Digital Exam RC Notations

endless_summer17

Hi! I am currently going through the CC and am practicing RC.
After watching J.Y.'s videos, I realized that I need a systematic notation method. However, with the exam going digital I am not sure how it's best to go about this?

What strategies are others using/how they are changing for the digital exam? What consistent phrasing (i.e. hypothesis, other person's argument) are you using for your skeleton low-res sketch? What are you choosing to highlight with your stylus?

I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts

DanielMacTavish

While I'm not at peak performance with RC, ironically, I've seen significant improvement in this section after making the transition from taking all my PTs on paper to the digital format. I used to be in the -13ish range (pretty bad, I know) to -6 to -4ish. I can't give you a definitive reason why, and maybe its relative to each person, but here is what I do more often now given the resources provided in digital format:

-In "Passage A" and "Passage B" scenarios, use the same colored highlighter for similar information in both Passage A and Passage B, if any. Conversely, use different color highlighters for differences in opinion or notating some form of counter-example to something read in the "opposing" paragraph (keeping in mind the authors are NEVER directly addressing or opposing the other authors viewpoint, they don't know the other exists). This also applies to passages where the same central theme is present throughout the body of the text. Highlight any similar viewpoints throughout.

-Underline conclusions only. At least in my brain, when I see something underlined, it's symbolic for emphasis of a certain conclusion or idea. Anything that summarizes previously stated premises or fact sets.

-One alternative to not being able to free-hand write in the margins might not seem appealing, but I've actually found useful is to actively summarize what was just read and "short-term memorize" it before moving on to the next paragraph. Maybe this is counterproductive to what you're looking for, but my mentality is if I can't rephrase in my own words what I just read and like you mentioned, "hypothesize" about where the author may be going, that means I don't fully understand it - and I wouldn't recommend moving on to new information without knowing first what you may have to compare that new information against. Essentially, you can't extrapolate further or make comparisons to something you haven't fully grasped.

My method on paper tests never involved super-duty notating in the first place, so that may be why I prefer the ways I do. But hope this helped!

endless_summer17

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences; I appreciate it!