Studying effectively is crucial for academic success. An important part of active studying is knowing what to highlight in your notes and textbooks. Highlighting strategically helps emphasize key concepts, terms, dates and more. It also makes reviewing easier by drawing your eye to the most important information. Here’s a look at what you should highlight when studying.
Highlighting is a common technique used when studying. It involves using a highlighter pen or marker to mark important words, phrases, or passages in a textbook or notes. Highlighting makes these key pieces of information stand out visually on the page. This draws your eye when reviewing and helps reinforce the most important concepts.
However, highlighting can be counterproductive if done indiscriminately. Some students make the mistake of highlighting too much text when studying. This over-highlighting defeats the purpose of making key information stand out. It also takes up more time without adding much benefit. The key is to be selective and strategic with what you highlight.
Highlight Key Terms
One of the most basic things to highlight is key terms. These are vocabulary words that are relevant to the subject matter. For example, in a history textbook you would highlight words like “Manifest Destiny” or “Trench Warfare.” Make sure you understand any terms you highlight. Consider making a glossary or flashcards of the most important terms.
Highlighting key terms serves a dual purpose. First, it emphasizes important vocabulary relevant to the topic. Second, when you revisit notes or textbook pages, these terms stand out visually to reinforce your learning. Be on the lookout for bolded, italicized or underlined terms as clues of words to highlight.
Highlight Definitions
Along with key terms, also highlight their definitions. Oftentimes textbooks or study guides will provide definitions for important concepts or vocabulary. You should highlight the term itself and its corresponding definition. For example, for the term “Photosynthesis” you would highlight its definition: “The process by which plants convert sunlight into energy.”
Having the terms and definitions marked makes it easy to review them together. You can test your knowledge by covering the definition and trying to recall it based on the highlighted term. Definitions also provide context clues to help better understand key terms.
Highlight Dates
For history classes, highlighting important dates is crucial. Key dates represent seminal events and turning points in history. For example, in a U.S. History course, dates like 1776, 1898 and 1929 should be highlighted. These correspond to the American Revolution, Spanish American War and Stock Market Crash respectively.
Having these dates highlighted provides an important timeline of key historical events. When reviewing, your eye will be drawn to these dates as anchors to contextualize the historical information. Consider making a chronological list of highlighted dates for easy referencing.
Highlight Causes and Effects
For understanding historical events, societal shifts, scientific phenomena and more, highlighting causes and effects is helpful. Textbooks often explain key events in terms of their catalysts and consequences. Consider the example:
The widespread adoption of the automobile in the early 20th century was caused by mass production techniques like the assembly line. This resulted in effects such as urban sprawl, a highway system and changes in family vacations.
Here you would highlight “mass production techniques like the assembly line” as the cause. The effects that would be highlighted are “urban sprawl, a highway system and changes in family vacations.” Having the causes and effects marked makes the connections clear for studying and review.
Highlight Names
When learning about important figures in history, business, science or any field, their names should be highlighted. For example, names like Marie Curie, Steve Jobs and Abraham Lincoln are important to highlight. This applies for important place names and company names as well.
Highlighting names makes it easy to visually pick them out when reviewing notes. It also reinforces awareness of key figures relevant to the subject matter. Consider making a list of highlighted names for reference if needed.
Highlight Theories, Laws, Principles
Content heavy in scientific concepts, processes or natural phenomena should have key theories, laws and principles highlighted. For physics, this could be Newton’s Laws of Motion. For biology, Darwin’s theory of natural selection. These foundational concepts are pivotal for understanding the subject matter.
When highlighted, the eye is drawn to these theories and principles during review. This helps reinforce scientific understanding and gives easy reference points when refreshing knowledge. Make sure to highlight explanatory details for robust comprehension.
Highlight Key Quotes
Relevant quotes from prominent figures or key texts are often provided in textbooks and primary sources. These quotes should be highlighted for reference and memorization. For example, in American History a key quote would be:
“Give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry, 1775
Having key quotes highlighted aids retention and makes them easy to pick out when reviewing material. Jotting these quotes down separately is also beneficial for memorizing.
Highlight Key Examples
Relevant examples that illustrate concepts, processes or events should be highlighted as well. For instance, in a chapter about imperialism, an example like the Scramble for Africa would be highlighted. Or in a physics chapter about friction, an example highlighting tires on a gravel vs. paved road would be marked.
Spotlighting explanatory examples makes the material more concrete. It also breaks up dense text and draws your eye to relevant applications of concepts. Making notes on highlighted examples can help summarize key takeaways.
Highlight Styles Vary
There are no hardset rules for color-coding a textbook or notes. Some people use the same color highlighter for everything. Others color coordinate based on concept types, e.g. yellow for dates, green for people, orange for key terms.
Use whatever colors and style suit you best. Just be consistent and cognizant that over-highlighting diminishes effectiveness. Limit highlighting to the most essential content to balance readability. Experiment to find your optimal approach.
Prioritize Portable Notes
Be wary of over-highlighting textbooks that must be returned. Portable supplementary notes that you can freely mark up are better. Use these to highlight key concepts, examples, charts, diagrams and other high-yield information.
Having your own set of thoroughly highlighted notes is invaluable for efficient studying. They act as a portable and practical study aid you can take anywhere. Use textbooks judiciously for highlighting given they are not yours to keep.
Highlighting Tips
Here are some useful tips for effective highlighting while studying:
- Use fluorescent highlighters that make marked content clearly visible.
- Highlight after reading a complete section to identify key points.
- Limit highlights to 15-20% of text to avoid over-marking.
- Review highlighted content and take summary notes or make flashcards.
- Highlight selectively in textbooks you must return.
- Use digital highlighters in e-books or PDFs for easy editing.
- Highlight main ideas and supporting details relevant to course learning goals.
Sample Highlighted Text
Here is an example passage with key content highlighted and annotations:
This shows selective highlighting of relevant names, dates, events and details. Notes are also added for quick reference and review.
Use Highlighting Strategically
Highlighting is an effective studying technique when used properly. Be selective with what you highlight based on course priorities and your own study needs. Avoid dense sections of highlighted text that are counterproductive. Instead, use highlighting as a tactical tool to emphasize key concepts, terms, dates, people, events and examples. This will aid retention and streamline your study process by focusing attention on crucial material.
Conclusion
Highlighting is more than just color-coding your textbooks. It requires strategy to determine what information to highlight for optimal effectiveness. Focus on highlighting key terms and vocabulary, definitions, important dates and names, theories and laws, relevant quotes and explanatory examples. Be consistent but selective in what you highlight to balance readability with emphasizing crucial content. Use companion notes and flashcards with highlighted sections for review. This will help information stick and boost comprehension of highlighted material. Wield highlighting skillfully as part of an overall approach to active studying for success.
