Should I write my own notes or should I buy them?

Should I write my own notes or should I buy them?

It can sometimes be challenging to decide whether buying notes is worth the money! So let’s go through some of the pros and cons for both writing your notes vs buying them!

Writing your own notes

PROS & CONS

Writing your own notes is, honestly, one of the best ways to get information into your head! Writing out your own notes and doing your own summaries gets you to slow down, think about what you are writing, and organise it in a way that makes sense to you!
It can also help you identify gaps in your knowledge of topics you don’t feel confident about, and you can flag them for revision. Writing your notes also allows you to understand your handwriting, ways of wording things and any little “slang” or “tips and tricks” you have added along the way!

However, sometimes when writing your notes, you may miss a topic or idea, or write something down incorrectly, which then means, if you rely on your own notes solely for revision, this error or gap in knowledge may translate across. This can be easily avoided if you ensure you cover all learning objectives in your notes and get the information from credible sources such as your teacher or textbook!

Buying notes

PROS & CONS

Some notes which are available for purchase can be a fantastic additional resource for study! There are two types of online notes. Firstly, some companies out there, for example, create books of notes for a variety of subjects such as the sciences or for the VCE English texts. Secondly, there are often notes sold online from ex-year level students who are selling their old notes and resources. In both instances, it is up to you to check the credibility of these resources and the correctness of the information they give you.

For the first instance, check the reviews of the companies which are offering notes and if credible sources have compiled the notes. In the second example, it is important to know what grade a student received and how well they did and to see the notes in person, instead of just buying them blindly.
When buying online resources, it is important to use them as an ADDITIONAL resource, do not rely on them solely. Sometimes the information in the purchased resources can differ slightly from what you have already been taught. However, the information given to you by your teacher and prescribed textbook will always be what you are marked on, so you need to be aware of any differences and always ensure you go by what your school wants.

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