Last Updated on April 18, 2024 by Saira Farman
Note making is an important skill that has a direct impact on the academic outcomes of students. Do you ever think almost all students sitting in a classroom face the same academic challenges, then why do only a few students excel in class? It is the note making format and proficiency that help its followers to stand out by improving learning outcomes. Thus, this article will discuss the format of note-making, its three most important types and some standard format for making lecture notes.
What Is The Format For Note Making?
Note-taking is the art of arranging sources to better understand even a complex topic. The main purpose of making notes is to collect all important points in one place, so that you can revise each with even a single glance. To achieve this aim, the student must choose the right format to get benefits from their notes. The note making format commonly refers to the style a person uses to arrange the pointers and elements of a lecture. In general, the following note making formats are common: Outline format, Cornell format, Boxing format, and Charting format.
What Are The Types Of Formats Of Note Making?
There are many different types of formats for notes-making. This is the fact that most of students prefer to hire coursework writing services. This is because a particular format you want to choose depends on your individual preferences and ease of following guidelines. Still, the following are three types of note making formats that may help you in making outclass lecture notes;
Linear Format
The most convenient format for note-making is the linear format. It helps students in taking a more passive approach to making the note more effective. The guideline for making notes by using the linear format includes;
- Use appropriate headlines to quickly know the crux of the whole paragraph or the content per page. The capital letters, bold letters and underlining can also serve the same purpose in linear note making format.
- Linear format for note making suggests using symbols and abbreviations to keep the notes short and concise.
- Bullet points and numbering techniques are important to make the priority list. They also aim to bring continuity to your notes.
- In notes, the margin should be wide. The wide margins provide extra space, so that you can add or write any missing or additional point at any time.
- Direct quotation, use of bracket and highlighting concepts in different colours are also important aspects of making the linear note effective.
The Pattern Format
The pattern format is a bit more complicated. In simple terms, it is an artistic way to learn by drawing, pictures, arrows and adding colours. It is quite different from the linear note making format in terms of organisation, techniques and, of course, complexity. This format uses a visual approach to making notes attractive and memorable. It organises the keywords and ideas in the form of a picture, scheme diagrams and mind-maps. Furthermore, you can add different colours to your pattern to store important ideas in your subconscious brain.
To make notes by using the pattern format, you must first learn strong mind-mapping techniques. In mind mapping, you need to place the main idea at the centre and through brainstorming for linking new ideas to form a map. Furthermore, mind-mapping can be done manually, but these days, there are many online tools that can also assist you, such as Coggle and MindView. In simple words, the effectiveness of pattern note making format depends on a person’s abilities to collect/ relate ideas and the right selection of mind-mapping tools.
The Three-Column Format
This is the soberest note making format. In this format, you just need to make three columns on an A-4 size page. The topic or the title must be written at the top of the page. The headline for the first column can be something like key points, central ideas or points to be pondered. The second column contains the space for a brief explanation of the first column. In the last column, you can sum up the first and second columns in the form of a summary.
This note making format has a good impact on the learning pattern of students. It allows them to search, read, access, evaluates, or even critique the main point. This type of note helps students in getting a complete command on a topic.
Which Is A Standard Format For Lecture Notes Taking?
As explained before, the best note making format solely depends on individual preferences. Some students strive for ease, while others take challenges to polish their hidden abilities. Moreover, the appropriate format for note-making also depends on the topic you want to understand. Let’s suppose you want to learn hormonal control in the human body. Up till now, approximately 200 hormones and hormones-like substances have been discovered. Thus, the standard note making format can be the pattern format because it can help you learn it by means of colourful schematic diagram.
But can you choose the pattern format for making notes on the history of Obama? Of course not. The best pattern for this is the three-column format. It helps you in isolating different life events, achievements and their effect on separate columns for better understanding. Similarly, suppose you have to write a 2000-word essay on the current war scenario between Ukraine and Russia. The outlining method helps you collect all relevant information before writing. Therefore, in light of these examples, no single format can make notes on all topics. Rather, the subjects, the nature of the study and the complexity or interconnectivity between thoughts or ideas are the factors that suggest you the right note making format.
Apart from all, among the standard methods of note making format in terms of popularity and diversity are the outline methods. With a simple outlining format, you can draft almost every topic of your choice and remember them in the shortest possible way.
Final Thoughts:
The note making format is useful for students who want to improve their academic progress. Many of you may not feel comfortable with a single format, but do not worry. You can switch between more than one formats for optimising your performance. The note making formats are just to organise your notes, and you can follow any of them according to your requirements.
