I’ve been doing some research & thinking about perception. Mostly I’ve been researching ideas for communicating the ideas quickly and helping y’all synthesize them and fit them in with what you already know. In this regard, I’ve been thinking about two of you in particular, Shinie & Danny, because of their artistic nature and visual nature. Shinie has mentioned that she would like to have more posters and drawing assignments in class because that helps her learn. I suspect it does Danny, too. It also helps everyone else, but probably not as much. So, what’s my point?
Visual Notes!
Image by deanmeyersnet via Flickr
The idea behind visual notes is that you take your notes from the class, and turn them into something highly stylized and visual.
You could do this on a daily basis. In that case it would be a visual diary.
You could do it on a weekly basis and make a visual summary.
Either way, it makes for a fun, interesting, & aesthetic to process & synthesize information. If you find this type of thing fun or interesting, then it would be motivating also.
Image by subvert.com via Flickr
There are lots of sites out there with examples of this type of work on them. You can peruse some of them, to get ideas, but really it is only limited by your creativity & skill.
It doesn’t even need a lot of skill. The real point is that you spend time with the material thinking about it and then doing something with it.
As with anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it. This will include the actual artwork, penmanship, calligraphy, and lay out.
If you give it a go, I think you’ll be surprised how much of a boost it will give your recall for material. I’d love to see your products and feedback about whether it helped or not.
Here’s a link to “Sketchnote Army.” A sight that gathers samples and has other explanations.
Here’s a link to another site called, “core77: design magazine & resource” and a post entilted, “Sketchnotes 101:Visual Thinking.”
Lastly, I’ve included some articles that I hope will be helpful.
Related articles
- Sketchnotes on Technology (shaicoggins.com)
- Why should you maintain a visual diary? (mindmappingsoftwareblog.com)
- Visual Cortex Brain Cell Maturity Depends On Experience With Light (medicalnewstoday.com)
MrMz AP Psych Blog 
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I really like this concept! It helps visual people like me to learn, but I think Shinie needs it more than me since I am a linear learner but still a more visual learner.
Unfortunately, I haven’t done anything as I don’t have time….
In some ways you may don’t have time not to. You should use your most efficient way of learning to learn. If you can learn visually in half the time it takes you doing what you’re doing now, then in the long run it will save you time. Or you could use visual techniques only for the things that are the most difficult for you.