Study Skills 101: Taking Great Notes
One of the most important skills to learn is how to take good class notes. Taking notes will keep you actively engaged in the course material, help organize your thinking and opinions on the material, and better prepare you for studying for quizzes and exams. In this guide you will learn the best methods for taking great notes.
General Tips
- Don’t try to write notes verbatim. Listen to what the professor is saying and then write down the main points. Writing down the material is extremely important, but listening and analyzing while doing so is just as important.
- Pay attention to cues. Some professors will actually lecture from an outline, making it easy for students to capture the key information. For others, look for verbal or nonverbal cues, such as pausing for emphasis, restating a point, or changing tone of voice as a signal of a topic shift.
- Focus on the major points and key arguments. Dont get lost in trying to record all the minor details or examples. Instead, use the time to make sure you understand the key details, formulas, and facts.
- Develop some sort of system for abbreviations to keep from getting too caught up in taking notes and not enough in listening. Legibility is also important here, so be sure you understand your own system!
- Pay attention to details. Material that is presented in a PowerPoint presentation, shown on a document camera, pulled from a website, or written on the board typically is important information you should have in your notes.
The Charting Method
This technique takes preparation before class. In this method, you make several columns on a piece of paper, each one representing an important category of information you expect to be covered in the lecture (based on your reading of the appropriate chapter in the textbook). The Charting Method typically works best for basic classes in which the lectures contain many facts, dates, and relationships. The advantage of this method is that it puts the entire content of a lecture on one page of notes. The disadvantage is that you need to be prepared beforehand to make it work.
The Cornell Method
This technique involves dividing your notepaper into two columns: a 2 ½-inch left column/margin and a 6-inch right column. During class, take notes in the right column, leaving a few lines between major points. Once class is over, add as much detail to your notes as possible. Then, in the left column, write short descriptions, keywords, or questions that relate to the key points in the right column. Using this method allows you to have a column of key concepts and ideas, along with a detailed explanation of each in the other column. Leave some space at the bottom of each page to write a short sentence summarizing the notes on the page.
The Mapping Method
This technique is all about relating facts from lectures to each other in some form of graphic representation (such as tree diagrams), typically revolving around the central point(s) of the lecture. This method works well for when you have lectures that cover large amounts of interrelated material. Because you are connecting concepts as they are discussed, this method also fosters active learning and critical thinking. (Mapping is also an excellent tool for studying and organizing papers.)
The Outlining Method
This technique is probably the most common and natural of all the note-taking methods. It involves listening to the lecture/discussion and writing key points and material in a logical pattern or order. Because many lectures are presented in outline form, this method works naturally in those classes. As with any outline method, your notes should be organized around major points, followed by supporting information (either indented or bulleted). Your notes will be extremely well organized and include great detail, but if the instructor speaks too quickly or you get caught up in trying to capture one point, you may not be able to capture all the lecture content.
The Sentence Method
This technique is the best note-taking method when speed and efficiency are the crucial elements. In this method, typically when the instructor covers a large amount of material in a short period of time, you simply write each new fact, definition, or topic on a separate line of your notebook. While it works well for capturing large amounts of information, this technique does not allow you to capture relationships or identify major points from minor points. If you use this method, youll want to spend time after the lecture making the key connections and summarizing major points.
Note-Taking Dos and Don’ts
- Do read the assigned readings for class ahead of time, perhaps even taking some preliminary notes for class lecture.
- Don’t sit next to your friends in class if you are looking to take good notes.
- Don’t hesitate to ask questions of the professor if you dont understand something.
- Do attempt to capture in your notes main ideas, key facts, vocabulary, and critical examples.
- Don’t doodle or otherwise disengage from taking notes.
Now that you know the best ways to take notes, you will get more out of your classes and retain more information for studying. Good luck, and happy note-taking!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Study Skills by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., and Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
