Taking Notes: Crash Course Study Skills #1

The first step in honing your new study skills is to take better notes. This week Thomas will tell you everything you need to know to come to class prepared and find a note-taking system that will help you retain and review like a champ.

Resources:

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[Sophia-xtvk]

When you have to take notes on a video about taking notes....

[erinnovakowski]

hey yall!! i'm team handwritten note all they way and over the years, i've developed a few tips and tricks i thought i'd share, bc they help me TONS. (currently an AP high school student, for reference)

1. during, class, get the information down as quick as you can and as detailed as you can, but make sure you listen to what your teacher is teaching. do not get distracted by formatting your notes in class- just get the words on the paper. (you could also do this step on a computer- then switch to handwritten notes for the next steps!)
2. these "first draft" notes, (i call mine ugly notes, bc well, they're ugly haha), use these to STUDY. at the end of the day, or a few days before your quiz/test, start REWRITING THEM.
3. rewrite all the info using your nice handwriting, bubble letters for titles, little doodles, colour coordination, highlighters, GO ALL OUT. i promise this works, here's why:
4. when you rewrite your notes, it forces you to go over the information you learned in class. you're rewriting them on your own time, not having to worry about your prof changing slides, so you can take your time to review the information, add details, and organize the info in a a way that works with how it looks on the paper.
5. by spending time colour coordinating, adding doodles relevant to the info, and adding fancy organized bullet lists, you'll remember the way the info looks on your page. (i.e, ... remembering the 3 main points your teacher told you about x topic, because a was pink, b was purple, c was blue.)

honestly, putting aside study time to rewrite my notes was i n c r e d i b l y helpful for me, and i seriously had fun doing it. when your notes are neat, fancy, and detailed (which you likely can't do while in class during a lecture) it's easy to organize ideas, connect info, and quiz yourself (or get your friends to quiz you!). physically writing down the info more than once makes it stick in your brain, and it's way more effective than just reading and rereading. personalize your notes and studying won't be so dreadful. (:

GOODLUCK THIS SCHOOL YEAR!!! you got this!!!

[Vipashayana.]

The most important course right now! We really need to study how to study 📖

[gauravstam]

Episode 1 : Taking Notes
Episode 2 : Reading Assignments
Episode 3 : Memory
Episode 4 : Planning & Organization
Episode 5 : Focus & Concentration
Episode 6 : Procrastination
Episode 7 : Studying for Exams
Episode 8 : Test Anxiety
Episode 9 : Papers & Essays
Episode 10 : Exercise & Learning

[MissssSofie]

YES I am SO excited for this new series! Perfect timing as I just got accepted to medical school, so study skills will be needed indeed!

Edit: Thank you SO MUCH for all your sweet comments!!

[amysofia]

I'm always confused who dislikes these crashcourse videos. What? You got a thing against note taking or something? Why are you here? Lol

[jeiku]

Meanwhile, high school teacher demands you write down everything on the board word by word.

[Kabirr]

What I'd do
Physics : Cornell
Chem : Cornell
Biology: Outline with Mind Map
Math: Mind map

[completeandunabridged.]

Now make a series on mathematics. Please do it crash course.

[laylaa]

SOO PROUD OF THOMAS!! Been following him for years and it's great to see him on CrashCourse!!

[arielfurman]

A few thoughts on paper note-taking:
1) the choice of pen or pencil is important!
- erase-ability can be key to keeping your notes legible and neat.
- some people like to use colored pens or pencils, but don't go overboard! if you're spending more time choosing which color to use than actually taking notes, you may want to limit yourself to one main color plus 1-3 extra colors if needed. (for instance, i took my biology notes in pencil, but used blue and red ink pens for diagrams.)
2) paper choice is important too!
- using the correct line width (aka wide or college ruled) to fit your handwriting makes note taking much easier.
- using lined paper isn't always the best choice either! if your notes are going to be diagram/drawing heavy, unlined might be better. for a math or science class, i always recommend engineering paper, as it is lined like graph paper, but with lighter lines so that its easier to see what is actually written on the page.
3) ALWAYS DATE YOUR NOTES. ALWAYS.

[trash]

honestly thank goodness crash course is making this series😅most other videos on studying I see are just about making your notes look pretty

[simplymaci]

PERFECT TIMING. Right when I'm about to start college 👌🏼✨

[DLBcovers]

Cool series. Anybody else pleasantly surprised about this series?

[fighter]

People should understand that as you go through undergraduate and graduate classes, your note taking methods will change to accommodate the new information being learned. I wish I had used different note taking methods in my last year of college. This was very informative.

[danielj]

My laptop can survive 10 minutes without a charger, so yes, I'm going for paper.

[strikeattack]

Thomas frank here .... this is gonna be an amazing series .... ( of course it is crash course .. everything is

[connorlieb]

You can see the next episode topics at 5:38

[ItsTumbleTime]

I actually do a combination of all three of the methods! I generally bullet point, add questions in the margins, and illustrate branching ideas with mind maps. Also, I add AS MANY GOOFS AS POSSIBLE. Humor is key to remembering information in my case.

[kentatakao]

Three years since I have had this saved in my "Watch Later" playlist. I could not live with my own failure, and where did that lead me? Right back to CrashCourse.