Different people
learn in different ways. Mind Mapping can make a big difference
to your understanding, memory and learning because the notes you create suit
your personal learning style.
Be Prepared
An important part of note taking
is to be fully prepared. Most people skip this step…and therefore miss much of
the knowledge that they could have gained.
To prepare, make a Mind Map that
shows everything that you already know about the topic. Our minds work by
connecting new information to existing information, and this creates a
framework that you can fit the new information in to.
Extend the Mind Map by adding
topics for the things that you either know will be, or think may be covered.
This forms the basis of focus for the new information. Finally add topics for
the things you want to learn, so that your mind is looking out for that
information, and can ask the right questions (either to yourself as you listen
to the presentation, or to the teacher).
Color Coding
You can color code different topic
shapes in NovaMind to represent the different types of topic – NovaMind has
theme colors that allow you to choose colors that go together well, but also
provide contrast, which allows you to easily color code things, and still have
a great looking Mind Map. If you want, you can set these topics up so that the
subtopics inherit these colors and at the end of the presentation, you will be
able to identify at a glance the information that you already knew, the information
you received that you were expecting, and the answers to your questions.
How to Take Notes Effectively
While listening to the
presentation, or in the study session, add topics for the new topics as you
come across interesting information. If you can quickly add the topics where
they belong on the Mind Map, do so, but don’t stress if you don’t have time for
that.
Using Floating Topics
If you just want to grab the
information as quickly as possible, add a floating topic, type in the keyword
for what you have just learned, press Enter/Return to finish editing and again
to create a new floating topic. At the end of the presentation you will be able
to use the graft option to collect groups of topics together and add them to
the main Mind Map. Make sure you do this straight away while the associations
are fresh in your mind.
The Power of Keywords
Remember that the
most efficient storage of information on a mind map is through using keywords and
the association between the keywords to represent the ideas. Link the new
things you learned to the existing knowledge you had, in a way that makes sense
to you.
How to Memorize the Information
If you need to memorize the
information, review the information at progressively increasing intervals like
an hour, a day, a week, a month and a year. The review process should also
include creating a copy of the Mind Map without looking at the original so that
you can make sure that the information has really sunk in – make sure you use
the same topic shapes and colors, because this will trigger the memory of the
words and associations of ideas.
When you use a mind map, note
taking feels compact and complete. An entire class or lecture or book summary
can be seen at a glance.
It’s an incredibly effective way
to study, review, understand and memorize information, as you’ll see once you
begin using NovaMind in this way.
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