‘Get Ready, Together’ — Note Making room
Taking notes (or note making) is a skill that you can develop and refine as you progress. The My Learning Essentials team is here to support you throughout your academic career and we recognise that you will have practised note making to get to the stage you are currently at! It is important to be aware of your own style and to make notes in a way that suits you, but it is also useful to know about some effective note-making strategies.
To help you to reflect on your current approach to making notes, to identify areas you want to develop further and to consider what has worked well for you in the past take a look at the Padlet and share a tip or strategy.
You can listen to this podcast to hear more about how our Library Student Team make notes and reflect on the process as they share their top ten tips for note making.
Try this activity!
Take some notes whilst looking at the map of Manchester below. The map is from 1936 and is held at the John Rylands Library, Deansgate.
You should try to consider the following:
- What do you find interesting?
- What can you see that connects to something that you know already about Manchester?
- What did you learn?
Once you have made your notes you can summarise (shorten) them into a few short sentences; like writing a Tweet!
Look back over the notes you made from the image, what did you record? Reflect on why you found these things interesting or important, what did you have to say about the map? You can add your ideas and notes to the Padlet.
Structured note making
Structured note making can really support your writing as it enables you to record what you have learnt and to reflect on its’ value and importance for your topic. Cornell Notes are a fabulous way of capturing key pieces of information when you are listening to lectures or when reading. Using this strategy enables you to make connections and encourages you to ask questions so that you can use what you already know about a topic to enhance your understanding and explain this using your own words in the summary section (very useful for revising!).
Support from the My Learning Essentials team is available and if you wish to develop your note making skills further, check out our online resource Note making: capturing what counts.
Contact Us
The Library and the My Learning Essentials Team are here for you, so get in touch with us using any of the following methods.
- Email us uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk
- Use the ‘Ask a question’ tab at the right side of the page on any Subject Guide.
- Use Library Chat by going to the Library Website or MyManchester (log in required).
