Doing study notes on loose leaf paper and filing in a display folder is useful as it allows you torewrite sections when necessary and add in good sheets you are given.

There is no point doing study notes until right before the examination — if you start studyingtoo early you won’t remember the information.

The process of actually making study notes is one of the most effective forms of study youcan do. This is why copying someone else’s notes is not as valuable as actually creating themyourself.

Doing the study notes is enough study. Once you have done these, you only need to readover them in order to be ready for the examination.

Just reading through your textbook will be enough to help you retain the information accurately.

By summarising at the end of a topic, you can see how the pieces of the topic slot together and create a solid set of notes that will give you a time advantage when examinations approach.

Making your notes as visual as possible helps you retain the information more effectively asthe brain tends to think in pictures anyway. Colour, highlighting, boxes, layout and neatness are all important in study notes.

When starting to memorise information from your study notes, you need to keep actively checking if the information has moved into long term memory. This means doing more than just reading: you need to test yourself to see what you can write or speak (ie. remember) without looking back at your notes.

The most effective way to make study notes is to simply start at the first section, and as you read through the paragraphs jot down points as you go. It is not necessary to have an overview of the chapter.

Study notes are too important to academic success to be neglected.