Does writing notes just waste your time?

For subjects like Biology and Chemistry, how do you revise? I like writing notes but I'm such a perfectionist that if my notes aren't perfectly neat or I've missed something small out I freak out and I have to rip it up and write it out all over again (I'm weird like that. always been obsessed wit neatness :|) Then I realize I've spent more time perfecting my notes as opposed to actually revising.

Do any of you just read and remember? How do you revise?

Reply 1

yesioo

15

I do exactly the same...if I highlight them wrong aswell I have to start again. :biggrin:

.

Reply 2

yoyo462001

16

i did notes last year and on the whole there great but i feel they do waste time, i think reading text is easier for me as i have a good memory so the making notes part wasnt really helping much, and tbh it paid of in my jan modules.

Reply 3

My Tosis Is...?

Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly.

For subjects like Biology and Chemistry, how do you revise? I like writing notes but I'm such a perfectionist that if my notes aren't perfectly neat or I've missed something small out I freak out and I have to rip it up and write it out all over again (I'm weird like that. always been obsessed wit neatness :|) Then I realize I've spent more time perfecting my notes as opposed to actually revising.

Do any of you just read and remember? How do you revise?

For chemistry and biology and most of my other subjects, I summarise the entire syllabus into 5/6 pages, as little as possible and then revise (read, repeat and re-read until I can say it off by heart) those pages like my life depens on it, so yes, effectively that is writing notes, but it works for me :smile:

Reply 4

jelly1000

21

Making notes helps me absorb the material. For Psychology in January I practically rewrote the textbook and it paid off (I got an A) but obviously that wouldnt work for everyone.

Reply 5

willwillwill

My notes for chemistry and biology are pretty much impossible to read.
I just do spider diagrams on every section and dont care if i'll be able to read it again, i do it just so ive put pen to paper and will remember it better.
I dont get the whole, highlighter/underline/readable notes thing lol, i write "pretty" notes in class, why would i want to do it again to revise.
I dont ever write notes for maths and physics though, waste of time, i just do past papers

Reply 6

eulerwaswrong

13

i find that if i write something out i tend to remember it more than if i just read it.

And also reading a few pages of textbooks and reducing to just a few important bullet points i find can be really useful

Reply 7

Nashy19

15

Notes are supposed to be simple and easy to read, you right down what you need to remember and that's all. When your doing notes learn a part of the module, say Atomic Number, and then write it down as you think of it, don't try to do it word for word.

It's useless if you're going to make a copy of the text book on paper, if I did that I wouldn't be able to remember what I had wrote. Do definitions word for word at the end of your revision.

Notes are to help yourself not to memorize the book perfectly, at least that's how I learn.

Edit: I don't learn much in class when I copy from the board either, I have to go back over it and make my own notes.

Reply 8

Malsy

18

making concise notes is my life. :smile:

Reply 9

Smoosh

13

For biology and chemistry I go through revision books and write notes on things that I don't know or calculations, I still find it helpful because as I'm writing it I remember it. Sometimes I then go through my notes and highlight really important parts. For chemistry I'll then have a go at some of the exam questions using my notes to learn the techniques and once I think I've learnt them I'll try some more questions without the notes. I'm a perfectionist too, but I find it ok to neatly write out a few notes and highlight them.

Reply 10

Xerophelistica

9

I've never written notes to revise in my life.. I rarely even look over my own class notes - the textbook is much better.

Reply 11

Falcon_2007

Works for me n hey you're not alone with that neatness stuff

Reply 12

braceface

10

Writing notes doesn't really work for me..I usually get bored/give up after a few pages. I find making lots of mindmaps (using freemind) helps me to absorb large amounts of information.

Reply 13

Murray Hewitt

i make notes but i dont do it to perfection.

i do rough notes and its papers and mark schemes where the meaty stuff comes in.

Reply 14

LadySmythe

19

For biology and chemistry, tbh doing past papers and learning the mark schemes is the only way forward. For my 1st A2 modules I wrote notes for biology, chamistry and maths. In those exams I got DEU coz I wasted time writing notes

By all means write notes but make sure they are very brief and apply the knowledge to exam queations as often as you can.

Reply 15

TheTallOne

18

My notes consist of scrawling on a piece of paper, generally right before an exam.

My notes are more civilized at the moment...

Reply 16

master roflcopter

2

i used to write out notes but had your problem lol
i have a white board which i now use to write out notes, spider diagrams etc them rub them out and see if i can remember them after a few mins, then the next day, next week etc

pretty much only for fact based stuff where there's no other way of learning it though... for subjects like maths past papers are better

Reply 17

TLDR

11

I usually can't read or understand the notes I've made when I look back at them a few months later.

I just write a whole new set out all neatly before the exams, read them over and over, and then do a lot of past exam papers.

Reply 18

lucky star

8

i summarise the whole subject into like a page per topic and then after revising from that and being more sure of myself i condense it further to one page for one subject.

Reply 19

aura1947

15

Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly.

For subjects like Biology and Chemistry, how do you revise? I like writing notes but I'm such a perfectionist that if my notes aren't perfectly neat or I've missed something small out I freak out and I have to rip it up and write it out all over again (I'm weird like that. always been obsessed wit neatness :|) Then I realize I've spent more time perfecting my notes as opposed to actually revising.

Do any of you just read and remember? How do you revise?

Oh my God! :eek:

I am exactly like that! And I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! But I just can't help it :'( . I wish there was some sort of 'fix' for that - I end up wasting a lot of time. :/

Does writing notes just waste your time?

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