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Workshop 2: Selective and Wider Reading; Note Taking Formats; Referencing and Plagiarism

Michelle PaulStudy Skills TutorStudent Support OfficeOctober 2007

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Underlying Principles

Each of us have techniques that we know work well for us as learners;

Few approaches to study can be considered ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

(Caveat re plagiarism– some practices can cause problems)

We can usually improve our practice with some reflection.

We learn more when we are actively involved and participating.

As a result, this is designed to be interactive and also provide important information.

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Goals for Today:

Each person will… Become more aware of which strategies

work well for him/her Get some new ideas Practice sharing their ideas with

individuals and the group Find out where to learn more Understand importance of proper

referencing.

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Opening Exercise (10 min): Explain to a Partner + Choose an item to report

What are your preferred approaches to reading and note taking (3 situations) 1. When you are reading an assigned course

text to develop a basic understanding 2. When you are reviewing a source to

determine if it is useful for a research paper 3. When you are reading a difficult text that

you have decided is very useful for your research paper?

Why are these approaches useful to you? Choose one approach to share with whole

group.

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Report out and summarise:

Students’ preferred approaches to note taking

1. Reading assigned texts for initial understanding?

2. Selecting additional sources?3. Reading for deeper understanding?

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Which of these approaches were mentioned ….

Start with most basic texts– ask tutor Underlining/highlighting –selectively!

(Less active?) Annotating the text (own copy) Writing down brief words/phrases and page

numbers of important ideas Skimming headings, introductions, conclusions

to identify most relevant sections Reading with specific questions in mind Stopping periodically to check recall,

paraphrase, answer questions, discuss with a friend, write own responses

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When researching for an essay, you want notes that provide…

A record of where you found each piece of information, each idea (complete bibliographic information, including page number)

A record of your developing ideas A way of coding quotations/paraphrases

AND your own thoughts and ideas in response to reading (Colours? Separate pages?)

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What to write in your notes (for essay):Brief notes at first

http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/notes.html You need to do some thinking about what you are looking for

before writing a lot of notes. Taking too many notes RECORDING WHAT YOU READ can leave

with you with a sea of material of questionable relevance. A list of topic headings under which your information can

(eventually) be grouped Either notes from separate sources under these Or notes from one source, labeled with these headings One side of paper only!

Some kind of brief record (e.g., key word and page) of each of your readings will allow you to return later to most useful passages.

Perhaps also a journal of your developing ideas about the information…

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Reading Journal

Keeping a journal of YOUR OWN THOUGHTS about what you read provides useful material IN YOUR OWN WORDS that you can develop later in your essays.

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Reading Journals

“Notes should be a safe zone where you can explore your own uncertainties, different readings of the text, implications of the author’s position, and questions these raise in your own mind. They shouldn’t merely record the results of your understanding, but should become part of the process of understanding.’

http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/courses/notes.htm

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One method of taking notes during online library research

Save database keyword searches (includes full bibliographic information)

Email to yourself, print out Annotate with own comments

http://www.jstor.org

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Choosing resources for wider reading

Browse books in library catalogue/shelves Authors of assigned readings Bibliographies in assigned readings Bibliographies in ‘good’ books and articles Library subject guides

Databases in your field Some departments have links for useful web sites in

your own field NOT Wikipedia, NOT Google as a first resort

http://www.googlescholar.com/ is an academic search engine)

Intute = web tutorial (many departments offer a link) http://www.intute.ac.uk

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Referencing and plagiarism

In brief, you must cite sources you Direct quotations Paraphrase of information You must credit the author both for

ideas and for ways of saying things (direct quotations)

Give page number of information cited

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One basic note taking approach to avoid plagiarism

Note page and key words only For more extensive notes on WHAT THE TEXT SAYS

Read a passage of at least a page or section Set the book aside. FROM MEMORY,

Write key ideas Add citation to author Go back and reread to understand the bits on which you

are hazy. Amend your summary, AGAIN FROM MEMORY. Use these notes to write your essay

Have a system of distinguishing own ideas and material from sources, in your notes (colors, parts of page, reading journal for own ideas, cross referenced to summary notes)

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Avoiding plagiarism through good note taking

Sociology Department (Rowena Macaulay): ‘Avoiding Plagiarism’. On good note taking practices.

http://www.essex.ac.uk/sociology/resource_centre/plagiarism.shtm#Avoiding%20plagiarism

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More on referencing and plagiarism

Referencing site on mySkillshttp://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/

skills/referencing/referencingSkills.asp

University plagiarism web site:http://www.essex.ac.uk/plagiarism/ Univ Essex library web sites:http://libwww.essex.ac.uk/citation.htm

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More on referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Univ. Essex Key Skills Onlinehttp://www2.essex.ac.uk/essay-

writing/

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To recap: Avoid

Copying large chunks of text Line-by-line paraphrasing

(‘plagiarism by thesaurus’) Starting to writing essay with text

book open the night before essay is due.

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Exercise 2: Note taking in lectures

Explain to a partner:How do you prefer to take notes in

lectures?Why?How do you prepare for note taking in

lectures?How do you use your notes later?

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Summarise responses to Exercise 2: Taking notes in lectures

Also, were the following points made?

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Taking notes in lectures:Preparing before

Write questions at top, based on previous lectures and readings, comments in syllabus for the week

Review the previous week’s lecture before new week

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Taking notes in lectures…During the lecture

Concentrate on main points– don’t worry about getting down all details.

Use key words and short sentences. If you miss a statement, write key

words, skip a few spaces, and get the information later. (With ring binders, you can add sheets with related notes later.)

If a speaker gets sidetracked, you may be able to go back and add further information.

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Taking lecture notes: after the lecture

Shortly after making your notes, go back and rework (not redo) your notes by adding extra points and spelling out unclear items.

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Taking notes in lectures: Organising

Create a master set of notes Write date and title of lecture at top Number pages Have a uniform system of punctuation and

abbreviation that will make sense to you. Possibly list key terms in the margin or make a

summary of the contents of the page of notes. Cross reading notes and lecture notes. Cross reference the various lectures.

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Taking notes: Styles of note taking

Linear notes– following the lecturer’s outline and using their headings

Mind maps or spider diagrams http://www.consumingexperience.com/2006/12/

compendium-free-mindmapping-software.html

Cornell systemhttp://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/enreadtp/Cornell.html

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Goals for all note taking:Your notes will provide…

A good master set of information. That you can review regularly to achieve lasting memory.

A record of how your understanding of the topic has developed.

A complete record of where you learned everything, so you can cite your sources accurately.