One of the most important skills you need in class is the ability to take good notes.
Don’t forget to read the post describing passive and active listener I posted also on the site earlier.
So keep on reading.
Have you ever started to tell a joke and then realized that you could not remember the punch line? Has an appointment ever slipped your mind? Have you ever sat in a classroom and listened to an interesting lecture, only to forget the details the next day? Have you ever taken a test and forgotten an important bit of information? Most of you will answer yes to all these questions because you do forget on occasion; that is only human. In the late 1800s, Hermann Ebbinghaus, a psychologist, studied forgetfulness by researching the human mind and its ability to remember new information. Because of his thoroughness and precision in studying the human memory, his findings are still considered valid today and are often cited in basic psychology and study skills textbooks, as well as in books about memory. Although some numbers vary slightly in different texts, the results, called the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, look like this:

The Ebbinghaus forgetting curve






 From the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, you can see that within twenty minutes you are likely to forget approximately 40 percent of what you hear or read, and by the time twenty-four hours have elapsed you may have forgotten almost 70 percent. It is rather frightening to think that you can forget more than half
of what you have heard or read in one day.



Knowing this information, you will not be surprised by the following conversation between Will and Karen:

"Hey, Will, how did you do on the final test?"
"Oh, man, I really bombed that one! I don't know what happened.
I went to class and read the book, but I couldn't remember a thing!"
Will moaned.
"Well, maybe your notes were lousy. After all, the test was mostly on the points in the book," Karen said. "Let me see your notes."
"Notes? What notes?" Will said indignantly. "I don't take notes! I
Karen said. "Let me see your notes."
"Notes? What notes?" Will said indignantly. "I don't take notes! I go to class and listen."
"I listen, too, but I can't remember unless I write it down," Karen responded.

Will is not unique in his ability to forget. The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve indicates that everyone has a tendency to forget a great deal. In fact, the Ebbinghaus Curve shows that a month after hearing a lec­ture or reading an assignment, you may have forgotten up to 80 per­cent of what you heard or read—not good news in terms of taking exams.
However, by using good techniques and strategy, you can reverse this forgetting trend and remember as much as 80 percent or more of what you hear or read. Cultivating this ability to remember requires listening carefully and taking effective notes during a lesson.





Best regards Lara's Star