When deciding which notes I was going to choose for this assignment I really only had the choice between calculus and chemistry. I ended up choosing calculus because I knew I could have more fun with the designs. The page of notes I chose was based on continuous functions and I drew pictures of the types of continuous functions in styles that would help me to remember which kinds of functions have continuity. I decided to make the sketch with watercolors as well because I needed an excuse to use them. For trig functions I drew a sketch of a devil with a name tag that reads: sin. It’s cheesy but I like it. For polynomial functions, I have a sketch of a polygamous relationship. The root function sketch is self explanatory, so I won’t even get into it. For inverse functions I thought that having the Spider-Man symbol next to the Venom symbol would be a good example since they are foils of each other. Finally, for rational functions I thought that a quick sketch of President Carter himself would be appropriate considering that one particular line in his speech.
I thought that drawing out my notes using the method of visual note taking was very interesting and unfamiliar. Normally when I take notes I just scribble down information and review it later. Doing this exercise, however, forced me to go over all the information I recorded in class and choose the most important parts to rewrite. I feel like this actually helped me retain the information more because: 1. I had to review the information to do this Sunday sketch and 2. I rewrote it which made me remember the information even more than I had before. https://eng181f19.davidmorgen.org/assignments/sketches/sketch-3-visual-note-taking/
Going into this assignment I honestly had no idea how to approach this. I like to write down step for step in words my notes for my classes, I thought immediately that drawing would just distract me from the ultimate goal of the class topic but it actually did not. I am not the biggest fan of my first year seminar because the topic does not really spark my interest. But I do love learning and talking about women. So these pair of notes was what I thought about just to still be interested in something I illustrated for this weeks Sunday sketch. This assignment actually made me become even more interested in this topic of class because it made it look more fun than it sounds on paper. I also like to see a lot of colors in my notes and for this class I do not have to take that many notes so they’re never really in color, this allowed me to add that element to my notes. Lastly, the assignment made the information simpler then how it sounds in the book. I feel like this way, in certain circumstances, is a more approachable way to engage yourself in your classes and make it fun and cute.
When first thinking about this assignment, I struggled with the idea of how to turn simple notes into a visual piece of work. I couldn’t see how I could turn my boring, straightforward notes into art. However, I tried my best to do that, and I think it turned out pretty well. I was looking over my math notes from calculus 110 and tried to visualize them in a different way. I decided that the best way to do this would be to try and highlight the most important concepts and notes from that day of class. I also thought that the best way to make visual notes would be to add a lot of color and make it really “pop”. For example, the graphs of sin and cosine are crucial in calculus and that’s why they are highlighted in different colors and in the center of my work. Towards the end of my drawing, once it all came together, I was really able to see the point of this exercise. As a visual learner, I was able to better remember important formulas, rules, and concepts through this. Its definitly something I would do again in the future to help myself prepare for a test or quiz.
Once I knew what this week’s assignment was, I knew immediately I was going to draw my Astrobiology notes. It almost seems like too easy and cliche of an answer, but I genuinely did not fully understand what was going on in Astrobiology (in terms of types of planet migration and different theories on how solar systems work) until I sat myself down and drew it out. Part of that was due to the fact that I had to actually look up stuff I was confused about. Once I had to plan out the drawing I put a lot more effort into making sure I had an accurate understanding of what I needed to draw. I couldn’t just copy down what was on the board and not think about it until it was time for the test. I had to actually apply my knowledge of the material.
Once I finished it I realized that there was a lot of empty space. I still do not feel like I used the paper to its fullest. I didn’t want to crowd things, but, especially in the top right corner, now that I’m looking at the whole thing it feels very spaced out.
When I read this assignment the first class that came to mind to practice this style of note-taking was my chemistry class. Chemistry is the basis for any science subject and so I felt inclined to start my first year with a Chemistry class. Even though I struggle to understand the concepts we learn in class this visual approach to my notes helped me to organize and visualize how concepts work together to solve a chemistry problem. I learned through drawing all of my notes that it helped me gain a better grasp of what it is my professor was trying to explain to us in words. Even though the drawing process was time consuming, I believe that if I can just take a moment after class to visualize and analyze how everything I learned in lecture is intertwined, I will have an easier time with recalling information.
I am enrolled in a Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, and these visual notes are not from that class. These notes are actually from the discussion section of my ANT 202 class, also known as Concepts and Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Last Wednesday, all I talked about during my first and last period of the day was race, gender, sex, and everything inbetween. My notes from the discussion period were clear and concise, making them the perfect pick for my visual note taking sketch assignment. I am a natural doodler. Look through my notebooks and you’ll see doodles covering all the margins. When I doodle I listen – the constant movement of my pencil keeps me focused. That being said, I have never drawn anything productive towards the class, it is normally clothing or miscellaneous objects. I am enrolled in a Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, and these visual notes are not from that class. These notes are actually from the discussion section of my ANT 202 class, also known as Concepts and Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Last Wednesday, all I talked about during my first and last period of the day was race, gender, sex, and everything in-between. My notes from the discussion period were clear and concise, making them the perfect pick for my visual note-taking sketch assignment. I am a natural doodler. Look through my notebooks and you’ll see doodles covering all the margins. When I doodle I listen – the constant movement of my pencil keeps me focused. That being said, I have never drawn anything productive towards the class, it is normally clothing or miscellaneous objects.
I was nervous to properly portray my notes visually, but once I let go of my Giulia Forsyth-style expectations, the ideas started to flow. Race, gender, and sex were all presented as different categories, race intersects with both gender and sex, and the difference between gender and sex was argued to be negligible (Judith Butler). I wanted to show those intersections and lack of boundaries by creating walls and breaking them. Within each region, I attempted to use as little words as possible and enjoyed playing with color to portray deeper ideas. While I am pleased with the outcome, I know for the future that I would prefer it if my visual notes were connected by a greater theme like a color scheme or a font.
CS 170 – Intro to Computer Science. Expressing a dry subject in images was unconventional to me. I believe Computer Science and advanced coding concepts is substantially more complex to be able to be expressed in images. In my Sunday sketch, I decided to show the basic concept of the Java Virtual Machine.
I drew a computer with a large monitor begging to be fed with codes adding a comedic side to my sketch, but I did find it taxing, explaining visually further concepts of coding due to the level of complexity involved, though, learning visually did help me in understanding the basic concept of converting high-level languages to binary code. I found out that thinking visually helps in certain parts or subjects but not in problem solving or mathematical concepts. I found the process of constructing my own Sunday sketch difficult as, in my opinion, Comp Sci doesn’t mesh well with visual thinking even in graphics.
Visual Note for Strategic Management: Porter’s Five Forces
It is the hardest assignment so far in this course. Different from the last sketch in which I struggled with coming up an idea, this time I found the perfect topic – Porter’s Five Forces – as soon as I learned it in the Strategic Management class. Developed by Dr. Porter at Harvard Business School, Porter’s Five Forces is a framework widely utilized to examine the industry and help people understand the market forces that shape the landscape. I naturally took a visual approach to learn the concept and thought Porter’s Five Forces would be a great topic for this visual note-taking assignment.
I employed an analogy to better illustrate the concept. The beauty stands for a customer demanding the best product in the market, representing the power of customers. Knights fighting for the love of the beauty stand for companies fighting for the customer’s money, representing the competition in the industry. The blacksmith stands for a supplier selling armors and weapons to the knights, representing the power of suppliers. The knight away from the fight stands for a potential new competitor, representing the potential of new entrants. Finally, the rich man persuading the beauty to give a higher priority to money than physical strength stands for substitutes that can also meet the customers’ needs, representing the threat of substitutes. Altogether, these five forces determine the profitability and future of an industry.
The hardest part is to put my thoughts on paper because I am not artistic at all. I had not done any drawings since high school, and this was my first time drawing on an iPad, even though I bought my Apple Pencil a long time ago. At first, I just wanted to use some symbols and icons and complete the assignment. However, after seeing Sulaiman’s and Joyce’s works, I decided to push myself and actually draw something. It was very frustrating at the beginning as I had no sense of scale and curvature and failed several times. Then I decided to google some examples and learned from them. At last, I managed to depict my own characters and complete my visual note for Porter’s Five Forces.
My visual notes represent information from my MATH 111 class on the basics of mathematical functions. Making these visual notes were pretty interesting as I normally don’t pay too much attention to my organization while taking regular notes yet I found myself challenged to organize each section, image, or idea to a location on the paper where it made sense and wasn’t too difficult to understand. I also found making these notes to be very laid-back and even somewhat enjoyable as I wasn’t restricted in any manner. I tend to think about things in portions/sections, and this shows in my visual notes as different things are sectioned away or together. In my opinion, I think that these visual notes are a great way to review information that you already somewhat know as images tend to stick better than text yet sometimes it is hard to convey all the necessary information in images.
