Working with other people's ideas - and with your own - is a key skill that you will develop throughout your DP course (and in particular through the Extended Essay).
Cornell method (2.5 inch margin on left, 2 inch summary section at the bottom, 6 inch class note section):
Best for understanding key ideas and relationships
But pages need preparing beforehand, and time needs to be taken to review and summarise what was covered - which is not necessarily a bad thing!
How to use it:
Mapping method:
Best for visualising connected topics and ideas
Good if you are unsure of the content of a topic, and want to try to structure it as you go along
Not so good if you run out of space on a page as you are mapping
How to use it:
Outline method:
Works well in topics with a relatively clear structure
Not so good for subjects requiring formulae or charts
How to use it:
Charting method:
Best for reviewing lots of facts, especially for exam preparation
But it takes time to create the chart and decide on the best headings, so not necessarily the best way to take notes in a lesson - can be very time-consuming.
How to use it:
Sentence method:
Best for taking quick and simple notes
But does require time spent afterwards to make sure everything is clear and structured as well as possible
How to use it:
Boxing method:
Best for digital note-taking so that boxes can be resized as required
Good for lessons that have a number of different but related sections
But does require time to group notes afterwards
Not so good if no umbrella topic can be assigned, or the structure is not clear.
How to use it:
Before you start to write your essay you need to understand the argument you are trying to make clearly, and the evidence you are using to support it. This resource has been designed to help you to organise your ideas. Complete it in note form once you are close to completing your investigation to help you to structure your final essay.
While this is not an official IB document, so is not compulsory, it is very strongly recommended and it will almost certainly make it much quicker and easier to write your essay if you complete this first.
An excellent way to keep track of your investigation is through the use of an investigative journal. Using one page per source, you quote or paraphrase on the left-hand side of the page of any information you think might be useful for your inquiry, and on the right-hand side you comment on why you think it is useful, how it helps to advance your argument or how it fits in with other information you have found. At the bottom of the page you comment on the quality of the source. Don't forget to insert a citation at the top of the page - that way you will have all the information you need to cite this source in your essay. This is an ideal tool for using in your Researcher's Reflection Space. If you choose not to use it, think about what you will use instead.
It is so frustrating when you are under pressure to write up your work and you suddenly realise you can't find all the information you need to reference a source! Ideally you would gather all the information you need as you go along, but what is the minimum you need to gather to make sure that you can reconstruct the reference at the end?
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