1 PLUS 3 NOTES!

After class on Wednesday, I found Wendy to discuss what notes I should be using for this weeks blog. Seeing the work I had done for class, we both decided that Jeopardy Notes would work best for the classes I was planning on doing. Yet, when I went home to compete the tech assignment, I discovered that Dr. Blumin only was allowing her students to use the "1 plus 3" and "plug-in-notes" strategies. I looked over both way and found that "1 plus 3" notes would be best for me. I adapted the categories to fit the key information I needed to know. I also choose this strategy because it was very visually appealing and organized, something I like. Being a visual learner, I need to see everything laid out and organized. I decided to use this strategy for two of my classes; PHILOSOPHY 107 and MAT 285.

When I began to use this note taking strategy for my philosophy 107 course, I wondered how I could use this chart to organize key information. I have my midterm coming up on Tuesday and there was one part left that I did not know yet. My materials for that class are his lecture power points, which he puts online, and my class notes. For the 1 plus 3 notes, I focused on a specific idea that involved three different philosophers and their ideas on a specific subject. I let column A be "the name of each philosopher", column B be "their opinions and explanations", and column C was "anticipated test questions." I also put some background information of the top of the paper so I could see what topic was causing debate when I used these notes to quiz myself again in the future. I chose to set it up like this because if I wanted to, I could fold my paper on the line and then quiz myself by just looking at the philosopher's name.

(1 Plus 3 Notes for Philosophy 107 shown above)

As one can see, this note taking strategy is very efficient because I have all my key information organized. In column B where it says, "Opinions and beliefs" I made a small summary for each philosopher and their opinion. I did this because it was a great way to debrief all the information I just wrote on each topic. The four test questions I anticipated are questions that my professor asks commonly in class. This is beneficial because after I read all my information, I can again fold my paper and answer the questions. The questions test my knowledge because I need to know all the information. One asks to compare and contrast the philosophers and their ideas while another asks how the human mind plays a role in their beliefs. I made these types of questions because this is how I will be evaluated on on my midterm. My midterm is all short answer essay questions and the ones I anticipated have multiple parts just like the test will. These questions also cover the section in its entirety, helping me remember everything. This was also very convenient because when I was reading over my notes for this section as review, I was confused. I printed out my 1 plus 3 notes and everything was laid out clearly for me. Overall, this note taking strategy was extremely important for this class because there is a large possibility I will have a questions on my exam like this.

I also used the 1 plus 3 notes for my MAT 285 class, which is calculus 1. The reason I chose to take these notes for this class is because the section was very confusing to me. It had four major important key terms and their definitions, which are formulas. My materials for this course are class notes and I wanted to rearrange them in a way that would allow me to study and keep them very organized. The 1 plus 3 technique allowed me to do this. I wrote these notes by hand because it was much easier to write the formulas and complete examples. I let column A be "key terms," column B be "formulas," and column C is "anticipated test questions."

(1 Plus 3 Notes for MAT 285)

The reason why I set my notes up in this fashion is because again, I can fold the paper and study. By putting the name of each rule in the first column, I can think about the answer and then flip it over. Once I flip it, I can see what the formula for the key term is and how to do it; that is why I added an example. I then went into my textbook and found the hardest problems from each section as anticipated test questions. These are the types of problems that would show up on my exam and therefore, if I can complete them, I can do well on the test. I picked the hardest problems because the formula gives me the basic knowledge of the subject. If I can apply the knowledge and solve the hardest problems, I will be prepared for the exam. My exams for math are always the same, short answered based off of the information from class. They are all solving problems rather than knowing definations. That is why I made the second column formulas rather than defining the terms by a word definition. This is also useful because I was able to make a study guide for three sections in one because they are all based off of one and other. I can go back before my exam and use this to study. In fact, there is a large possibility I will be making 1 plus 3 notes for all the sections on my exam or altering it in some. I have a quiz on these three sections next week and I will be able to review before my exam and complete the practice problems. I can also complete the examples in column B and not look at the answers right away. That way if I do get one of them wrong, I can look at it step step to see where I messed up.

Overall, this method was very effective for multiple reasons. The first is that it forced me to study more than once. Rather than taking notes in class or just listening, I had to come home, re-review my notes and study them. From there I was able to make a study guide and rewrote the information in a way that is easy to understand. These notes were also more organized because I was able to take the time and put different subjects into different sections rather than in class when I am just trying to get all the information down. For there I was able to form questions like the ones that would be on the exam. I believe this topic was more useful for MAT 285 because it set up examples and was very easy to read. Yet, it is was effective for philosophy 107 because I took one topic and broke it down. I also added the last sentence that was summed everything up which really was beneficial. And because both sets of notes are just one sheet of paper, I can bring them to the gym while I work our and take them any where and review when I have a free moment. I will continue to use this method because it is organized, effective, and extremely helpful.