Organize My Information

Organize the information you have found to make your own learning connections.

Now that you found and recorded your quality information, what do you do with it? The first step is to organize the information in your notes. 

• Reread your notes.
• Group together similar topics or ideas.
• Also group information that answers each of your focus questions.

Tip: If your notes are on cards, you can physically sort them into different piles. If you used a computer to keep your notes, copy and paste related notes into separate pages by topic or question, remembering to keep the source information.

• If there are a lot of notes on one topic, the topic may be broken down into sub-topics.

The second step is to create an outline or concept map from your reorganized notes.

• An outline uses labels and indentation to organize notes or ideas while a concept map does that graphically by using circles connected with lines or arrows.
• Identify the order that you want to mention topics or concepts, and then add supporting ideas or details. See this outline example and this concept map example.

Tip: There are several ways to put the topics in order, and some will depend on your assignment requirements.
Examples: cause and effect, chronological order, most importance to least important, or narrow to broad.

For more information about organizing your information, take a look at the eBook, Put It All Together.  

Next => Now that you have organized your information, it is time to draft your project.