Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Bad or good idea???Linear notes vs MM

Hi heres my question....I just started back at school and I recentley finshed the homestudy course..In lecture I am trying to use MM to take notes but my proffesors talk either fast or I have to jot down formulas for physics and stats...Is it a good idea to take linear notes first then after lecture make a mind map???Or should I just make a mind map?? Can someone give me any pointers?
Thanks
ROb

Think about this for a second, can you write any faster with a pen and paper writing word versus writing words. No I didn't make a mistake, read that again. What I am saying is that how could you possibly write 100 words slower on a MM than you could write 100 words slower linearly, if you are writing at I dont' know 50 words per minute.

I personally have gone straight MM on all my classes at College, and I will NEVER go back. I would be completely ludicris to go back after you have experience the benefit of Mind Maps. Visually they help me tremendously, without much study of the MMs I can pick a class then review the MMs in my head, not 100%, but I can picture what I have written down, kind of a hard chore with regular note taking.

Try and go straight Mind Maps for all your classes, I would doubt you would want to go back.

Hey SDSUBio,

I'm also a student, and I'm a Teacher's Assistant as well for the last two years. Usually when people say "the teacher talks too fast" they usually make the mistake of trying to write down every word the teacher says or every idea the teacher expresses.

This brings two problems:

1. notes (linear or MM) get cluttered with unimportant stuff and this makes it harder to study and memorize the material. You will probaly end up with a lower grade for the time you put in than could be possible(focus on the essentials).

2. During class you end up spending all your energy taking down notes and not listening to the teacher's ideas! Your wasting time in a way, as you should be spending your energy understanding the material during class, where the teacher is there to assist you, instead of after class. Teacher assistance assuming you have decent sized classes and not auditorium sessions

I don't know if you have this problem writing "word for word" or close to it but if you do, you should start try writing down notes "idea for idea".

Try it in a class where you have some friends where you can compare notes after class and and if you miss something important you can fill it in (or photocopy theirs You can also copy formulas and such stuff from the book as well (Most probaly) Get a sense on how closely the teacher follows the book, the more he follows it the less notes you need to take, just write down the section of the book you need to know along with the main points.

Also review the assignments/quizzes/midterms the teachers give out to get the idea what they expect you to know.

Here are 2 tips that should help (in college which I assume you are in):

1. Check your syllabus what the teacher is reviewing when and so you can always be at least one week ahead in the book. When the teacher brings it up in class you will never be confused because it's "new" material, that alone would bring you a big edge in understanding it when the teacher is talking about it.

2. If you are brave enough and have at least 6 months experience with mnemonics, try my techique. I never write down notes during class, I just make a linked list of the main points in my head. After class I then make a mind map of the linked list and any revelant sub points (if any). That's it, it really works well for me.

And before anyone asks in my experience with other students and myself this works as well on complicated material as well as easier stuff. Ray Tracing II, Wavelets, Quaternions, Diffential Equations II anyone (my current crappy classes sigh)

[This message has been edited by chaosadelt (edited September 08, 2001).]

SDSUBio
I tried MM when I was in school and I only have two regrets: wish I had practiced making associations quicker from very abstract ideas and had more experience organizing the MM page. So my only advice to you is practice or resort to making MM from linear notes. The whole idea of lecturing to a class is long past due for an overhaul! Check out MindJet.com.

Thanks for your replys...Do you think if you have a chance can email me a page of your notes so i can see how you do mms in class for say like physics..or the other fancy stuff you said
Thanks
RObert

slyder151@aol.com

oh yeah another thing...thats a good idea what you siad refer to other kids notes,...another THing
====What takes the time in class is not wrtitting the mms but making them...ie after you do rthe main point and a subpoint...do you bracnh off the subpoint or do you brach off the main poinrt
THanks
Robert

Now that you've brought it up, I remember taking a pretty dry technical course over several weekends. The teacher would lecture almost straight from the manual at 100 mph! I was trying like crazy to make a MM then and there but it just didn't work. The problem was that there were too many words used repeatedly and I couldn't make the associations. The problem was that I couldn't see the big picture that early into the course. To make a good MM you need to see it all and then make your associations. Tony Buzan wrote a couple of good books on the subject and he's got a web site: The Performance Institute. Check it out, it's got pointers on making MM.

THanks I will look that up...if you can email a copy i will pay someone 34 cents or whatever for postage...Thanks
ROb

Hi chaosadelt!
Your post is really interesting. Which mnemonic-system do you use?

SDSUBio,

I have no way to digitize my notes! They are all on paper - I'll look around on the web for a good example for you some time.

sd430,

I learned mnemonics from the Memory Book by Harry Lorayne/Jerry Lucas and so I use their systems plus whatever I make up. I probaly read over 25 books on mnemonics and they are all the same in techniques overall. The other book worth mentioning is Your Memory by Kenneth Higbee to know the why's of memory.

I pretty much use combinations of the Link by association system, with substitution when needed especially w/ numbers/letters, also the Peg system. I'm a visual person so I'm not very inclined to use word mnemonics but they are also useful.

For classes I use the link by association method because that is how most class go. To be more specific I make one link of main ideas that I connect together. When the teacher branches off those main ideas I start another link with the main idea as the "head". I'll show a graphic representation (hope it displays correctly on your screen!). The horizontal line is the main idea link (0 being the ideas, ignore underscores they mean nothing other than to make sure graphic displays correctly) and the vertical lines or the branched off ideas.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0
__|_|___|
__0_0___0
__|_____|
__0_____0
__|
__0

Then when I make a memory map I just have to go over the link with the branches. That is usually enough of a cue for my memory to remember what the professor said about a topic.

sd430, Do you have experince in mnemonics? It would be great to hear if you any systems not in the normal books!

[This message has been edited by chaosadelt (edited September 16, 2001).]