Best Ways to Study Textbook Notes

By Lorena Roberts on November 10, 2017

As we come to the end of the semester, I hope you’ve gotten a hang of taking notes while reading your textbooks. Sometimes it can be tricky to keep everything organized. There has to be a better way!

Research shows that using colors and diagrams allows the brain to recall information faster and more accurately. If you aren’t taking notes in a visually pleasing way, you should be! Regardless of whether or not you classify yourself as a visual learner, adding images, charts, graphs, and pictures to your class notes can strengthen your class notes in ways you can’t even imagine.

1. Colored pens

This might make you feel like you’re in kindergarten, but believe me, using different colored pens can come in quite handy when you’re trying to remember a definition or a correlation on a test.

Try using one color for words you’ll define in your notes, one color for names of people, one color for dates, and one color for things you have questions about. Not only will this make you feel like your notes are more organized, you’ll know exactly what track you’re on when you’re studying later on.

Remember: Always make a key for the system you use for your notes, or else that isn’t going to be very useful later on.

2. Create your own PowerPoint

When you go back over your notes and you’re studying for that big test that’s coming up, pretend like you’re having to present the material to your peers. You learn better when you have to teach something.

Focus on creating sketches of PowerPoints that would allow you to show the material in the most efficient, effective way. If you really want to get down and dirty with it, get a couple of your buddies together and get a study group going. It’ll benefit them and you if you all hang out and go over the material with the visuals that you’ve made.

3. Recreate textbook illustrations

When you’re reading through the assigned pages for class the next day, try recreating or redrawing the illustrations and diagrams from your textbook. Chances are if you’ve 1) looked at it, and 2) drawn it, when it comes to the test, you’ll remember it better!

When you go back to review your notes later on, you’ll have something to go off of. It’ll jog your memory much more quickly if you have some illustrations to go off of.

4. When reading, create diagrams or visual interpretations to help you remember

In addition to recreating the illustrations and diagrams from your textbook, try also creating your own visual cues! Having to recall the information from your memory as well as connecting it to something visual will help you recall the information (and much faster) when the test comes along.

Creating multiple diagrams or visuals for the same section of notes may also help. Pretend that you’re having to teach two types of visual learners. One likes black and white, while the other likes color. Cater to your “pretend students” by sketching two visual interpretations of the information. You’ll thank me later.

5. Google search or YouTube visual aids when reviewing your professor’s lectures

One of the most helpful things I’ve ever done for myself while in college was to Google search and Youtube search videos that went along with the lecture. I’ve done this for biology, psychology, and history. I typically migrate towards the channel by the guys at “Crash Course.” They’re pretty funny and good at keeping anyone engaged.

6. Take an interest in the information

If you pretend like you’re the least bit interested, you’ll probably produce much higher quality notes, therefore remembering the information better later on.

7. Make an outline

Once you’re done with the textbook chapter, make an outline of everything you went over. Outline the sections, and keep a running list of key terms. This will definitely help you when it comes time to review the test.

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