Study Tip - Concept Mapping

Many students come to college having successfully learned how to study for memorization exams, but how do you make the transition from just memorizing vocabulary and tidbits of fact to really understanding concepts to the stage of practical use. I do not want to imply that there is not a memorization aspect to this course since there is a fair amount and you basically need to learn a new language if you do not have much science background, but in college science courses, you are expected to learn the concepts to a level which allows you to do something practical with the knowledge.

One of the most important ways to get to this level of understanding is to be able to "see the forest for the trees" so to speak. To be able to see the big picture, zoom in on the details, and to make the connections between the many parts all lead to the skill of critical thinking and practical application of course material. If you are a visual learner, Mind Mapping may be a way to see your notes in a way to take in the big picture, the details, and the connections.

In an article titled "How to Mind Map for Study Success", the author explains that when she started law school, she thought she knew how to study, but quickly realized she had actually learned how to memorize. After receiving a grade of 5% on an exam, she closely examined her study habits and realized that she was not actually understanding the material at an appropriate level. That changed when she learned to use Mind Mapping which is also called Concept Mapping.

Here is an example of a Mind Map I put together comparing various aspects of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells from Chapters 3 and 4.

Click image to see a larger version.

I started by putting Prokaryote at the top of my concept map and Eukaryote at the bottom. I then added the different cellular structures from the learning objective (in the gold box) and researched the similarities and difference between. For example, if you look at ribosomes, there is a dashed line from both prokaryote and eukaryote since both cell types have them, but I wrote "70s" on the line to prokaryote and "80s" on the line to eukaryote since this denotes a difference in the ribosomes between them.

I used computer software to do this one, but it is just as effective (or maybe more so) using pencil and paper. Be sure to think about all of the connections and don't be afraid to erase and rewrite as needed. If you are struggling with the tests, give this a try and see if it helps. 

Study Tip - Cornell Notes

This week’s study tip is an explanation of a style of note taking called Cornell Notes. This is a method of formatting your notebook paper to separate

1. key points from the lecture (or video in an online class), 
2. notes about the key points, and
3. a summary of the lecture material. 

Basic information about Cornell Notes can be found at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_Notes, but I recommend the website http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html for a more practical explanation.

The format of your notebook paper is as follows:

This type of note taking can allow you to better pay attention to the lecturer or narrator since you will only be writing the Key Points during the lecture and not try to capture everything they say. Soon after the lecture, it is good to fill in the notes while the lecture is fresh in your mind as well as using other resources if needed. 

The summary should be written after reviewing the Key Points and Notes and really understanding the material in the lecture. I recommend that you don’t write the summary immediately after taking the notes, but to wait until the next day or at least later the same day to give the material some time to sink in. Also be sure to write the summary in YOUR OWN WORDS and not to just write the same words the lecturer just spoke. This will help ensure a higher level of understanding as writing dictation does not stimulate the learning centers of the brain like processing and creating an original summary.