Tag Archives: learning preferences

Taking Notes Effectively

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Taking Notes Effectively

Taking Notes Effectively

Today’s post is more practical in application. This past week I was just visiting with a friend who homeschools her children about some resources for note taking. I thought it might be beneficial to share some resources here as well. After all, good note taking skills aren’t just important for students in school. It’s useful in our jobs during training, meetings, conferences, and in continuing education. It’s also useful in church or for taking notes during a podcast or video message.

Some of this might be very basic or seem redundant if you already have a habit of taking notes. Nevertheless, you never know when you might be able to tweak or improve your note taking style or even get a few new ideas! If you’re NOT a note taker, revisit this post about the importance of writing things down. Basically, when you take notes, you remember the material better, plus you have something to refer back to later on.

The process of taking notes

The process of taking notes involves three phases: before, during, and after. Before taking notes you must learn effective preparation and observation methods. During the process of taking or recording your notes (i.e. actually writing something down) there are several helpful methods to make the process more effective. Lastly, after taking notes, it’s very important to review them in order to transfer the information from your short-term memory to your long-term memory and to retain the information better.

Becoming a good note-taker is a process in itself. You have to find the method or combination of methods that work best for you, and it sometimes takes practice and some trial and error. Every individual is different, so what works for you may not work for a different person. Different learning styles also come into play when deciding the most effective way of taking notes.

Make it plain

When considering taking notes, I think it’s important to note what the Lord told Habakkuk when he was making complaints and requests to the Lord:

“And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” Habakkuk 2:2 (ESV)

The Lord told Habakkuk to write down plainly the important things to be revealed (i.e. the vision and answers to his questions and complaints). He says to do this in order that “he may run who reads it”. Other versions say things like–so that the correct message can be carried to others, so it can be easily read, or so that one can read it quickly. Makes sense, right? The whole point of taking notes is to help you retain the information and have a reference to go back to and read over or study.

Our goal today will be to learn some effective and proven methods of taking notes in order to write down the correct and important information in order to retain it, record the notes in an easy and “plain” way and to make them useful for future use and review.

Order and organization—characteristics of God

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Multiple Intelligences—A Different Kind of Learning Preference

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Multiple Intelligences—A Different Kind of Learning Preference

A couple of weeks ago we discussed learning styles—more specifically those styles of Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. I showed you how even Jesus taught in all three of those learning styles. This week I thought I would introduce you to a different type of learning style or learning preference that we discuss in my classes. It’s called the theory of Multiple Intelligences.

The theory of multiple intelligences was an idea derived in 1983 by a Harvard Professor of Psychology named Howard Gardner[1]. Based on his research he believes that different people have different ways of processing information and different intellectual strengths. Gardner says these strengths are important in knowing how we best learn.

In other words, in discovering what our own individual strengths are (our own multiple intelligences), we can leverage these to enhance our own learning and understanding to be more successful–be it in school, at work, or even spiritual growth. We’ll discuss some strategies we can use to leverage our strengths in order to be more successful. 

We can leverage our strengths to enhance our learning and understanding to be more successful.

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See if you can see yourself in any of these descriptions…

Gardner’s Eight Multiple Intelligences:

  • Verbal/Linguistic—includes the ability to analyze, use, and manipulate language and words (written or spoken); strengths include reading, writing, telling stories and memorization
  • Musical/Rhythmic—includes the ability to use and make meaning out of sounds, rhythms, repetition, and tones; strengths include creating rhymes/rhythms/melodies/songs, singing, and/or playing an instrument
  • Logical/Mathematical—includes the ability to reason scientifically, understand and analyze patterns/equations/calculations, and make connections between complex and/or abstract items; strengths include problem-solving, critical thinking, logic, and reasoning
  • Visual/Spatial—includes the ability to see relationships between objects and to visual things in the mind; strengths include understanding maps/graphs/charts, making use of images, and creative processes such as designing, crafting, building, etc.
  • Bodily/Kinesthetic—includes the ability to connect the mind and body and learning through bodily activity and motion; strengths include good motor skills and controlling movement, using the body to create products, and/or excel in activities requiring physical activity such as medical careers, athletics, performance (dancing, acting, playing music, etc.), military, construction, etc.
  • Intrapersonal—includes the ability to be introspective and self-aware including evaluation of one’s own strengths/weaknesses; strengths include self-assessment and knowing oneself (own abilities and limits), predicting one’s own reactions and emotions, and ability to know and set boundaries for oneself
  • Interpersonal—includes the ability to utilize empathy and see things from other’s perspectives, discernment and proficiency in reading the people around oneself, and skill in social interaction; strengths include communication with others (both verbal and nonverbal), creating and managing relationships, negotiation, and cooperating within group settings
  • Naturalistic—includes the ability to connect with nature, relate information to the natural surroundings, and to recognize and classify things in nature; strengths include understanding patterns in living things (recognize distinct types of plants/animals/geography), feeling nurtured/invigorated in natural surroundings, and excelling in areas such as biological and environmental sciences, gardening/farming, hunting, culinary arts, etc.

A video interview with Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences

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What Are Your Preferred Learning Styles?

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What Are Your Preferred Learning Styles?

I love taking self-assessments. I’ve always found them fun and interesting. Many of my students over the years have seemed to enjoy them as well. Most people love to learn new things about themselves or confirm things they might already know. I think learning more about ourselves and getting some strategies to put into practice can help us to accomplish the tasks that God sets before us and help us to be successful in the things that God has called us to do and be. Since we discussed success a little last week, I thought it might be fun to share a learning styles self-assessment as a tool to add to our toolbox for success!

In the classes I teach, both a success skills class at a local college and a life skills class at a women’s restoration home, we spend some time learning about learning styles and preferences. Knowing how we learn can affect both our success in school and in our careers.  We can utilize these learning styles to our advantage to help throughout our lives.

Self-awareness and understanding that others sometimes learn, think and behave differently than we do can also help us manage relationships with others better (both personally AND professionally). Through self-assessments we can analyze and modify learning techniques and behavior patterns to get more out of learning, whether it’s at school, work or even learning and growing spiritually. 

Learn more about yourself to succeed in what God has called you to do and be.

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VAK Learning Styles: Visual, Auditory, & Kinesthetic

The first learning styles assessment we discuss in my class is the VAK system, which is an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. This set of learning styles focuses on learning through our senses:

Visual: Learning by seeing

Auditory: Learning by hearing

Kinesthetic: Learning by movement

We all use all three when we learn, but most of us have one or two dominant learning styles or preferences. We typically default to our dominant preference when we take in new information.

Visual learners tend to take in and understand information by actually looking at it, either in writing or some other visual format (pictures, videos, demonstrations, or visualization). These are the people that when you ask for directions they will either write them out for you or draw you a map. If they are assembling a new piece of furniture, they will probably look over the directions first or watch a tutorial video on how to do it.

Auditory learners tend to take in and understand information by hearing it or talking about it. When asked for directions they will give you verbal instructions. If they are assembling a new piece of furniture, they will probably read the directions aloud, have someone else read the directions to them, or just ask somebody who has already put a similar piece together about how to do it.

Kinesthetic learners tend to take in and understand information while moving around or by touching things. These are the people that when you ask them for directions they might say, “Follow me. I’m driving right by there.” Additionally, they might use their hands and point a lot when describing the directions to you. If assembling a new piece of furniture, they will probably disregard the instruction manual altogether and just start assembling.

VAK in the Bible: Jesus even modeled visual, auditory, and kinesthetic styles

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