Improve Your Note-Taking SkillsLunch and LearnStudent Success

1.Go to Class Prepared

• Use a three-ring binder instead of a spiral or bound book.

• Bring highlighters to class.

• Read assigned material and previous class notes before class.

2. Improve your listening skills

• Start by entering the classroom with a positive attitude.

•Make a conscious effort to pay attention. Concentrate on concentrating.

• Adapt to whatever direction a lecture takes.

3. Develop a note taking method that works for you

• Fine-tune the structure and organization of your notes to increase your note taking speed and comprehension later.

• Start each new lecture on a new page, and date and number each page. The sequence of material is important.

• Write on one side of the paper only.

• Leave blank spaces.

• Make your notes as brief as possible.

• Develop a system of abbreviations and symbols you can use wherever possible.

• Note all unfamiliar vocabulary or concepts you don't understand.

4. Pay close attention to content• Knowing what and how much to write down is sometimes difficult.

Rely on some of the following tips for what to include in your notes.

• Details, facts, or explanations that expand or explain the main points that are mentioned. Don't forget examples.

• Definitions, word for word.

• Enumerations or lists of things that are discussed. 

• Material written on the chalkboard or on a transparency, including drawings or charts. 

• Information that is repeated or spelled out. (University of Texas at Austin)

5. Review and edit your notes• Academic skills centers and other authorities on effective study skills consider

reviewing and editing class notes to be the most important part of note taking and essential to increasing learning capacity.

• Review your notes within 24 hours. 

• Edit for words and phrases that are illegible or don't make sense.

• Edit with a different colored pen to distinguish between what you wrote in class and what you filled in later. 

• Fill in key words and questions in the left-hand column. 

• Note anything you don't understand by underlining or highlighting to remind you to ask the instructor.

• Compare your notes with the textbook reading and fill in important details in the blank spaces you left.

• Consider rewriting or typing up your notes.

Each student should develop his or her own method of taking notes…

• Dash or indented outlining is usually best.

• The information which is most general begins at the left with each more specific group of facts indented with spaces to the right.

• The relationships between the different parts is carried out through indenting.

The Outlining Method

The Outlining Method cont.Method:• Listen and write in points in an organized pattern

based on space indention. • Place major points farthest to the left. • Indent each more specific point to the right.• Levels of importance will be indicated by distance away

from the major point.• Indention can be as simple as or as complex as labeling

the indentations with Roman numerals or decimals. • Markings are not necessary as space relationships will

indicate the major/minor points.

The Outlining Method cont.Example: Extrasensory perception

-Definition: means of perceiving without use of sense organs. -Three kinds:

-telepathy: sending messages -clairvoyance: forecasting the future -psycho kinesis: perceiving events

external to situation -Current status:

-no current research to support or refute-few psychologists say it is possible-door open to future

The Outlining Method cont.

Advantages: Well-organized system if done right. Outlining records content as well as relationships. Reduces editing. Easy to review by turning main points into questions.Disadvantages: Requires more thought in class for accurate

organization. This system may not show relationships by sequence

when needed. This system cannot be used if the lecture is too fast.

The Outlining Method cont.

When to Use: The outline format can be used if the lecture is

presented in outline organization.

• Mapping is a method that uses comprehension/concentration skills.

• Relates each fact or idea to every other fact or idea.

• Mapping is a graphic representation of the content of a lecture.

• Mapping is a method that maximizes active participation, affords immediate knowledge as to its understanding, and emphasizes critical thinking.

The Mapping Method

Example:

The Mapping Method cont.

The Mapping Method cont.Advantages: This format helps you to visually track your lecture

regardless of conditions. It is also easy to edit your notes by adding numbers, marks,

and color coding. Review will call for you to restructure thought processes

which will force you to check understanding. Review by covering lines for memory drill and relationships. Main points can be written on flash or note cards and pieced

together into a table or larger structure at a later date.

Disadvantages: You may not see changes in content from major points to

facts.

The Mapping Method cont.

When to Use:Use when the lecture content is heavy and well-

organized. May also be used effectively when you have a guest

lecturer and have no idea how the lecture is going to be presented.

Method:-Determine the categories to be covered in the lecture. Set up your paper in advance by columns headed by these categories. -As you listen to the lecture, record information (words, phrases, main ideas, etc.) into the appropriate category.

Example:

The Charting Method

The Charting Method cont.Advantages: Helps you track conversation and dialogues where you

would normally be confused and lose out on relevant content.

Reduces amount of writing necessary. Provides easy review mechanism for both memorization of

facts and study of comparisons and relationships.

Disadvantages: Few disadvantages except learning how to use the system

and locating the appropriate categories. You must be able to understand what's happening in the

lecture.

The Charting Method cont.When to Use:If the lecture format is distinct (such as

chronological), you may set up your paper by drawing columns and labeling appropriate headings in a table.

Test will focus on both facts and relationships. Content is heavy and presented fast. You want to reduce the amount of time you spend

editing and reviewing at test time. You want to get an overview of the whole course on

one big paper sequence.

Method:• Write every new thought, fact or topic on a separate line,

numbering as you progress.

Example:• A revolution is any occurrence that affects other aspects

of life, such as economic life, social life, and so forth. Therefore revolutions cause change. (See page 29 to 30 in your text about this.) • Sample Notes: Revolution - occurrence that affects other aspects of life: e.g., econ., social., etc. C.f. text, pp. 29-30

The Sentence Method

The Sentence Method cont.

Advantages: Slightly more organized than the paragraph. Gets more or all of the information.

Disadvantages: Can't determine major/minor points from the

numbered sequence. Difficult to edit without having to rewrite by

clustering points which are related. Difficult to review unless editing cleans up

relationship.

The Sentence Method cont.

When to Use:Use when the lecture is somewhat

organized, but heavy with content which comes fast.

You can see the different points, but you don't know how they fit together.

The instructor tends to present in point fashion, but not in grouping such as "three related points."