How to write an effective study note
From my experience of being a high school chemistry tutor for the past 3 years, I have never thought that not only I will be teaching the basic chemistry principles, but also using my strength in visual communication skill to design my student’s study note.
I just couldn’t stand it.
Having a study note is crucial when it comes to summarising the key point from the chosen topic. It is also vital in providing a quick overview of the topic and create an easy access when you are desperate for that answer. Some also creates study note as an excuse to re-write information, in a hope that it will get stuck in your head. But is it a guaranteed that you will definitely memorise everything in that study note?
What I have noticed in my students is that they have beautiful handwriting, a great potential to develop a top-notch aligned study note. There are heaps of diagrams, tables, plenty of colours, pretty much all information is in there. What could have gone wrong? The problem is, there is TOO MUCH information. It was difficult to navigate, I couldn’t Control-F to find key information. So, here I am going to be telling you how to effectively design memorable study note. This does not only apply to chemistry students but hopefully to everyone wishing to improve on their study skills.
1. Know what kind of a learner are you
For me as a designer, I have always been a visual learner. Of course everyone is a different. You need to identify yourself how do you remember stuff? Do you learn by diagrams? Do you memorise by reading out repetitively? Do you see it clearer when information is put into tables? For me, I have always find visuals and diagrams useful for my students
2. Extract only key points
You need to be know what the topic is about. Each course should have their own syllabus or otherwise, you can find out in the content page. After finding/knowing what the topic is about, try to extract its main heading and make that the start of your study note.
For example, if the topic is about monitoring water, your heading for your study note should be “Water Management”. The heading should be about 1–2 words. Do not put a sentence as your heading
3. Colours
Get some highlighters and coloured pens ready, it will come in handy. Having colours in your study notes not only bringing it visually alive but also making it easier for the brain to focus on only important information. What if all information is important?
What to highlight
- DO NOT highlight more than 1 sentence. If the whole paragraph is important, make it separate from other information and have its own heading for it.
- Using the same colour to highlight words within the same category.
- Colours can be great in bringing out key point but do not overwhelmed it because your brain can lose a point of focus.
4. Font-Weight
We’re talking about BOLD-ness here. Obviously, we always bold the title write? Be careful on how you use bold because it shows the hierarchy of information. To keep it safe, just stick to the heading for now. You have enough sub-headings to deal with.
5. Font-Size
Try to keep it consistent when writing content. Font-size should only be used to differentiate between Title, Heading, Sub-Heading and content. If you need to bring out a point of focus in the paragraph, use colours, do not randomly have that one giant word in the middle of a paragraph.
6. Give some SPACE
Give your notes lots of space. This is important for your brain to have a break to absorb so many words in one page at once. Giving white space also allows a new point of focus to be shown. The more white space, the cleaner the study note looks, the easier it is to find key information.
7. Minimise the use of bullet points
I know, when it comes to summarising key points, bullet points are our best friend. But don’t over use it. There are so many ways you can summarise your information.
- Flowchart
- Tables
- Diagrams
- Symbols
An example of a student’s study note
What I did above was that I combined information within the same context into one page in a form of table (page 1). Then, for all process, I use flowcharts to easily visualise the steps and different colour of the flowchart represents different topic. The last page uses one big visual diagram to summarise the content.
Font that I use: Segoe UI Black, Segoe UI Semibold and Segoe UI Light
Lastly, how to know if your study note is effective? Study notes are not textbook. They are not there for you to memorise every single word. Good on you if you do. But I am sure for most of us, whether you’re a last minute study person or preparing way too early for exams, you are also focusing on other subjects and what you really should be focusing on is the practise question, not making the study note.
You know when your study note is effective when you can do your practise question without looking back at your study notes.
