How to Craft Consolidated Math Notes

Student Seminar

What’s the point?

• To have easy-to-find, concise, comprehensive math notes

• To be able to better remember old topics for assessments

• To better learn and reaffirm the material by writing it down and organizing your thoughts

Outline

• This is the possible structure of a consolidated note page for a topic

Note: Not all of these boxes will be necessary for every single topic!

Visuals/Graphs/Tables

• Visuals are effective way to remember the topic -> put at top

• make simple, uncluttered, focus on the most important aspects

Purpose/Definition/What is it?

• This can be formal for reference, or more general to jog your memory

• Want topic to be defined, but also concise

Properties/Functions/Explanations

• This is the most helpful part

• Put down the technical stuff e.g. forms, identities, functions if any

• This is where your math language goes, usually not words as the main part

Example Problems/Tricky Stuff

• This is where you address application of the material

• Put easy problems -> jog your memory

• Put problems that you have trouble with -> for tests

Other Notes + Stuff to Remember

• Other Notes - put down important things that were left out so far, or didn’t have a place

• Stuff to Remember- put down things you think you might forget, or get wrong

Some Examples

Logarithmic Functions(long condensed)

Inverse Trig Functions + Derivatives(short condensed)

Tips and Tricks

➢ Try to make these notes outside of class so you can concentrate and re-affirm knowledge later

➢ Don’t feel forced to try to fill in all of the boxes, expand and omit the outline boxes as you see fit, stick to 2 pages maximum

➢ Makue sure to put them all in one place (paper notebook, OneNote, binder)

➢ In your note-taking place, separate your consolidates notes from the other pages in your notebook

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Don’t have to scramble for notes that you cant find. Great for test and exam preparation.

• Don’t have to figure out what notes mean, you made them!

• Helps you learn it!

Cons

• Takes 8-10 min outside of class

• Have to make them when its fresh in your mind and before an assessment (within a week)

Try it Yourself!