Learning with Notes as Artificial Memory

Learn to learn: Annotation, Memorization, Handwritten & Digital Notes

Education
Published

August 13, 2015

Modified

January 9, 2025

Abstract

Note taking is an integral part of learning. Developing note taking skills improves efficiency in the learning process and supports long-term memorization. The following text overviews the reasons why note taking is important and describes methodology and best practices.

Learning

Learning = Forming an internal model of the outside world

  • Dreams — Product of internal models
  • Logic inference — Grasp a fragment of reality
    • …capture the rules & gramma of a domain
    • …search for abstract rules …high-level conclusions

“Reason is a universal instrument that can be used in all kinds of situations” (Rene Descarts)

Reason with probability inscribed into the logic of learning

  • Definitions for learning:
    • …reason about the external world
    • …explore a space of possibilities
    • …adjust the internal model of the world
    • …contextualize in relation to prior learning
    • …minimize errors navigating existence
    • …optimize a reward function

Human Memory

“Make infinite use of finite means” (Wilhelm von Humbold)

From the perspective of neuro-science:

  • Capacity of the brain
    • …estimated at ~10¹⁵ bits (100TB) ~86 billion neurons
    • …for comparison, human genome 750MB
  • Human brain structured like…
    • …symbols combined according to a complex aborescent syntax (tree-like)
    • …utilizing abstract & systematic rules to allow generalization & recombination
  • Language + math = foundation for reasoning, inference, reflection, hypothesis

Learning Purpose

“Learning should begin with finding ones purpose!”

Genuine Interest = passionate interest

  • Inherent motivation to learn a subject — Turbocharges thinking!
  • Different people find different things interesting — How to promote interest?
    • Why? …background knowledge stimulates interest — Inspiration
    • So what? …where is it applied …how can I apply it — Practicality
    • How? …material must be novel, complex (enough) and comprehensible
  • Knowledge emotion = feelings that characterise interest
    • Sense of being energized and invigorated, captivated and enthralled by learning
    • Natural status that allows to work harder & persist longer
    • Intellectual progress is rewarding and helps long-term engagement
  • Related to Ikigai1 = sense of purpose …reason to live
    • …brings pleasure & fulfilment …brings value joy to life
    • …happiness of always being busy & motivated
    • …improvement of oneself …by learning in this context

Durable Learning

“The greatest talent of our brain is the ability to learn.”

Learn to learn — Acceleration of the brain

  • …cultivation of a humans most important talent
  • …required for success in education & academics

Durable learning = methods for long-term memory formation

  • Retrain what you read — Use notes to overcome difficulties in memorising knowledge
  • “Smart” notes = tool to “become a powerful thinker” — clear thinking = clear communication
  • Taking notes = Effective learning strategies
    • Encourages interaction with semantic content = comprehension of meaning
    • Procedure to absorb more information + have a written record in addition

Long-term memorization works in two ways…

  • Mnemonic cues = Add meaning or a story to a subject
    • Keyword …association to a fact
    • Visual …visualize a story as association to a fact
    • Chunking …grouping information (think phone numbers)
    • Musical & rhyme mnemonics …think A-B-C song
    • Acronyms & acrostics …one letter to represent each word
    • Peg method …remember sequenced information (helps ordering facts)
    • Loci Mnemonic = journal method …memory place or mental walk strategy
  • Spaced repetition = Repeatedly engage with the topic — Review & recall
    • Opposite to cramming …study a topic in a short time frame
    • Index-cards …continually re-exposes yourself to information at spaced intervals
    • Forgetting curve (H. Ebbinghaus) = Memory is lost over time without recall

Learning Cycle

Continuous process, begins at birth, continues until death

  • …more then thinking: involves all senses, feelings, intuition, beliefs, values
  • Learning cycle = “learn to learn” …learning takes place in a repetitive cycle
  • PACT acronym …leaning stages
    • …“procure” new knowledge (theory) or ability (skill)
    • …“apply” knowledge or skill, practice in some way
    • …“consider” result of practice, evaluate, assess
    • …“transform” original knowledge or skill, modify, adapt
  • Learning awareness = Observer the results of learning in yourself
    • …internal activity, key for personal development
    • …changes in the way you act, think and feel about yourself and everything else

Illusion of Competence

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Why notes?

Overcome Illusion of Competence = cognitive bias overestimating your abilities

  • Dunning–Kruger effect — False self-assessment vs objective performance
    • …the believe you have learned (understood) a subject, but you have not
    • “Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition”
  • Causes…
    • …incorrect learning methods
    • …missing motivation & interest
    • …misunderstanding how memory works
    • …ignorance about short- vs long-term memory
  • Metacognition — Understand powers & limits of our brain

“Just because you have looked at something doesn’t mean that you have seen it.”

Artificial Memory

Who? …people passionate about knowledge …teachers & students

How do I know what I think until I see what I say?

Note-taking = records the “essence” of information

  • …collect key focal points that represented a topic
  • …avoid tiny details, information of minor interest or not relevant to the subject
  • Notes represent meaning…
    • Don’t write literal transcripts …exact phrasing of the source
    • Read or listen carefully …understand meaning …write a short note (in your words)

Notebook = collection of notes — Journal

  • Device of artificial memory — Secondary memory
  • “Hypomnema” (greek) = reminder, note, commentary — Hypomnesic principles
    • Material memory of things read, heard, or thought
    • Accumulated for rereading and engagement in oneself

Handwriting (on paper or tablet & pen) preferred over keyboard & mouse

  • Forces to summarize and reframe information in your words (prevents cut & paste)
  • More free-form …no confinement to the capabilities of a digital text-processing system
  • Helps to avoids distractions from digital devices like smartphones, tablets or laptops!
  • In general much more efficient for sketches, drawings & diagrams
  • Studies support evidence that handwriting is a more involved cognitive process:
    • …enhances memory encoding and the later retrieval process
    • …enhances associating episodic (what) and spatial (where) information

Workflow

Information management (cf. Figure 1)

flowchart LR
  A(Notebook - Second Memory)
  A --> E
  A --> F
  B[Information] --> C
  B --> D
  C{Topics} --> A
  D{Notes}  --> A
  E{Filter} --> G
  F{Recall} --> G
  G[Knowledge]
Figure 1: Visual representation of the workflow used to learn by writing notes.
  • Build a memory storage in your notebook …using a convenient and accessible representation
  • Self-knowledge workflow = Develop new thoughts, incorporate new ideas
    • …reread & connect with existing knowledge in your notes
    • …expand & cross-reference by appending additional notes

Reading

Four levels of reading…

  1. Elementary reading = Surface approach
    • …basics understanding of a text, gain factual information
    • …every day reading: timetables, listings, news, fiction, etc
  2. Inspectional reading = Decides if the content is interesting — Skim Read
    • Assess textbooks, journals, scientific articles before deeper reading …limited in time
    • Understand purpose & general idea …determine structure of the material (from the table of content)
    • Sample content …read introduction, read example chapter …evaluate writing style, clarity
  3. Analytical reading = Academic reading = Active reading
    • …unlimited in time, dialog with content & yourself
    • …understand logic in arguments …stand back, emotionally detached from reading
    • Four questions to help interpreting:
      1. What is it about?, What are the building blocks?
      2. How & why the author writes something? …understand the authors perspective
      3. Is this true? …don’t let the author make up your mind
      4. So what? …what to do with information, how to apply
  4. Comparative reading = Critical reading
    • Connect range of perspectives …compare with works of other authors
    • Look from different angels …form your own opinion
    • What & how to compare …find bias …implicit assumptions of a text

Annotation

Text Annotation = Adjacent page notes - underlines, comments, orientation codes

  • Why? …helps to retain information …first step in extracting essence of a text
  • …added on the original document mostly in the margins
  • …sometimes referred to as marginalia
  • …helps to navigate to a interesting references, words & sections
  • …using a common notation improves recognition later on

Annotation Codes …some examples

  • “K” keyword …new terminology or jargon
  • “!” important high value text section
  • “?” question requires further research
  • “J” (journal) transfer marked section into dedicated notes
  • “V” vocabulary …look for a translation (non-native languages)
  • “E” expression …common phrasing, analogy, anecdote
  • Title …mark (bracket) a section and add a dedicated title
  • Summery …summarize a section in bullet points in the margins

Corner marks = identify pages of particular interest…

  • …when flipping thru the pages of a book
  • Added to the top right page corner (on the front facing page-side)
    • “†” …revisit, questions, transfer to journal
    • “‡” …key page, important content

Notebook

Personal Journal — Commonplace book …typically handwritten …using paper, ruler and a pen

Develop a habit to always carry a notebook with you!

  • Information of interest (to you)
    • …personal compilation of knowledge …helps to digest information
    • …content: citations, facts, keywords, snippets, drawings, ideas, references, etc.
    • Why? …helps you to remember …helps you to retrieve information
  • Collection without order = no overall structure
    • …(eventually) servers as a basis to create more sophisticated digital notes
    • …self-contained pages/sections referenced in an index

Benefits

Engaged learning (think of writing = learning)

  • Comprehension
    • …enforces mental process of distilling key points
    • …improves focus and attention to detail during reading or listening
  • Memory retention
    • …improves long-term preservation of knowledge by externalisation
    • …improves organization skills and structural thinking
  • Note taking allows to… Overcome confusion
    • …by applying a systematic approach
    • …by modularizing ideas and technical jargon

Note Structure

Atomic Idea = self-contained notes

  • Where does it come from?
  • Where does it lead to?
  • What are similar ideas?
  • What are opposite ideas?
  • QEC = Question, Evidence, Conclusion
    • …helpful mind-set to engage while reading text
    • …common annotation: “?” (question), “-” evidence

Three rules of a good notes…

  1. Active restructure …do not cut-and-paste information
  2. Atomic size = obvious structure, straightforward
  3. Connectable …easy to inter-relate with other notes (web of knowledge)

Formulaic Presentation

Topic = Analog, synonym, explanation — Related keyword or topic

  • …more details in a bullet-point list
  • …condensed information to understanding topic

Result oriented = focal point at the beginning

  • …followed by “=” equals symbol with analogon to main component
  • …followed by adjacent keywords and relations divided by “—” horizontal lines
  • …followed by group of notes in bullet-point notation to explain the topic

Structured Outline

Bullet points instead of long-form text…

  • …leave space between topics for visual clarity
  • …sort topics in logic order — integrative knowledge
  • …common structure improves readability — recognition — accessibility

Maps & diagrams = Visual representation to simplify comprehension

  • …if a topic is better represented in drawing
  • …multiple methods available — mind mapping — arrow diagrams

Cornell Method

Standard page layout for note-taking (promoted by schools & universities)

  • Title & date (in the header)
    • …reference will be added to index (with page numbers)
    • …may include a reference to the source URL, author, lecture, etc.
  • Left margin = List of keywords, questions, main ideas, annotation
    • …horizontally aligned with notes to the right on the main page
    • …very important to navigate the content during review
  • Main page = In-the-moment notes
    • Actual notes …couple of words per line …leave room for later modifications
    • For example: dates, facts, definitions, formulas, examples, drawings
  • Revisit notes to write a short summery on the bottom

Sketch Notes

Visual cues = simple drawings added to the notes

  • Help to remember …improve overview to the page content
  • Keep drawings very simple …in the best-case icons save time
  • Examples:
    • Use bullet lists and numbered lists as structural elements
    • Use a prominent divider line to break the main page
    • Simple icons for quick reference

Visual vocabulary = Common iconography with pre-defined meaning

  • Developed in advance for regular application
  • Examples …arrows, stars, symbols for question- and exclamation marks

Content Index

Index = Search engine for your notes…

  • …table of content (TOC) of subjects and page numbers
  • …gradually extended during note-taking over time
  • …keep enough space on the first pages

TODO…

Digital Notes in Plain Text

What? …loose term for content represented with readable characters only

  • …may include a limited number of characters for text arrangement
  • …text considered “plain” as long as it is human-readable

Why? …any computer can read plain text, no proprietary software required

  • …compatible with everything: editors, applications
  • …sustainable over time, plain text documents universally processable
  • …enforces simple organization (accessibility) with files and directories
  • …favor content with simple text structures for headings, lists
  • …no distraction compared to modern WYSIWIG word processors
  • …fast & productive by focusing on the content
  • …enables powerful text processing tools available on the command-line

Markdown = common plain text notation

  • …readable — text for humans (non distracting markup)
  • …easy — minimal formatting rules
  • …portable — cross-platform, editable with any text-capable application
  • …flexible — selection of output formats including HTML, PDF, LateX, etc.

Collection of distilled information into a personal knowledge base

flowchart TD
  Books --> J
  Articles --> J
  Lectures --> J
  J(Information) --> A
  A[Paper Notebook] 
  A --> B
  A --> C
  B(Review) --> D
  C(Recall) --> D
  D[Digital Notes] --> K
  K(Knowledge)
  K --> Apply
  K --> E[Books]
  K --> F[Articles]
  K --> G[Lectures]
  K --> Presentations
Figure 2: Self-knowledge: Aquire information, learn and undertstand, apply and communicate knowledge

Footnotes

  1. Ikigai, Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai↩︎