Note-taking

How to Take Notes of Readings

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 20:03:25 +0000

How to Take Notes of Readings ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 08/13/2024 - 16:03

Skills Categories:

Learning strategies

Skills Keywords:

Note-taking, Reading critically

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the benefits of notetaking when reading materials
Learn four effective note-taking methods
Maximize the usefulness of notes for classes and assignments.

Introduction

Absorbing the content of academic texts, like book chapters or journal articles, can be challenging. Taking notes while engaging in academic reading can help you navigate through dense material, making your reading more efficient and effective. This Resource Page illustrates four methods for taking notes on academic readings, along with a concrete example to show you how to apply each method in practice.

To learn more about reading strategies, check How to Read Academic Articles.

Why Should You Take Notes?

Below are some benefits of notetaking when engaging in academic materials:

Improved comprehension: Notetaking helps in breaking down complex information, making it easier to understand and retain the material.
Enhanced focus: Actively taking notes keeps you engaged with the reading material, reducing distractions and promoting better concentration.
Better organization: Notes allow you to organize key points, arguments, and evidence in a structured manner, which is useful for study and review.
Effective review: Well-organized notes provide a quick reference for future study sessions, making it easier to review and recall important information.
Critical thinking: The process of summarizing and paraphrasing information in your own words encourages deeper analysis and critical thinking about the content.

Note-taking Strategies

In the following sections, we'll use an academic article as an example to demonstrate how you can organize text content using various note-taking methods.

Below is the example we will use:

Tatira, B. (2022). Remote Online Education in Undergraduate Mathematics: Students’ Perspectives. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (EHASS), 15(1). https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022sp3116

Method 1: Cornell Notes System

The Cornell Notes system divides your notes into 3 sections: Notes, Cue Column, and Summary.

The Notes section is on the right side of the page, where you jot down important information about readings.
The Cue Column is on the left side and is for keywords, questions, or concepts that relate to the notes.
At the bottom of the page, the Summary section allows for a concise recap of the main ideas from the Notes section.

Example:

Cornell Note-taking method (student sample) (61.6 KB, PDF)

This sample shows a student’s notes of an academic article using the Cornell system.

You can find more information about the Cornell method and practice notetaking with it here: https://h5p.org/cornell-notes

Method 2: Outlining

The Outline method organizes information by using headings and indentations. In general, it looks as follows:

Heading: identify the important topic and organize the key ideas

Sub-heading: break down to subordinate ideas
Point: capture the key information using bullet points
Sub-point: capture more specific ideas related to Point above
Sub-point:

Example:

Outlining Note-taking method (student sample) (83.69 KB, PDF)

This sample shows a student’s notes of an academic article using the outline method.

Method 3: Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a visual note-taking strategy that organizes information around a central concept, using branches to connect ideas and themes. To organize your map, you can use:

Different colors
Symbols
Arrows/Connectors

Below is an example of using the mind mapping method to summarize the impact of technology on student mathematics learning based on the sample reading.

Mind Map Note-taking method (student sample) (179.66 KB, PDF)

For users with accessibility needs: this sample shows a student’s notes of an academic article using the mindmap method.

Method 4: Charting

Charting is a visual tool to organize ideas within a table. It is particularly useful for comparing multiple concepts within a structure.

Below is an example of converting the impact of technology on students’ mathematics learning information into a chart based on the sample reading:

Impact of Technology on Students' Mathematics Learning Experiences

Positive Impact	Negative Impact
Enhanced Accessibility Remote access to lectures and materials Convenience of learning from home Recorded lectures for review Flexible Learning Self-paced learning opportunities Ability to revisit difficult concepts Improved Assessment Timed and objective assessments Instant feedback on quizzes and assignments Increased Engagement Use of multimedia tools for better understanding Interactive learning platforms	Technical Issues Network connectivity problems Dependence on reliable internet access Assessment Challenges Increased opportunities for cheating Difficulty in ensuring academic integrity Learning Difficulties Challenges with complex subjects like mathematics Difficulty in writing equations and drawing diagrams online Limited Resources Inadequate access to digital devices for some students Lack of familiarity with digital tools and platforms

Positive Impact

Negative Impact

Enhanced Accessibility

Remote access to lectures and materials
Convenience of learning from home
Recorded lectures for review

Flexible Learning

Self-paced learning opportunities
Ability to revisit difficult concepts

Improved Assessment

Timed and objective assessments
Instant feedback on quizzes and assignments

Increased Engagement

Use of multimedia tools for better understanding
Interactive learning platforms

Technical Issues

Network connectivity problems
Dependence on reliable internet access

Assessment Challenges

Increased opportunities for cheating
Difficulty in ensuring academic integrity

Learning Difficulties

Challenges with complex subjects like mathematics
Difficulty in writing equations and drawing diagrams online

Limited Resources

Inadequate access to digital devices for some students
Lack of familiarity with digital tools and platforms

Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Notetaking Strategies

Advantages

Cornell

Organized structure: The Cornell system provides a clear layout with sections for notes, cues, and summaries, making it easy to find and review key information..

Enhanced retention and review: The structure active engagement and helps reinforce learning through summaries and cue columns.

Outlining

Clear hierarchical structure: It organizes information in a logical, hierarchical format, making it easy to see the relationships between main topics, subtopics, and details.

Efficient review: It simplifies the review process by breaking down complex information into manageable sections, aiding quick recall of key points.

Mind Mapping

Visual organization: It visualizes information in an easily understandable format, which is of great benefit for visual learners.

Systematic connection and relationships: It allows for systematic connections, relationships, and comparisons among information and ideas.

Charting

Clear comparison: Charts allow for easy comparison of different pieces of information, making it straightforward to see contrasts and similarities.

Efficient data presentation: Information is presented in a structured and concise format, which can enhance understanding and retention, especially for numerical or categorical data.

Disadvantages

Cornell

Time-consuming: It requires extra time to set up the format and write summaries, which can be impractical during fast-paced lectures.

Initial learning curve: It may be challenging to adapt to initially, potentially reducing note-taking efficiency until familiar with the system.

Outlining

Oversimplification: There is a risk of over-simplifying complex topics and it’s easy to omit connections between ideas.

Rigid structure: The method’s structured format may not be suitable for all types of content, particularly if the information is non-linear or less structured.

Mind Mapping

Complexity: Can become cluttered and difficult to read if too many details are added, reducing its effectiveness.

Time-consuming: Requires more time to create compared to linear notetaking methods, which may be impractical during fast-paced lectures or discussions.

Charting

Limited detail: Charts can oversimplify complex information, leaving out important details that may be necessary for a deeper understanding.

Requires prior knowledge: Creating effective charts often requires a good understanding of the content beforehand, which can be challenging if you are learning the material for the first time during a lecture or reading.

Our Tips

Take notes based on the prompts or questions provided by instructors, as this ensures you focus on the most important and relevant information for your class or assignments.
When taking notes, paraphrase the content instead of copying it. This enhances your understanding and retention of the material.
Ask for help when you need it. For example, you can ask your classmates to share their notes to fill gaps in missed content; you can also consult peer mentors or learning strategists about enhancing notetaking strategies.

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Take Notes in Class

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 16:15:12 +0000

How to Take Notes in Class ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 08/13/2024 - 12:15

Skills Categories:

Learning strategies

Skills Keywords:

Note-taking

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the benefits of notetaking in class
Take effective notes in class
Maximize the usefulness of notes for classes and assignments

Why Should We Use Note-taking Strategies?

While attending classes, many students take too many notes line by line without prioritizing the content. This method is not very effective: not every word the professor says should be written down, and you may find it impossible to follow every single sentence in a three-hour class. Also, when you want to review your notes after class, you might find it difficult to capture the important parts and might get frustrated.

Using note-taking strategies during classes can help us focus and keep our brains active, and ultimately organize our notes and ideas more effectively for our studies.

To learn more about note-taking strategies when reading materials, check our Resource Page How to take Notes of Readings.

How to Take Effective Notes in Class/While Listening?

Focus on listening:

Make sure that listening is the priority and that your notetaking is not interfering with your comprehension. You don’t need to take too many notes, nor strive for ‘perfect’ notes – you can’t capture everything.
When you listen to others, focus on transition words/phrases to help you follow the structure of the talk and to structure your notes.
Focus on what you CAN understand rather than on unfamiliar words. If new, technical terms are mentioned, jot them down and check their meaning after class.

Organization of in-class notes:

Format your notes with clear labels and different colors.
Organize your notes with bullet points, headings and sub-headings as you follow the structure of the talk.
Make abbreviations in your notes if it helps you save time – but make sure that you can recall their meanings after class. Examples: “edu” for “education”, “ppl” for “people”.
Your notes should primarily focus on key words/nouns rather than adjectives, verbs, etc.

Example:

Note-taking in class (student sample) (62.71 KB, PDF)

This sample shows a student’s notes during a lecture about the topic “Assessments in online mathematics courses in the post-secondary context”.

How to Make the Most of your Notes after Class

After-class Review

Consolidate and organize your notes while the class content is still fresh in your mind. You can

fill in the points that you did not have time to write down during the class
expand the abbreviations to the full words or expressions
check new concepts or vocabulary

Deep Review

Notetaking in grad school is normally not for memorization (as it often is in undergrad) but rather for future use in your assignments and for building knowledge and expertise. The more you review, the more likely you can turn the course content into knowledge. As a result, you’ll have richer ideas in your assignments.

Methods for a deeper review:

Transfer your written notes into digital form (or vice versa) and add reflections and questions
Ask yourself questions related to class content to check and fill the gaps in your class notes
Summarize your notes in a different way (e.g., if you use the Cornell method in your class notes, try to use the mind map when you revise them.)

Below is the expanded version of the example notes shown above:

Note-taking in class (student sample - expanded version) (67.21 KB, PDF)

This sample shows how a student reviewed, consolidated and organized their notes after class. These notes refer to a lecture about the topic “Assessments in online mathematics courses in the post-secondary context”.

Handwritten vs Digital Notes

Refer to the table below to explore the advantages, disadvantages, and scenarios of use for handwritten and digital notes.

	Handwritten Notes	Digital Notes
Advantages	Enhances memory retention through physical writing.	Efficient, allows for faster notetaking. Easy to organize, edit, and search notes.
Disadvantages	Slower, may miss some details. Harder to organize and edit later.	Potential distractions from other apps.
Scenario of Use	During class: quickly note down other people’s ideas and your immediate reflections. After class: revise handwritten notes, transfer or scan them into a digital format, and organize them accordingly.	During class: jot down the notes of fast-paced classes where detailed notes are essential. After class: revise your notes, add suitable content from the instructor’s slides and peers’ ideas from the discussion board or classroom discussion.

Handwritten Notes

Digital Notes

Advantages

Enhances memory retention through physical writing.

Efficient, allows for faster notetaking.

Easy to organize, edit, and search notes.

Disadvantages

Slower, may miss some details.

Harder to organize and edit later.

Potential distractions from other apps.

Scenario of Use

During class: quickly note down other people’s ideas and your immediate reflections.

After class: revise handwritten notes, transfer or scan them into a digital format, and organize them accordingly.

During class: jot down the notes of fast-paced classes where detailed notes are essential.

After class: revise your notes, add suitable content from the instructor’s slides and peers’ ideas from the discussion board or classroom discussion.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

Note-taking Resources | Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (utoronto.ca)

On Campus Services

How to Read Academic Articles

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 29 May 2024 15:39:33 +0000

How to Read Academic Articles ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:39

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Learning strategies, Reading skills, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Critical thinking, Literature reviews, Note-taking, Reading critically

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the purpose of reading academic articles
Familiarize with the general structure of research articles
Read articles effectively for different course assignments

Introduction

Critical reading is an essential skill for academic success, enabling you to engage deeply with course materials and scholarly articles.

This resource page offers different strategies for critical academic reading depending on your reading purposes — whether for class discussions, selecting literature for an assignment, or delving into selected readings for your paper writing— to maximize your understanding and insight.

What are the Purposes of Academic Reading?

You are required to engage in academic reading for various purposes:

Classwork / Homework

Purpose: get the gist (i.e., main points) of assigned readings to prepare yourself for class (e.g., class discussions) or homework (e.g., online posts and discussions).

Select sources for an assignment

Purpose: decide if a source is a match for your assignment topic and goal by quickly reading it.

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Purpose: Once you have found appropriate sources, you need to read them more in detail to find and use the points that are relevant to your topic, and include them in your assignment.

What are Research Articles?

Research articles are a very common genre you are required to read in your courses. There are three main types of articles you may engage with:

Empirical Articles

These articles report original research studies, usually with primary data and results from experiments.

Example: Trenholm, S., Alcock, L., & Robinson, C. (2015). An investigation of assessment and feedback practices in fully asynchronous online undergraduate mathematics courses. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 46(8), 1197–1221. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2015.1036946

Theoretical Articles

These articles usually contain and describe new theories, principles, and concepts related to a specific field of knowledge. They normally do not present empirical or experimental data.

Example: Yazan, B. (2018). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 21–48.

Review Articles

These articles summarize and analyze published work on a certain topic to 1) synthesize the previous research, 2) provide a critical overview of the previous research, 3) evaluate the state of research, and 4) suggest gaps in knowledge and future research directions.

Example: Lapkin, S., Mady, C., & Arnott, S. (2009). Research perspectives on core French: A literature review. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 12 (2). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL/article/view/19936

Empirical Articles

Empirical articles are perhaps the most common type of research articles you will read during your studies. They are also often called by different names, such as experimental reports and research reports. There are two important features of these articles that you should keep in mind when you read:

Predictable Structure. Empirical articles typically follow a structure called IMRD (Introduction – Methods – Results – Discussion)
Predictable Language. Empirical articles often employ standard vocabulary or phrases for certain purposes (e.g., to introduce the research objective and research questions).

Familiarizing with the structure and language of empirical articles will help you find the main points quickly and ultimately read more efficiently.

Below is the IMRD structure of a typical empirical article with the main sections:

Abstract

The summary of key information from the entire article.

Introduction

An introduction of an empirical article normally includes the following information:

Background information of the general topic
Relevance of topic
Rationale and purpose of the study
Literature review (which can often stand as a separate section)
Review of previous research on the topic
Gaps and unanswered questions
How the study addresses gaps or questions
Significance of the study
Research questions
Definition of key terms (which may sometimes be included in other sections or sub-sections, such as the literature review or conceptual framework)

Methods

This section describes the research methods employed. It often includes the following components:

Research design
Participants
Instruments used to collect data
Procedure for data collection and analysis

Results

This section reports the findings based on data analysis. The content in this section is often divided into various sub-sections.

Discussion & Conclusion

Authors summarize and interpret the research findings in this section. In some cases, you may see the Discussion and Conclusion separated into two sections. Normally, this section includes the following information:

Summary and interpretation of findings
Answers to the research questions
Limitations
Directions for future studies

References

This section lists all the sources cited in the article.

Example: Check the video below about annotating a journal article from minute 4.05

From: Excelsior OWL - https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-while-reading/annotating/annotating-a-journal-article/

How to Read Research Articles?

Here is a step-by-step process to read research articles effectively:

Preview
Read in a Specific Order
Focus on Predictable Language, Commonly Used Phrases & Vocabulary
Active Reading & Questioning
Take Notes

1. Preview

Skim the Abstract, Intro, and Conclusion: Quickly read through the Abstract, Introduction, and Conclusion to grasp the main arguments and findings. This skimming practice allows you to identify the purpose of the text, the author's hypothesis, and the conclusions drawn, providing a framework for deeper understanding when you read in full.
Scan the whole text structure (titles, headings, sub-headings). Scanning helps you understand the main themes and organization of the document, allowing you to anticipate the kind of information that will be covered, and quickly find specific information (e.g., study aim, main results, etc.).
Note aids (e.g., tables, graphs, charts, bolded terms): These elements are designed to highlight key information and can serve as clues to important concepts and data within the text.

Skim

Purpose: to quickly get a general overview or main idea of a text without reading every word or detail.
Technique: When skimming, you glance over the text, focusing on headings, subheadings, specific sections, topic sentences, and keywords.
Use: Skimming is useful when previewing a text to determine its relevance or when trying to understand the main points of a lengthy passage quickly.

Scan

Purpose: to quickly locate specific information or details within a text.
Technique: When scanning, you move your eyes rapidly over the text, looking for particular words, phrases, or information that matches your specific search criteria. You do not read every word but instead focus on finding the target information.
Use: Scanning is helpful when searching for specific facts, names, dates, or keywords within a text, such as when looking up information in an index, table of contents, or search engine results.

2. Read in a Specific Order

While engaging in academic reading, we almost never read research articles from the beginning to the end like a book. Depending on your purposes, you should read the article sections in a specific order.

Classwork/Homework

If your reading goal is to get the gist (i.e., main points) of the article, this is the suggested reading order and the specific content you can expect to find in each section.

Note: your task type and instructions ultimately determine the reading order and focus. For example:

In a Research Methods class, tasks might require you to focus on the Methods and Results sections more than you would in other classes.
If the task is about leading a discussion on an article, you might need to focus on more sections and details than you would for an online post.

Select sources for an assignment

Abstract
(Conclusion)
(Discussion)

Note: if you have a clear idea of your assignment topic, reading the abstract might sometimes be enough at this stage.

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Abstract
Introduction
Conclusion
Discussion
Results
Methods

Note: you might need to read some sections multiple times to find the points you need.

3. Focus on Predictable Language, Commonly Used Phrases & Vocabulary

Being familiar with phrases and vocabulary commonly used in academic articles will help you quickly find the information you’re looking for (e.g., study aim, research questions, and findings).

Check below some commonly used vocabulary and phrases, along with examples, for different purposes:

Research Aim & Objectives

The aim of this work/study is to...
Our research/study aims at...
The main objective/purpose is to...
In this paper, we will investigate...

Problem Statement

This seems to be a problem in...
One issue with...is that...
An emerging challenge in this area is that...

Gaps in the Literature

There is limited research discussing...
Little is known about...
As far as we know, few studies have investigated...

Findings

We found that...
Our research indicated that...
Based on the analysis, it is clear that...

Interpretation/Discussion of Findings

The findings suggest that...
A reasonable explanation of this result is that...
It may imply that...

Limitations

Because of the lack of..., we did not/could not...
One limitation of this study is that...

For more vocabulary and phrases used in academic articles, please check our Resource Page on Signposting and the information on Academic Phrasebank and Useful phrases and sentences for academic papers.

4. Active Reading & Questioning

By asking questions, you create a more interactive reading experience that promotes critical thinking, encourages curiosity, and helps clarify areas of uncertainty or ambiguity.

Use your instructor’s prompts to guide your reading: Incorporate your instructor's prompts or questions to guide your reading process.
Ask questions: As you read, generate your own questions to explore the text's implications, context, and arguments.

Below are some guiding questions you can ask for different purposes:

Classwork/homework

Note: If there are specific questions/instructions, read them first and keep them in mind as you read the article!

How is this article relevant to course content?
What is the main argument?
What are some interesting points /ideas/quotes?
Do I agree with the main argument(s)?
What are the findings and their implications?
What points /issues / questions can I use for my task (e.g., class/online discussion)?

Select sources for an assignment

What is the author’s argument and what evidence is presented to support it?
What is the authors’ research question?
Is this article a good match for my topic, research question and arguments?
How might this article be used in my assignment?

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Does point X support my argument or is it in opposition to it?
Do I agree with the author’s findings and conclusion?
How will I use point X in my assignment? How can I connect it to the point I’m trying to make?
Where is the right place in my assignment to include point X from this article?

5. Take Notes

Paraphrase or summarize main points or things to remember

After reading a section, take a moment to paraphrase or summarize the key points in your own words. This practice not only reinforces your memory and comprehension of the material but also helps clarify the main ideas and how they connect to each other. This is especially helpful when you are reading for classroom discussions, in which you are often expected to have a comprehensive and deep understanding of the assigned reading.

Respond to what you read

Questions: Develop a habit of jotting down questions that arise as you read. This can include questions about the author's reasoning, the evidence provided, or their implications.

Comments or observations: Take notes on your thoughts, reactions, and observations while reading. This can be a reflection on how the text aligns or conflicts with your previous knowledge/experience, or critical comments about the strength of the arguments presented. This kind of response fosters a more active and personal connection to the reading material.

Save or export references and quotes

Use tools to digitally highlight, save, or export important quotes and references directly from the text. Keeping a collection of these key points can be invaluable for quick review, writing assignments, or future research, ensuring you have direct evidence and citations at your fingertips. You may also consider using citation management tools to help you manage the references. Refer to our Resource Page on How to Organize Literature and Citation management guide (University of Toronto) for details.

Notetaking Examples

Below are examples of how you can take notes about the same reading for different purposes:

Sample reading: Reju, C. O., & Jita, L. C. (2020). A comparative investigation of assessment practices in distance and online learning undergraduate mathematics in Nigeria. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 10(1), 90–103. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2020.10.1.06

Assigned reading for class or homework (e.g., presentation, discussion)

Purpose of reading: online discussion

Questions to discuss: What is your experience with assessment practices as a teacher or student in online or distance courses? How is your experience similar to or different from the findings?

What course topic is this reading connected with: assessment for online courses in higher education

Main argument(s) or main findings:

The student participants expressed that they are not receiving prompt feedback on their assessments, leading to unmet expectations.
The findings indicate that assessment practices, which both differ and align, have influenced open and distance learning approaches at these universities. This highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating assessment strategies to enhance student engagement and learning, thereby enriching the learning experiences of undergraduate mathematics students.
For high-quality and adaptable assessment methods in higher education institutions, it is crucial to offer reliable internet connectivity and consistent, precise feedback to students. Additionally, it is important to develop robust practical and online interactive sessions that engage and draw in students studying mathematics in this format. Public institutions often rely on government financial support. Consequently, the challenge of scarce resources for student assessment could be addressed through collaboration between these institutions and the government to secure the necessary resources.

Points to raise in class: Experience with online biology courses

Similarity: the lack of interactive sessions made the general experience, including assessments, less engaging and connected with real life

Difference: the feedback on assessment is often quite prompt; knowing about what was not well understood immediately based on the results of each question (automatic grading system). However, there is often no rationale explained in detail, leading to unresolved confusion even after getting feedback.

Select sources for an assignment

My research focus: students’ perspectives and experiences with assessment practices in mathematics and statistics courses in the post-secondary education context.

Source	Reju, C. O., & Jita, L. C. (2020). A comparative investigation of assessment practices in distance and online learning undergraduate mathematics in Nigeria. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 10(1), 90–103. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2020.10.1.06
Research question or objective	What are the assessment practices and how are they related to the students learning of undergraduate mathematics in distance and online education?
Arguments & findings	1. The student participants expressed that they are not receiving prompt feedback on their assessments, leading to unmet expectations. 2. The findings indicate that assessment practices, which both differ and align, have influenced open and distance learning approaches at these universities. This highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating assessment strategies to enhance student engagement and learning, thereby enriching the learning experiences of undergraduate mathematics students. 3. For high-quality and adaptable assessment methods in higher education institutions, it is crucial to offer reliable internet connectivity and consistent, precise feedback to students. Additionally, it is important to develop robust practical and online interactive sessions that engage and draw in students studying mathematics in this format. Public institutions often rely on government financial support. Consequently, the challenge of scarce resources for student assessment could be addressed through collaboration between these institutions and the government to secure the necessary resources.
Relevance to my research focus	Highly relevant, save for paper
Potential use in paper	Can be used to suggest 1) the challenging experiences students had with assessment practices in online math courses; 2) recommendations to improve assessment experiences in online math courses

Include ideas from selected sources into your assignment

Note: The following should be built upon the notes for determining a source for a paper

Relevant quotes:

Negative student experience, inadequate prompt feedback

“The DLI participants indicated that the prompt feedback on their assessment is lacking, resulting in their expectations not being met. One of them commented that “There is no feedback from the tutors when we do assignment online, it is so frustrating.” (p. 101)

Implication for online math education, provide interactive components for student engagement

“To ensure quality and flexible assessment practices in ODL institutions in Nigeria, it is therefore vital to provide viable Internet connectivity, alongside regular and exact feedback to the learners. There is also a need for creation of strong practical and online interactive sessions that will interest and attract students learning mathematics through this mode.” (p. 101)

My observations:

Highly relevant to focus on students' perspectives on assessment for online math learning;
Lack of instructors' or policymakers' perspectives on the same issue, even though the implications point to teaching and government funding --> Need to find if there is any paper filling this gap
The results contradict Tatira (2022), which indicated a general student satisfactory experience with assessment practices in online mathematics courses

For more information about notetaking, check our Resource Page on How to Take Notes of Readings.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

Academic Phrasebank | The University of Manchester

On Campus Services

How to Analyze Literature and Develop Ideas for my Literature Review

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 02:09:13 +0000

How to Analyze Literature and Develop Ideas for my Literature Review ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 04/02/2024 - 22:09

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Reading skills

Skills Keywords:

Literature reviews, Note-taking, Reading critically, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the reasons for analyzing literature and developing your own ideas for a literature review
Analyze literature you searched for and organized
Find strategies to develop your own ideas for literature review writin

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review or an academic paper and indicating you are currently in step 3: pre-writing.

Introduction

Once you’ve searched and organized the literature for your assignment, the next step is to analyze each source you have selected and develop your own ideas for your review.

In this resource page, we will provide you with strategies to analyze sources and develop ideas for your literature review writing.

If you need support on searching for and organizing literature, check our resource pages on how to find sources for assignments, how to evaluate and select literature and how to organize literature.

As analyzing literature involves reading your sources critically, you may also want to check our resource page on critical reading for effective reading strategies.

Why Analyze Literature and Develop Your Own Ideas?

Analyzing the content of the sources you have gathered and developing your own ideas for a literature review is a fundamental aspect of academic writing. This process is crucial because it helps you:

Develop critical thinking, analytical, and synthesis skills while you comprehend and evaluate the arguments, methodologies, and evidence of the source.
Ensure the originality of thoughts. A literature review does not purely summarize previous studies; it also presents your understanding of or critical perspective on the topic.
Identify gaps, contradictions, and emerging trends in the field. The findings of your literature analysis identify the patterns and gaps in existing studies and inform directions for future research. If you are doing original research, the results from the analysis can also inform the research questions or hypotheses you can focus on to fill the gaps in the field.

How to Analyze your Sources

In addition to collecting basic information for each source you’ve selected (e.g., publication date, participants, and methodologies), you should further analyze the content and make comparisons and connections with other sources in your collection.

Below are some common strategies and tips for analysis.

Summarize theories and findings that are relevant to your topic.

Some guiding questions when summarizing the theories and findings include:

What are the authors’ central arguments?
What is the research design/methodology?
How did the theories or concepts selected by the author frame their findings? (or which authors/fields of knowledge/theoretical frameworks does the author include?)
What is the evidence presented to support the arguments?

Evaluate arguments and implications.

Critically reflect on the arguments, methodologies, and evidence presented by the authors and judge the quality of the reasoning and implications. Some helpful considerations are:

Does the evidence presented by the authors support their central arguments?
Are the conclusions drawn by the author justified and logical?
Do the authors show any bias? Are there any underlying assumptions or unacknowledged perspectives that might affect the work's conclusions?
Whose voices are present? Whose voices are missing?
What are the contributions of these findings for the field?
What further questions arise for you?

Identify limitations and gaps.

Some questions that can help you with this analysis include:

What limitations or gaps can be identified in the work (e.g., in the research design or implications)? How do these affect the overall argument or findings?
What limitations or gaps do the authors acknowledge? What do they leave out (of the text)?
Do the authors suggest areas for future research? Are these suggestions feasible and relevant?
Are there any important questions left unanswered?

Compare and contrast findings and methods.

After reading multiple sources, you need to compare the information and analysis of each source to identify and evaluate emerging patterns and connections among them.

For a course paper, comparing research methods can help you illustrate future directions for research. For example, in a synthesis paper, instructors may ask you to synthesize the common research methods adopted in current studies and what potential innovations can be made in research design.

If you are working on original research, comparing research methods can help you identify the common methodological practices in existing studies and indicate the innovation of the research design of your own study. For example, if qualitative methods are dominating the area, then a mixed-method design of your study can be an innovation.

Here are some questions that can guide you:

How do the findings of this source support or contradict those from other sources?
What common themes or patterns can you identify when considering findings from across all sources?
What are the common research methods adopted in the studies?
Do research method choices lead to different findings? If so, how and why?

How to Organize your Analysis

Spreadsheet

Check this spreadsheet for an example of how you can summarize findings and record your analysis for each source in a spreadsheet. The research topic in this example is assessment practices of online mathematics and statistics courses at the undergraduate level, with a focus on students’ and instructors’ perspectives. You can first browse the overall information of the example sources and pay attention to the final two columns for findings and critical analysis.

Annotated Bibliography

Before drafting the literature review, you can also start with an annotated bibliography to summarize the findings and record your analysis of each source. To get more information about the annotated bibliography, please refer to What is an annotated bibliography and How to write an annotated bibliography resource pages.

How to Develop Ideas

While and after analyzing all the sources you have read, you will start developing ideas for your writing.

Analysis and idea development go hand in hand and don’t follow a perfectly linear process. In some cases, you might have ideas that you seek to confirm (or disprove) through your sources; in other cases, you might develop ideas as you read the literature or after organizing your analysis; often, you might do a bit of both. In any case, even when you have some ideas before your analysis, categorizing relevant information from your sources will help you further develop these ideas into detailed points and sub-points, eventually resulting in your paper structure.

Our tip: go back and forth between the literature and the analysis you organized in the previous steps to confirm, adjust and refine your ideas.

How to Categorize the Information

There are several criteria you can follow to categorize the information analyzed from your sources and develop your ideas.

Remember: The categorization criteria you choose will depend on your research questions and purpose. The chosen criteria should help you see the patterns, potential gaps, and connections among sources, as these will form the main ideas for your literature review.

By issues or themes.

In many cases, you can identify the key issues, patterns, or themes emerging from the sources you collected and analyzed. You may want to focus on these issues and themes in your review.

Example from Literature analysis example.xlsx: a point to discuss in your paper might be the positive impact of technology on assessment during the pandemic if this is the perspective you found in most sources.

From the most to least important information from the sources.

Example from Literature analysis example.xlsx: you may want to prioritize the challenges of online assessment for undergraduate-level mathematics learning because this is what most studies discussed. However, the degree of importance of information depends on your own judgment.

Chronologically.

This is a commonly used method if you intend to provide a review of how a concept (e.g., sociocultural theory) has evolved over time.

By perspectives (e.g., authors’ stances and theoretical frameworks).

Example: if your focus is on scholars’ different perspectives on the definition of teacher identity, or theories employed to explain this definition, you may want to categorize your analysis and structure your ideas using this method.

By methodology.

You can discuss how the choice of methods (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) has yielded different findings on the same topic and investigate why such differences occur.

By context.

You can organize your ideas based on the contexts and settings of the studies you’ve read.

Example: categorize your ideas based on geographical regions and/or institutions (e.g., k-12 schools in China; North American post-secondary institutions)

How to Organize your Ideas

After you have developed your ideas, you need to organize them so that they show the connections among your findings and follow a logical flow.

Below are some methods for organizing main ideas.

Organizing your Ideas: Outline (example) (22.86 KB, Word)

This is an example of how to use an outline to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

Organizing your Ideas: Matrix (example) (81.5 KB, PDF)

This is an example of how to use a literature review matrix to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

Organizing your Ideas: Concept Map (example) (21.38 KB, Word)

This is an example of how to use a concept map to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

Organizing your Ideas: Table (example) (21.06 KB, Word)

This is an example of how to use a table to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

Our Tips

Regardless of the method you choose to organize your ideas, we recommend that you make an outline for your paper. Making an outline is the final step of the pre-writing stage of the literature review preparation as it provides a skeleton for the structure of your paper and the foundation to start the writing process.

List the main ideas in bullet point format. They will become the main sections of your paper
Under each main idea, list the specific points and supporting evidence from the analyzed sources. These will become your section paragraphs.

By making an outline, you can also check if your ideas and points are organized in a logical order and can make adjustments accordingly.

Next Steps

Once you have analyzed the selected literature and developed and organized your ideas, you are now ready to start writing your literature review. For information and strategies, check our resource pages under the "writing process" keyword.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources:

Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students: Chapter 8: Writing the Literature Review

Note-taking

How to Take Notes of Readings

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Why Should You Take Notes?

Note-taking Strategies

Method 1: Cornell Notes System

Method 2: Outlining

Heading: identify the important topic and organize the key ideas

Sub-heading: break down to subordinate ideas

Point: capture the key information using bullet points

Sub-point: capture more specific ideas related to Point above

Sub-point:

Method 3: Mind Mapping

Method 4: Charting

Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Notetaking Strategies

Advantages

Disadvantages

Our Tips

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Take Notes in Class

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Why Should We Use Note-taking Strategies?

How to Take Effective Notes in Class/While Listening?

Focus on listening:

Organization of in-class notes:

How to Make the Most of your Notes after Class

After-class Review

Deep Review

Handwritten vs Digital Notes

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Read Academic Articles

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

What are the Purposes of Academic Reading?

What are Research Articles?

Empirical Articles

Theoretical Articles

Review Articles

Empirical Articles

How to Read Research Articles?

1. Preview

Skim

Scan

2. Read in a Specific Order

3. Focus on Predictable Language, Commonly Used Phrases & Vocabulary

4. Active Reading & Questioning

5. Take Notes

Paraphrase or summarize main points or things to remember

Respond to what you read

Save or export references and quotes

Notetaking Examples

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Analyze Literature and Develop Ideas for my Literature Review

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Why Analyze Literature and Develop Your Own Ideas?

How to Analyze your Sources

How to Organize your Analysis

Spreadsheet

Annotated Bibliography

How to Develop Ideas

How to Categorize the Information

How to Organize your Ideas

Our Tips

Next Steps

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH