#serendistudy

THE NOTETAKING PROCESS

what to do before, during and after class

BEFORE CLASS

How should you be preparing your notes for classes or lectures?

Print out and review any lecture notes or slides if available so you can figure out the structure of the class and the main headings that will be covered

Identify main concepts and terms you expect to learn

Search up any unfamiliar terms, phrases or concepts and get definitions or one sentence explanations

Write questions you hope the class will answer 

Make note of any information that could be helpful from previous classes or readings, for example, key people, dates, formulae, definitions, etc. 

Read any set preparation material from textbooks or articles and notes down your immediate thoughts

DURING CLASS

What should you do while in class to get the best notes?

Take notes in your own words

Use consistent abbreviations and symbols 

Include notes for all aspects of the class (eg. discussions and visuals)

Answer any questions you wrote before class 

Add depth and detail to the notes you bring to class (eg. are there any specific examples that the teacher brings up for example?) 

Note new questions or areas of confusion from the lecture so you can review those concepts later

Capture main ideas and sufficient detail (definitions, examples, images)

Make connections between concepts both from within the class and from previous classes 

AFTER CLASS

Now that you have notes, what should you do with them?

Make time to return to your notes after class, at the very least to read over them 

Add clarification and explanation to any areas where you were confused and look up any questions you had (you could also ask your teacher)

Compare notes with a friend or study partner to check for any missed information

Transform your notes into a new format (e.g. mind map, quiz questions, study guide)

Create short summaries with the most important information and keep for later revision (you could even challenge yourself to a certain word limit)

This year's 25 prompts are: 1. released in 2023 2. by an author of colour 3. punny title * 4. transgender main character 5. recommended by a friend 6. horror or thriller 7. magical realism or high fantasy 8. poetry or nonfiction * 9. space opera or urban fantasy 10. rivals to lovers (academic/sports/workplace/etc. rivals to lovers) 11. mythology inspired * 12. #ownvoices 13. clever cover * (a book with a cover that you don't truly understand till after you've read the book) 14. ugly cover (or as we like to call it, this book deserved better) 15. minimalistic cover 16. water in the title (the word water, sea, ocean, river, lake,... in the title) 17. nonbinary author 18. main character of colour 19. black and white cover 20. one word title 21. bright, colourful cover 22. name of a place in the title (can be a real or fictional place) 23. intimidating book (a book that's intimidating to you for whatever reason) 24. heart or clockface on the cover * 25. title starting with the same letter as your name/nickname (the/a/an or their equivalents in other languages obviously don't count :))

*prompts marked with an asterisk are bonus prompts, meaning you don't have to complete them on storygraph in order to finish the challenge.

as per usual, the challenge is also on storygraph (check the reblogs of the post for the link) and if you have any questions about the challenge at all, my asks are open

how to proofread essays by apricitystudies

(section one: before beginning) ideally, you should finish writing your essay a few days before the due date so you can step away from it for a while. this helps you to 'forget' what you wrote and allows you to proofread with fresh eyes. after staring at the same piece of writing for so long, your brain tends to fill in the gaps itself as you read, leading you to miss mistakes.

(section two: the key to effective proofreading is to edit in rounds) each round, focus on and attempt to fix a different issue. this requires you to have a little bit more time to edit, which is why you should finish writing early.

(round one: content) argument: does your argument make sense? is it strong? is it logical? evidence: is your research robust? are your points all backed up with sufficient evidence? is every piece of evidence necessary and relevant to your argument? elaboration: is your argument well developed? is every piece of evidence explained, analysed, or critiqued? is the research you provide linked back to and used to support your argument?

(round two: flow) map: have you provided a clear and concise roadmap of your essay? linking: are your paragraphs linked? do the last sentences of each paragraph flow into the next? have you shown how your points are connected? coherence: is your argument logical? is the order of your points easy to follow? is the reader able to see the progression of your argument? TIP: put all the topic sentences of your body paragraphs into one single paragraph. do they make sense together?

(round three: language) vocabulary: have you repeated words/phrases excessively? is your paraphrasing accurate? sentence length: are your sentences overly long? can they be split up? cohesion: does your writing flow? does it sound stilted or clunky? is everything you've written clear? punctuation: are your quotation marks correct? have you used em dashes, colons, and semicolons accurately? small errors: are your spelling and grammar correct?

(round four: format) referencing: are your in-text citations/footnotes correct? is every piece of evidence referenced? style: have you used the correct font size/style? is your line spacing correct? are your paragraphs justified/indented if they're supposed to be? page setup: are your margins set up properly? are your headers/footers/ page numbers correct, if required? bibliography: are your bibliography entries correct? are they in alphabetical order? is the line spacing and indentation correct?

(section three: other tips) 1: change your font to something like comic sans. this makes your brain work harder to read and stops it from skipping words/phrases. 2: print out your essay and go over it with a red pen. mark as if you were a teacher and pick out as many mistakes as you can. 3. read it aloud or use a text-to-speech function. listening to your writing helps you to identify awkward writing and repeated words.