IMPORTANCE OF TAKING NOTES  WHILE STUDYING

Topic:                         The importance of taking notes while studying.

General purpose:      To Persuade

Specific perpose:  To convince my audience about the importance of taking notes while
studying.

Thesis:                    Taking notes while studying is very important because it improves our
memory and helps us study better, organizing information and promoting creativity.

I.                   Introduction

A. Attention getter:   

1.      With proper study notes, studying and passing exams becomes easier and
with good marks.

2.      Studies have shown that writing brings into play different cognitive
processes. It allows for increased learning as it develops thinking, reasoning,
imagining and remembering.

3.      “Researchers found that if important information was contained in notes,

it had a 34 percent chance of being remembered. Information not found in
notes had only a five percent chance of being remembered” (Howe, 1970, in
Longman and Atkinson, 1999).

4.      More importantly, it makes learning more fun.

B. Reason to listen:   Taking notes can be a very important part of our study.
It helps us do better in study as well as later in our career.

C. Thesis statement:  Taking notes while studying is very important because

it improves our memory and helps us study better, organizing information and
promoting creativity.

D. Credibility statement:

1.      I’ve been taking notes while studying since I started high school.

2.      I’ve read several articles and done my research on the internet.

E. Preview of main points:

 1.      First, I will discuss the importance of taking notes while studying by
affecting our mind, memory significantly.

2.      Second, I will discuss the importance of taking notes while studying by
improving learning, organizing information and promoting creativity.

3.      Finally, I will discuss how to take notes effectively.

II.                Taking notes while studying is very important. It improves our memory and
makes us do better in our studies.

A.    Taking notes while studying affects our mind, memory significantly.

1.      Writing study notes on paper improves memory.

a.      Taking notes allows the students to store more when studying and
reducing the chances of forgetting.

b.  There is lots of research pointing to an increase in information

retention when we take handwritten notes.
c.   When taken note by hand, the act of physically writing the letters
and symbols out helps develop muscle memory.

2.      Taking notes Increase focus. Handwriting notes, rather than typing, can
intrinsically increase focus while studying.

a.      Research suggests that students who hand write their notes seem to
think more intensely about the material as they write it due to increased
focus.

b.      Developing note-taking skills engages a student, requiring them to

focus and increase their attention to detail, and as we all know, the devil is
in the detail!

c.       Note taking keeps your body active and involved and helps you avoid
feelings of drowsiness or distraction.

d.      Note taking proven to extend a student’s attention span which is a

necessary tool in any learning situation!

3.      Making study notes stimulates that part of the brain that promotes
learning.

a.      Like every muscle in the body, the brain can be trained to learn easily
in order to absorb new and more information quickly.
Tansition:     Now that I’ve discussed the importance of taking notes while studying by affecting
our mind, memory significantly, now I will discuss the importance of taking notes while
studying by improving learning, organizing information and promoting creativity.

B.     Note-taking has been shown to improve student learning by organizing

information much better and promoting creativity.

1.  Note taking is able to improve a student’s ability to summarize and

organize information and comprehend.

a.      Making study notes passively increases the likelihood of the students
to become more organized. Being organized allows students to prioritize
tasks and to finish work on time.

b.      Those who take the notes effectively have a habit to categorize the
information properly. One can easily identify and separate the examples,
diagrams, explanations and other things.

c.       By prioritizing content and organizing effectively, a student develops

key organization strengths.

2.  Note taking really helps study well. The purpose of note-taking is to make
the learning process easier and faster.

a.      Taking notes actually increases our capacity to understand and

process information on a deeper level.

b.      Making notes forces you to interpret everything to read into your
own words so that you understand things better.

c.       Writing notes while studying not only saves a student's energy and
time during the exam, but also it is an easier way to recall things in less
time. This really quickens the process of revision and recall. 

3.  “Creativity allows people to be affective” — Bill Gates. Note taking boost
our creativity and inspiration. No matter what subject, creativity and
inspiration will certainly fuel your learning (and even enjoyment!) while
studying.

a.      Writing by hand actually influences your cognitive processes in a way

that slows you down and helps forge creativity and new ideas.
 b.      It is essential for a student to be able to select important material and
discard unnecessary content. Summarizing the whole thing further adds to
their creativity skills.

c.       Equipped with the ability to organize their ideas effectively, focus on

a particular subject and expand on ideas through knowledge retention,
students can use their own initiative increasing creativity and innovation.

Tansition:     now that I’ve discussed the importance of taking notes while studying by
improving learning, organizing information and promoting creativity, now I will discuss how to
take notes effectively.

C.    It is also necessary to take notes effectively. So for this, we have to know how
to take notes properly. 

1.      It’s necessary to prepare for talking notes even before we start reading.

a.      We have to create an outline for taking notes.

b.      We have to skim through the chapter and be sure to read the
introduction and the conclusion so we have an idea of the topics.

c.       As we skim through, we have to write down the headings and

subheadings (using an outline method), leaving plenty of room under
each to write your notes. This will keep organized and focused as we
read and create our notes.

2.      As we start reading, we have started taking notes.

a.      Instead of reading the whole chapter at once, we have to take it one
section at a time. This will make it much easier to digest the information.

b.      Once we have read a section, we have to start taking notes using the
key points.

c.       We can also try taking notes using memory as we read the section
just now. Working from memory will help make sure we paid attention
to what you were reading and helps recall the information later when
studying.

d.      We have to repeat this process for all of the sections. Taking breaks
between sections helps keep us focused while reading.

e.       Writing a few sentences at the end of our notes to summarize what

the chapter was about will help trigger our memory quickly during exam
time.

3.      With some features we can even make the notes better.
 a.  Color-coding our notes is a great way to organize information.
Using different colored highlighters label key points helps when it
comes time to study for a test to quickly locate important information.

b.      Using visual cues throughout the notes helps make sense of the
information. Like drawing pictures in the margins and using diagrams
and charts to illustrate key concepts.

c.       Writing in the margins or using sticky notes to add extra information

to your notes like writing down questions to ask the teacher later.

III.             Conclusion

A.    Review of the main points:

1.      First, I will discuss the importance of taking notes while studying by
affecting our mind, memory significantly.

2.      Second, I will discuss the importance of taking notes while studying by
improving learning, organizing information and promoting creativity.

3.      Finally, I will discuss how to take notes effectively.

B.     Restate thesis:    Taking notes while studying is very important because it

improves our memory and helps us study better, organizing information and
promoting creativity.

C.    Closure: So note taking is really helpful. It makes us remember stuff longer,
saves time during the revision, makes us focused and organized which really
helps later in our career. But of course everyone has their own personal study
method. So, what may be best for someone may not work for someone else at all.
In the long run, it really depends on our own working style and habit.

References:
1.  Caitlin Van der Walt. (2016). 5 Ways Handwritten Notes May Help Your Studies.
https://educonnect.co.za/5-ways-handwritten-notes-may-help-your-studies/

2.  https://www.queryfloor.com/blog/why-study-notes-are-so-important

3.  reMarkable. (2018). 5 reasons why hand writing notes while studying improves your
learning.

https://blog.remarkable.com/5-reasons-why-hand-writing-notes-while-studying-improves-your-
learning-5f43a397155b

4.  Chandrasekar Aleman. (2014). The Biggest Benefits of Effective Note-taking. 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140907101944-51876784-the-biggest-benefits-of-effective-
note-taking

5.  HOMEWORK, STUDYING. (2019). HOW TO TAKE GREAT STUDY NOTES FROM
A TEXTBOOK (& COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID). 
https://gradepowerlearning.com/how-to-take-notes-from-textbook/

6.  JENNIFER GONZALEZ. (2018). Note-taking: A Research Roundup.

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/note-taking/