Best Practices for Reviewing and Editing Your Notes

By Alyssa Laffitte on October 25, 2017

Taking notes is a big part of being a student. There are many great articles out there on how to take effective, helpful notes. Those are great, but what about once you are done taking those notes? How do you use them to study or review for an upcoming test?

Here are some tips to help you make the most of your notes.

Image via Isorepublic.com

Review them within 24 hours of taking them

When you study your notes within 24 hours of taking them, the information will be fresh in your mind. This will make it easy for you to fill in any examples or missing information. It’ll also help you retain the information longer.

Rewrite them in your own words

The best way to tell if you understand the material is to explain the concepts in your own words. This is why simply copying the lecture slides or the textbook word for word doesn’t help very much. Instead, take the information and put it in your own words. It will also be easier for you to read because the information is in your own words!

Color code them

I love to color code my notes. Not only does it make them very pretty, but it also provides a sense of organization and helps me spot what I need quickly. For example, I like to write the main topics in red, sub-topics in blue, mathematical formulas in blue, and vocabulary words in red. If I’m looking for a formula, I know to look for something written in green.

Draw diagrams

I am a very visual learner, so I find that making diagrams helps me a lot. My personal favorites are flowcharts or tables. Diagrams help you visualize the concepts and how they relate to each other, which helps a lot.

When you are reviewing your notes, try to draw out a diagram that breaks down the concept/process you are learning. The process of creating the diagram and referring back to it will help you learn.

Outline them

Another great way to review your notes is to outline them. Outlining is like a diagram in the sense that you can see the concepts and their relationships to each other. But it’s also like a summary in that it focuses on the main points; it doesn’t get too bogged down by the details. It’s great to help you make sure you understand what the main points are.

Summarize them

Similarly, summarizing information helps you focus on the main ideas of the material. It also helps you explain the concepts in your own words (another strategy that helps you learn!). So if you can easily summarize and outline your material in your own words, then you can be confident that you understand it.

Taking the notes is only half the battle. Once you’ve taken them, you need to use them to help you ace the class. If you use these study strategies, you can go into the test feeling good about your knowledge of the material.

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