforce the learning that happened the first time around. Although some students seem to have an intuitive sense for what notes to record, for others, receiving training in specific note-taking strategies can significantly improve the quality of notes and the amount of information they remember. (Boyle, 2013). This is especially true for students with learning disabilities.
“Learning occurs during both the production and review of notes by allowing the student to make connections and engage in deeper processing”.
Bohay, Blakeley, Tamplin & Radvansky. (2011)
Objectives
- To encourage critical thinking.
- To improve decision making.
- To enhance problem-solving abilities.
- To improve note-taking.
- To enhance focused attention and active learning.
Skills taught and their Benefits
The Cornell method is an organised and systematic process for recording and reviewing notes. It is an interactive approach which is both simple and efficient, and ultimately more productive.
Mind Mapping is used to visually organise information within a hierarchy, showing relationships between topics and ideas, which can help students better understand and remember the material.
Active reading refers to a process of deliberately engaging with the ideas and information in a text and often transforming that information into notes or other artifacts that record one’s understanding of and response to the text.
Cue Cards are useful tools for memorisation, as they encourage students to condense and filter information, which can improve understanding and retention.
Summarising teaches students to discern the most important ideas in a text, how to ignore irrelevant information, and how to integrate the central ideas in a meaningful way.
Outcomes
By the end of the workshop, your students will have:
- Understood how to identify and capture key information.
- Identified a note taking strategy that best suits them.
- Gained confidence in their ability to actively engage with the text they are studying.
- Been inspired and motivated to begin taking action.
“This session really, positively impacted me. It changed my perception on how to take notes and be more effective. I will definitely be using this in the future.”
Year 12 student – Harris Academy Ockendon, July 2023
Statutory Guidance, Curriculum and Frameworks
GATSBY Benchmarks: 3,6
NERUPI Framework: Practise
PSHE Core: Living in the wider world
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- PH: Advance Note-Taking contains strategies that are also featured in Stepping Up .
- If students are taking part in PH: Advance Note-Taking they should not also take part in Stepping Up in the same school term
- Many schools that book PH: Advance Note-Taking find that these additional workshops work well in combination: PH: Goals and Aspirations, PH: Inner Winner and PH: Marginal Gains
- Recommended add-ons: All Power Hours, Parent Workshop, Staff 1hr CPD
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Note to parents
The strategies within this course are designed to help your child plan, structure and conduct their revision in the most effective manner.
It is important to note that each child has individual strengths and preferences and will therefore benefit from a tailored and personalised approach to revision. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ magic rabbit foot for passing exams. There are, however, a range of techniques that have been proven to assist in increasing focused attention, understanding and recall. We encourage students to experiment with a variety of these techniques so they might develop an approach that works for them. A good time for trying out different revision methods is in the lead up to the mock exams. Help them to analyse which techniques work for them, so that when they are revising for their main exams – they know how to revise in a confident and effective manner.
Discuss revision with your child and encourage them to discuss it with their friends and siblings. Encourage your child to attend any additional revision sessions organised by the school; these will be focused on the key topics that will come up in the exam. Your child will also get the feeling that they’re not alone in this; all their friends are going through it too. Attend any parents’ evenings put on by the school. It’s useful to be reminded of things you might not have thought of or forgotten. Also, it’s a great time to hear from other parents and how they’re all experiencing similar issues or challenges.
We wish you all the best in supporting your child through the intensive and often stressful time leading up to exams. The act of you reading this text, infers that you have your child’s best interests in mind. I’m sure they will benefit massively from your help, support and encouragement.
Best,
Sander de Groot
Head of Training
Syllabus
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