Bright, bold and blindingly colorful, highlighters can turn a page of scribbled notes into an organized rainbow of study material.
Sherray Callistini, a University of Idaho freshman in anthropology, uses a highlighter to bring order to notes after class.
“When I go back home, I read over them again, and then I’ll highlight with a highlighter, the important things,” Callistini said. “And things that stand out and stuff I know will be on the test. When the professor says ‘OK all this will be on the test,’ and I’ll be sure and put a star by it.”
When she studies, Callistini said using highlighters helps her remember important pieces of information.
“I don’t waste time with that other stuff (that isn’t highlighted),” Callistini said. “Like studying things that probably won’t be on the test. So it just helps with time management.”
Callistini said it doesn’t take her very long to go through her notes. The little time taken after class saves a lot of time studying, she said.
“So that you’re not reading through all your notes, searching for a certain answer or something,” Callistini said. “When you highlight your stuff, you look at a page, and boom–it sticks out.”
Some people learn best from hands-on experience, others prefer being taught directly and still others prefer the visual stimulation of reading instructions or seeing pictures in a textbook. Sometimes an aural style is best-suited for those who employ musical and rhythmic elements in their studies.
June Clevy, tutoring and college success program specialist, said highlighters work best for visual learners.
“The main thing to remember is everyone’s different,” Clevy said. “Some students are very visual, and using different colored highlighters even on their own notes will help them break down a lesson plan … to make it more accessible to their learning style.”
Clevy said the Tutoring Center has assessments students can take to determine what learning style best suits their needs.
Highlighting can be detrimental if students don’t put any thought into what is highlighted, she said.
“Then, every time they come through, they only look at those (notes that are highlighted) and they’re actually hurting themselves,” Clevy said. “So again, it really depends on the student and how they’re using them.”
Clevy said textbooks often contain clues to what is important in the chapter.
“Most textbooks will include a ‘what you should know,’ or a review at the back of the chapter,” Clevy said. “Definitions that are in there, it’s usually bolded or italicized in the text. But if it’s not, it’s a good thing to go back through and highlight those.”
Color coding the highlights can be helpful too, she said.
“If it’s a social science class, and you’re talking about pros and cons, it might be nice to break things up that way,” Clevy said. “If you’re talking about processes and steps, you might make a main process one color, and steps that go with that another one, so that you can tell where the breaks are.”
Books for higher level classes are often original documents or non-textbook books.
“I wouldn’t worry so much about a highlighter,” Clevy said. “I would worry more about making your notes from your reading — that’s something that a lot of students don’t do.”
Good notes with page numbers will keep the student from pouring over hundreds of pages to write a paper or study for a test, Clevy said.
Graduate student in adult learning and leadership Rose Graham uses highlighters to place emphasis on the points her professor says will be on the exams.
“What was the most important thing that stuck in my head,” Graham said. “I go back and look for it, and highlight what I think is the most important. Sometimes, if it’s a group project, I go over it with the group to get different points of view.”
Clevy said when students know what style works best for them, they can take any instructor’s teaching style and make it work.
“If they’re a visual person, they can take things and diagram it out,” Clevy said. “If they’re a very verbal person, they can write things out in their own words. Or they can get in a group and discuss it with somebody else, even if the teacher doesn’t provide that kind of feedback.”
Joanna Wilson can be reached at [email protected]
CUTLINE: hayden crosby | rawr
**Photos are in the web folder, “1highlighters”