8/8/2023 0 Comments Book annotation color code![]() ![]() Given that we’re taught to open paragraphs with a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the entire paragraph, often I highlight that one. I use the thick yellow highlighter to note the most important ideas in a paragraph. I use “erasable highlighters” so that I can erase when I have made a mistake. Then, as I read the article, I bring 3-4 different types of highlighters: thick yellow for main ideas, then 3 slim ones: pink, blue and green. I search for the main ideas that the author purports to present in the paper. I read the abstract, the introduction and the conclusion. Well, here’s a version of how I read, highlight and summarize my own thinking (give or take). In fact, much of what I do now is a refined version of what my own PhD advisor, or professors, or even colleagues did, coupled with my own obsessive tendencies to organize everything. But I find that most of this knowledge seems to be passed on by oral tradition (from professor to student “this is how I did my studying” or from parent, sibling or friend to child, sibling or friend). Trust me when I say that this is a topic that is often searched for on the internet ( look at the results of this Google search!). Some of my students ask why I use pink, yellow, green and blue highlighter. I figured I would post how I highlight (my own method) and perhaps some of them might find it useful for their own studying. ![]() This week, I was trying to help my undergraduate students learn how to summarize journal articles and book chapters for their literature reviews and how to write reflective memos (most of my students are in 3rd and 4th year, so they are already in the process of writing the honors thesis/capstone paper). Highlighting is one of the ways in which I help myself learn the material I read, and I do it by hand rather than on the screen (many PDF-handling tools have highlighting features, but I prefer the actual physical thing). One of the skills that needs to be in undergraduate and graduate students’ portfolios (and even post-PhD folks) is the ability to read, analyze, synthesize and then produce summaries of the research work we do. ![]()
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