Note­-Making & Summarizing

Note Making & Summarization based on a passage of approximately 200-250 words.

MARKING SCHEME

i. Note Making                      : 5 Marks ·       Title:                                                   1 ·       Numbering and indenting:            1 ·       Key/glossary:                                    1 ·       Notes:                                                 2 ii. Summary (50 words)      : 3 Marks ·       Content:                                             2 ·       Expression:                                       1

HOW TO MAKE NOTES

1. Read the passage carefully and thoroughly
2. While reading the passage, underline the key sentences. It will help you in forming the title and sub­titles.
3. Make a rough note of the main points and give them a logical sequence.
4. Use any format you like but it should depend on the theme of the passage.

ALWAYS REMEMBER

1. They should be short and to the point.
2. They should have all the important and relevant information.
3. Information should be systematically divided and sub­divided.
4. Use universally recognized symbols and abbreviations wherever necessary and provide key to the abbreviations.
5. Main title should be short. Avoid a long sentence as a title. It should reflect the spirit of the passage.
6. Notes must be written in points only. They should be listed one under the other and numbered properly.

ALWAYS AVOID

1. Avoid the use of a full and complete sentence.
2. Do not lift portions of the passage to form notes.
3. Do not include irrelevant piece of information in your notes.

USE OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. Capitalized first letter of words : UNO, CBSE, NCERT etc.
2. Arithmetic symbols : > <, kg, km, % etc.
3. Commonly used : sc., govt., Eng., Sans.
4. Invented (First and last few letters of the words with a dot at the end): ppl (people), artfl (artificial)

Note: The students must provide the key to the invented abbreviations. These should be 4 to 6 only. Ex.:

Abbreviations	Word
1.   prblm. 2.  trp'nt. 3.   rqd. 4.  dprsd.	Problem Transparent Required Depressed

PROPER INDENTATION & NUMBERING 

TITLE 1.     ____________________ 1.1  __________________ 1.2 __________________ 1.3 __________________ 2.    ____________________ 2.1   __________________ 2.2  __________________ 2.3  __________________ 3.    ____________________ 3.1   __________________ 3.1.1     ______________ 3.1.2    ______________ 3.1.3    ______________ 3.2  __________________ 4.    ____________________ 4.1    __________________ 4.2     __________________

SUMMARISING (50 Words)

Students are required to write a paragraph using the main points listed in the notes. Complete sentences are used. They are logically and cohesively linked together with the help of suitable linkers. Do not use abbreviations and symbols.

EXAMPLE:

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Effective speaking depends on effective listening. It takes energy to concentrate on hearing and to concentrate on understanding what has been heard. Incompetent listeners fail in a number of ways. First, they may drift. Their attention drifts from what the speaker is saying. Second, they may counter. They find counter-arguments to whatever a speaker may be saying. Third, they compete. Then, they filter. They exclude from their understanding those parts of the message which do not readily fit with their own frame of reference. Finally, they react. They let personal feelings about a speaker or subject override the significance of the message which is being sent.

What can a listener do to be more effective? The first key to effective listening is the art of concentration. If a listener positively wishes to concentrate on receiving a message his chances of success are high. It may need determination. Some speakers are difficult to follow, either because of voice problems or because of the form in which they send a message. There is then a particular need for the determination of a listener to concentrate on what is being said.

Concentration is helped by alertness. Mental alertness is helped by physical alertness. It is not simply physical fitness, but also positioning of the body, the limbs and the head. Some people also find it helpful to their concentration if they hold the head slightly to one side. One useful way for achieving this is intensive notetaking, by trying to capture the critical headings and sub-headings the speaker is referring to.

Note-taking has been recommended as an aid to the listener. It also helps the speaker. It gives him confidence when he sees that listeners are sufficiently interested to take notes; the patterns of eye-contact when the notetaker looks up can be very positive; and the speaker’s timing is aided-he can see when a note-taker is writing hard and can then make effective use of pauses.

Posture too is important. Consider the impact made by a less competent listener who pushes his chair backwards and slouches. An upright posture helps a listener’s concentration. At the same time it is seen by the speaker to be a positive feature amongst his listeners. Effective listening skills have an impact on both the listener and the speaker.

1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary.
2. Write a summary of the above passage in about 50 words.

ANSWER

Title: The Art of Effective Listening NOTES: 1. Eff. speaking depends on: 1.1 eff. listening 1.2 concen. on listening 1.3 concen. on understanding what you hear 2. Reasons why incompetent listeners fail: 2.1 their attention drifts 2.2 they find counter arguments 2.3 they compete & then filter 2.4. they react 3. Ways for a listener to be more eff.: 3.1 concen. on the msg. reed. 3.1.1 mental alertness 3.1.2 phys. alertness-positioning body 3.1.3 helps speaker-gives him confidence encourages the eye contact 4. Impce. of posture 4.1 helps listeners in concen. 4.2 seen by spkr. as a +ve feature among his listeners

List of Abbreviations

SN	Abbreviations	Words
1	Eff.	effective
2	concen.	concentrating
3	msg.	message
4	reed.	received
5	phys.	physical
6	Spkr.	speaker

Summary

Effective speaking and effective listening are two sides of the same coin, both equally important. An incompetent listener will always fail as he drifts away from counters, competes and finally filters what the speaker is saying. To be a good listener concentration is important combined with mental and physical alertness. The importance of other factors like note-taking and posture cannot be ignored. All these are effective listening skills and are viewed as a positive feature by the speaker among his listeners. They have an impact not only on the listener but also on the speaker.

For Practice

Read the passage carefully:

1. Technology has had a significant positive impact on education in recent years. With the proliferation of the internet and the widespread adoption of devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, students and teachers now have access to a wealth of information and resources that were previously unavailable. One major benefit of technology in education is the ability for students to access information and resources anytime, anywhere. With the internet at their fingertips, students can now easily find the answers to their questions and complete assignments from the comfort of their own homes. This flexibility allows students to learn at their own pace and gives them the freedom to choose when and where they learn. Another positive impact of technology on education is the ability to personalize learning. With the use of adaptive learning software, teachers can now create customized lesson plans and assignments based on the individual needs and abilities of their students. This personalized approach to education can help students feel more engaged and motivated to learn, as they are able to focus on the topics and skills that are most relevant to their needs. Technology has also made it easier for teachers to collaborate and share resources with their colleagues. Through the use of online platforms and social media, teachers can connect with each other and share lesson plans, activities, and other teaching materials. This collaboration helps teachers stay up-to-date on the latest teaching techniques and can also save them time and effort when it comes to creating their own lesson plans.

2. In addition to these benefits, technology has also made it possible for students to learn from a wider range of sources. With the internet, students can now access lectures, videos, and other educational materials from some of the world’s top experts and institutions. This allows students to learn from a diverse range of perspectives and experiences, which can broaden their understanding and appreciation of different subjects. Finally, technology has also made it easier for students with disabilities to participate in the classroom. With the use of assistive technologies such as text-to-speech software and electronic magnifiers, students with vision or hearing impairments can now easily access and participate in class discussions and activities. Overall, the positive impact of technology on education is undeniable. From increased flexibility and personalized learning to the ability to collaborate and access a wide range of resources, technology has transformed the way we learn and has opened up new possibilities for students and teachers alike.

3. Before I move on to make my main point, I would like to ask you what you think of the paragraphs that you have read thus far. Are they clear? Do they make a coherent argument? If you answered “yes” then you will be as surprised as I am that it was written entirely by the free online chat program by OpenAI’s GPT-3. I simply typed the command “write a 500 word essay on the positive impact of technology on education”, and it generated those paragraphs automatically in about a minute! I ran the essay through an online free plagiarism check software and it showed the content to be 100% unique! What do such advancements in technology mean for the field of education? For one, it forces us to review the prioritization of our current schooling goals. Should we continue spending a majority of school time on learning mechanical skills like handwriting that are essentially redundant in a world where collaboration and communication are almost entirely tech driven? Should it continue to be learning a vast disconnected set of facts about the world and lower order procedural thinking skills that can be more efficiently and effectively done by a growing market of artificial intelligence programs? The Brookings Universal Centre for Education predicts that a substantial percentage of jobs that schooling is preparing students for today will be redundant by the time they complete school. Our world has been steadily reorganizing from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, but has schooling responded to this change? How then should we best invest the precious and limited time that students have at school? Of course, we should spend some time teaching foundational academics, but this can no longer be treated as an END in the learning journey at school. Instead, such knowledge and skills should be treated as a MEANS or tools that student are trained to utilize and apply towards developing competencies that actually matter for their success in the 21st century, which as per the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell includes “creativity, innovation, empathy, problem solving, team work, strategic thinking, entrepreneurship as well as learning to accept failures as a part of one’s development process”. Instead of teaching students to compete with AI, we should teach them to leverage the capabilities of AI and redirect their cognitive bandwidth more strategically towards the highest order thinking processes and creative problem solving that is only capable by the human mind.

[By Dr Siamack Zahedi, Co-CEO & Director of Education and Research, The Acres Foundation]

[The impact of technology on education: A closer look (indiatimes.com)]February 8, 2023]

Q1. Prepare notes on the passage, give a suitable title, and use abbreviations.
Q2. Write a summary on the passage in about 80 words.

[ANSWERS]