Reference signals in history lessons. Basic notes for history lessons Basic notes for history maps

In the process of learning any knowledge and skills, we often have to write down new information so that we can later reproduce it again. Because it is difficult or even unnecessary to write down everything, it is important to be able to summarize the information received in the form of a note. In this article you will learn how to take notes correctly using the example of taking notes in history lessons. Here we will discuss such concepts as reference notes, speed note-taking, shorthand, Cornell method and other useful ways of compact presentation and visualization of information.

What is a synopsis?

Word " abstract"came to us from the German language (der Konspekt); in German it was borrowed from Latin (conspectus), in which it had the meaning “review, outline, appearance, appearance.” In turn, this noun in Latin was formed by combining the prefix con- and the verb specio (to look, look). Thus, the original meaning of the word “note” is a brief recording or transcription of something (it does not necessarily have to be a lecture or lesson summary - there are notes of books and articles; in the natural sciences, verbal information is usually accompanied by visualized formulas and algorithms, which also need to be translated into graphic or text information). In this meaning, concepts such as “compendium” (a condensed summary of the sum of the main provisions of a science) and “abstract” (a summary of the contents of an article or book) are close to the word “compendium”.

However, a summary is not just a word-for-word transmission of material perceived from an external source. It is also an act of creative comprehension of what is heard and seen, the expression of one’s own thoughts on paper, the moment of forming doubts and questions (Kodzhaspirova G.M., Kodzhaspirov A.Yu. Interdisciplinary Dictionary of Pedagogy. M., 2005. P. 136-137).

A “creative” note is not only copying thoughts from a book by an authoritative scientist or a lecture by a teacher; this is always a reflection on information, accompanied by the development by the author of a summary of a complex system of mnemonic signs that is often understandable only to himself (underlining; highlighting text in different colors; constructing tables and logical chains based on available information). From the methods of taking notes and presenting material in the form of theses, many new genres of scientific research were born - from commentaries on the books of the Holy Scriptures and legal codes of the times of the Roman emperors in the Middle Ages to the publication today of courses of lectures by outstanding university professors (including posthumously, by their students).

Differences between note-taking and shorthand

Many students often wonder: if both note-taking and shorthand can restore the original meaning of the material presented, what is the fundamental difference between them? Isn't a note a special case of a shorthand record made using not universal notations, but a system of signs unique to a particular person?

The answers to these questions are provided to us by the work of St. Petersburg professor E.V. Minko (Methods and techniques of accelerated note-taking and reading: Educational and methodological manual. St. Petersburg, 2001. P. 20-25). Firstly, as already mentioned, note-taking reveals the purely individual characteristics of an individual; Often even his fellow students are not able to “decipher” the information contained in the notes. This situation is unacceptable for a stenographer: when learning this specialty, it is mandatory to memorize a certain set of universal symbols and signs. Secondly, the outline should be easy to “read”: a person should always be able to return to what has already been written and correct subsequent text. This is precisely why the “Cornell Note-Taking Method” is valuable, which we will discuss later. Thirdly, a summary of a lesson, lecture, visual information is not a copy of what was seen and heard, not a literal rendering of the text, but a transposition of its meaning.

“Rational” (speed) note-taking

"The Cornell Note-Taking Method"

This type of note-taking is called the Cornell note-taking system after the university where Professor Walter Pock, the author of this method, worked (Pauk W. How to study in College. Boston, 1962). It is rightfully considered one of the most common among students, and is equally well suited for taking notes in both natural sciences and humanities.

The most important distinctive property of this method is the division of the space of a vertically oriented sheet into three fields: two fields are separated by a solid line vertically (in a ratio of approximately 1:3); At the bottom of the page it is necessary to leave an undivided space about 7 cm wide. The main part when taking notes is the right side of the sheet, where the main thoughts presented by the lecturer/teacher during the lesson are written down. Moreover, in the process of transferring verbal information onto paper, it is important to consistently move from writing down the main idea to facts and examples that should explain it.

Immediately after the end of the lecture, you can begin reflecting on the material displayed on the right side. To do this, you need to select and enter in the left field the maximum number of words or short remarks - questions that will illustrate the main content of the lecture contained in the text from the right field.

In the field at the bottom of the sheet, you must enter (after filling out the two fields above it) a detailed description of the main idea of ​​the entire lesson (i.e. its dominant, in the language of foreign teachers - summaries), note its peculiarity in comparison with other lessons. This will allow, after a long time, to more vividly reproduce in memory the content of the lesson as a whole. In addition, it is useful to allocate 10-20 minutes a day to repeat the basic facts and patterns displayed in the lesson notes recently: this will prevent them from being quickly forgotten, analyze and resolve doubts that arise during the lesson itself.

Schematic plan

In part, Cornell notes are reminiscent of the note-taking method of compiling schematic plan. However, the fundamental difference between the first type of recording material and the second is that in a schematic plan, questions are first written down, to which during the study of the material it is necessary to give a short answer (consisting of 2-3 logically related sentences). Thus, if you combine the principles of filling out a schematic plan and the form for Cornell notes, you will notice that the schematic plan requires filling out the left field first, followed by the right one (i.e., the order of filling is the opposite of the “Cornell method” note-taking").

In such notes, which are written under dictation, mastery of the technique of speed writing and “condensing” material in writing is of particular importance. For example, many people use such a technique as eliminating vowels and replacing some words with conventional signs. In historical science, conjunctions, words meaning cause-and-effect relationships are especially often replaced, for example, “depends on...”, “mutually depends” (→, ↔), “therefore” (=>), “A is the cause of B” (A →B). Ligatures are also used, for example, NB (nota bene – Latin “remember well”). Colored markers, pens, and pencils are often used to highlight especially important thoughts. Some students and even schoolchildren who know foreign languages ​​well can use abbreviated versions of foreign words (for example, def. from to defend instead of “protect”, “defend”; corr. from to correct instead of “correct”, “correct”). Some lessons and lectures, where the explanation of cause and effect relationships prevails over the event history (in particular, this applies to any topics that explain the structure and composition of government bodies, their functions), sometimes when written down take the form of a diagram with one or more key concepts in the center, from which there are branches to more specific terms or phenomena. An example is presented at rice. 1.

Figure 1. Example of Cornell notes

Experience in natural sciences. Supporting notes

The reference summary as a method of memorizing and reflecting material was developed in the 80s. last century Donetsk teacher of mathematics and physics V.F. Shatalov (see, for example, his books: Reference signals in physics for grade 6. Kyiv, 1978. 79 pp.; Reference notes on kinematics and dynamics. From work experience. Book for teachers. M., 1989. 142 pp.; Geometry in faces. M., 2006. 23 p.). Nowadays, in school lessons in the humanities (especially in history lessons), the method of compiling supporting notes is becoming increasingly recognized. For example, recently the publication of reference notes for individual lessons and entire educational blocks in history and social studies has intensified (Stepanishchev A.T. Reference notes for the history of Russia. 6-11 grades. M., 2001. 128 p.). The popularity of this type of note-taking is explained quite simply: partly by the unusual, even playful form of presenting the material, partly by the poor memorability of individual events and dates. Thus, the supporting summary is an attempt to analyze in the most imaginative, visualized form the cause and effect relationships between various events, statements and actions of historical figures. In addition, the lesson material in the supporting notes is presented as whole blocks of topics. If we keep in mind history and social science, then the thematic and temporal coverage of the material varies depending on its specifics (for example, the time of coverage - from several months to several centuries).

Each topic (block - topic) is encrypted in the supporting outline into a system of signs - supports that make up a mini - block. Based on these signs, often unified, an individual note can be “deciphered” by other people. The optimal number of mini-blocks for presenting an entire block-topic is considered to be 8-10.

In addition, the system of supporting notes allows the teacher to implement an individual approach to teaching: if there are students of different educational levels in the class, compiling such notes allows you to regulate the pace of studying block topics and individual subtopics, make the learning process more understandable and interesting, and introduce an element of creativity into it (when students compile their own system of signs - supports and entire supporting notes at home).

The main supports in such a summary are symbolic - verbal (letters, syllables, signs of conjunction / disjunction, indicators of logical connection: →, ↔, sign of cause-and-effect relationship - =>, similarities - ~, etc.), pictorial (pictographic) and conventional graphic (fragments of plans, terrain diagrams with symbols) signs. An example of compiling a background summary on Russian history is presented at rice. 2. It remains to add that the reference summary can be used as an effective means of checking the material covered (then the basis for it is written and drawn at home, and in a lesson or lecture, students reproduce diagrams and logical chains learned at home from memory and consolidate this material by repeatedly drawing them on a piece of paper), and as a means of developing new knowledge, skills and abilities (i.e. when recording a new topic or subtopic presented by the teacher).

Figure 2. Background notes on history. Topic: “Eastern Slavs in the first half of the 1st millennium AD.” (compiled by S.V. Selemenev.)

Notes as a form of independent preparation for a report at a conference or seminar

Outline:

This type of note-taking is no less widely used in modern pedagogy; This is especially often true for the disciplines of the humanities. To compile such a summary, you need to carry out certain preliminary preparations: before the lecture, you need to write a lesson plan on several sheets of paper, highlighting sections, questions and problems in the presented material with special signs or numbers. Each of these headings can be expanded during the recording process behind the lecturer and supplemented with coherent text illustrating the general position. From the above, it should be concluded that ideally, the outline should be as close as possible to the text that the lecturer reads at the pulpit; in the description of this note-taking method one can find many similarities with the Cornell method.

However, the plan-note, as experts in didactics and pedagogy note, has a great advantage over the reference and Cornell notes. Since all the headings of topics and individual sections, as well as a certain amount of factual material, are prepared in advance, it is possible to write them down without abbreviations and symbols. This increases the likelihood of correct and quick decoding of the notes by other students or students.

The latter circumstance is the reason that when preparing for reports at school and seminars at the university, the outline shell of the outline is often used by speakers as the basis for their own message. Firstly, in such a structure it is quite easy to make various kinds of notes. Secondly, it is enough to simply insert the necessary quotes and references to sources into the text of the summary, which is especially important in historical science. If the material is properly organized, they will “stand” directly opposite the corresponding theses. Our example of the basis for a plan - a summary on the topic “The First World War 1914-1918.” we presented at rice. 3.

Figure 3. Shell plan - outline

▫ The state gives plots with burnt forest to logging companies for pennies, and they already sell it at the normal market price. The fact is that during a fire only the bark of the tree burns, but not the trunk - the trunk that goes for sale remains intact. A petition has appeared on the Change.org portal (https://goo.gl/BUIq6W) that it is necessary to ban the sale of burnt timber at prices below market prices, since every year the forest is set on fire for the purpose of further redemption at a low price. People are suffocating, the environment is suffering, and huge amounts of money from the budget are being spent on extinguishing fires. But the problem can be solved - there is already a precedent: as soon as special decrees make prices for burnt wood no lower than for regular wood, for some reason new fires do not occur. Riddle... It becomes unprofitable to burn the forest, because it will not be possible to buy it for next to nothing. But such decrees are canceled as illegal, the forest continues to burn more and more every year, we and our children are increasingly suffocating. Fires can cover up traces of illegal logging, but this is still not the main reason, since illegal logging is more dangerous than simply setting a forest on fire - with arson, the risk that you will be noticed a thousand times less (and judging by the fact that for many years no one noticed, there is no risk at all). This does not happen for the first or second year, but continues for many years. And judging by the growing volumes of burning forests, no one is going to slow down. According to data from space images, 750 thousand hectares of forest are burning in the Irkutsk region alone (according to Greenpeace, official data is underestimated by 770 times https://goo.gl/sDXEm4). After cutting down and selling 1 hectare of forest, the logging company will receive about a million rubles! Now try multiplying 750 thousand hectares by one million rubles to find out the potential profit (750,000 by 1000,000 = 750,000,000,000 rubles)... It’s good if the calculator doesn’t break... Does it seem like an accident now that no one is in a hurry to put out the forest? (https://ok.ru/profile/570734678960/statuses/70129371985328)
▫ Ir, they redid all the textbooks, now the children can’t remember anything. Peryshkin wrote physics, but if in 58 Peryshkin wrote: A physical quantity can ALWAYS be measured. To measure a quantity means to compare it with a homogeneous quantity taken as a unit of MEASUREMENT. This was the rule in bold. And in 2019, Peryshkin seems to exist, but it’s as if he’s not there. Now someone took the first phrase out of the rule and removed the word ALWAYS. Next comes in bold: To measure a quantity means to compare it with a homogeneous quantity taken as a unit. And the word Measurements was thrown out. Everything, the whole meaning and visualization of the rule is lost. Children no longer understand what a HOMOGENEOUS quantity is. Because the Start and End rules have been changed. Just TWO words and the wrong font and the rule is lost. Like this. Modern improvers have done such a thing that Pischa is still quite good. It’s also fortunate that there are Origins, there is something to compare their Federal State Educational Standards with. We assembled and disassembled the machine and there were some extra bolts left...

The idea of ​​knowledge coding. The search for new teaching methods has recently been called innovation, and its authors are called innovative teachers. Creatively working teachers offer their techniques and history teaching systems. Their lessons reflect the individual characteristics and capabilities of the teacher and largely depend on the individual himself. Preparing and conducting such lessons requires a lot of effort, energy, and time.

Therefore, before taking on a new job, you should weigh your strengths and capabilities and study your experience in a specific training system. Changing the stages of a lesson, the sequence of teaching units, and forms of work may not give the result that innovative teachers receive. This work provides only fragments of the work of creative teachers, a generalization of their experience, and, above all, with supporting notes on knowledge coding.

The idea of ​​knowledge coding arose back in the 60s. in a foreign school and was reflected in school textbooks. At the end of sections of textbooks on natural and mathematical disciplines, diagrams were placed that reflected the content of the material studied. Then schemes of the same nature appeared in methodological textbooks on history. The content of educational topics was reflected in them in the form of visual images and conventional symbols. In textbooks, at the end of sections, there is a “blackboard view” with diagrams, drawings and notes, which the teacher must recreate when explaining. This is how the idea of ​​learning based on compact reference signals gradually develops.

Rich associations are evoked in students by conventional images - symbols of historical events and phenomena. A symbol is an external phenomenon that, conditionally, through the visual image contained in it, evokes in us the thought of a certain, often very significant and abstract content.” Historical phenomena, depicted in schematic manuals in the form of conventional signs and symbols, serve as a support for the student in his mental activity. Signs seem to record mental images. As research shows, observations of a subject or phenomenon leave in the students’ memory on average 90% of what they perceive.

As you know, a well-thought-out graphical diagram makes it possible to break a complex issue into several detailed points, depict them in a conditional form, in order to concentrate the attention of listeners on the essence of the problem, and help to cover all the highlighted points in their entirety. Visual support significantly helps students in mastering basic knowledge. The main facts in the form of reference signals are arranged in blocks, in which the most important things are highlighted. Such a supporting summary is a conventional graphic symbolic image of educational material, which allows you to pay attention to the logic of its presentation, to the main facts and easily remember them.

Efimova Polina Vladimirovna