Social Sciences (Note Taking) OpenCourseWare: A Free Undergraduate Social Science Course by The Open University

Published Feb 10, 2009

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Open University professors and tutors review note taking strategies in 'Note Taking in Relation to the Social Sciences,' a free OpenCourseWare. While the specific examples cited in the course are from social sciences, the principles of note-taking reviewed are applicable to undergraduate students in any discipline

Note Taking in Relation to the Social Sciences: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Undergraduate Yes Yes No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
No Yes No

Note Taking in Relation to the Social Sciences: Course Description

Learn effective strategies for taking notes with this audio presentation from The Open University's OpenLearn initiative. 'Note Taking in Relation to Social Sciences' is an audio OpenCourseWare that discusses the benefits of taking notes, techniques for effective note taking and the importance of organizing notes. The OpenCourseWare emphasizes note taking as an active approach to understanding the material as one reads or listens to it. The discussion is led by OU Professor John Clarke, with Open University tutors Esther Saraga and Gerry Mooney. They begin with an overview of what note taking is and why students benefit from taking notes. The tutors suggest effective techniques like using summaries and overviews to pick out key concepts and paraphrasing every few paragraphs or entire sections to ensure understanding. They discuss methods, such as diagrams, marginal annotation and verbal summation. Audio presentation for this OpenCourseWare is 23 minutes long and is divided into two segments. A transcript accompanies each segment of the discussion.

This OpenCourseWare includes an audio presentation and transcripts. To listen to this audio course, visit the social science study skills course page.

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