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How to Take Lecture Notes

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Taking lecture notes is a major part of studying and it is important that your notes are thorough and accurate. Here's how to get the most out of a lecture and have a set of amazing notes to show for it.

Steps

Preparation Before the Lecture

Complete the assigned reading for that day. Your professor's lecture will most likely expand off of the material assigned in the reading. If you don't do the reading, you lack the necessary background information to fully grasp the lecture and to meaningfully contribute during class.

Complete the assigned reading for that day.

Some professors do completely re-hash the assigned reading during their lecture. In that case, you may use your judgment to decide whether you want to complete the reading prior to the lecture or to skim it afterwards to make sure that you have the details accurately.

Check online for course materials and lecture outlines offered by your professor. Your professor may have announced the topic or key ideas in the upcoming lecture, and it's important that you are aware of this structure going into the lecture. Doing so will ensure that you will be more likely to predict its organization and understand the material well.
Check online for course materials and lecture outlines offered by your professor.

Convert the provided key terms/major concepts/etc. into questions that you know you should focus on as you listen to the lecture. Structure your notebook according to the headings provided in the outline. If no outline is given, try to structure the presentation yourself when you revisit the notes later.

Sit as close to the front of the room as possible to eliminate distractions. You may even want to come five or ten minutes early to get a good seat and have time to set up your pen and notebook or laptop. You want to make sure you can hear the professor clearly, see everything written on the board, and feel comfortable asking questions or making comments when appropriate.

Sit as close to the front of

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the room as possible to eliminate distractions.

Decide how you want to take notes and be prepared with the necessary supplies. Bring a laptop if you type faster than you write and prefer to take notes on it. Otherwise, have extra pencils sharpened and extra lead for mechanical pencils and/or pens. Make sure you have a supply of extra sheets of binder paper as well.

Decide how you want to take notes and be prepared with the necessary supplies.

You may want to try taking notes by hand and with a laptop to decide which one you like better. Keep in mind that you may prefer different methods for different classes -- for example, math lectures tend to lend themselves to note-taking by hand, but philosophy lectures may be easier to get down using a laptop.

If you decide to take notes with a laptop, consider one of the following programs to help you organize and enhance your note-taking.

If you decide to take notes with a laptop, consider one of the following programs to help you organize and enhance your note-taking.

If you take notes on a laptop or type up your notes into study guides, check your Microsoft Word project gallery for something called a "notebook layout." This document mimics the appearance of a notebook, and allows you to insert tabs for creating sections, title pages for easy reference, draw supplemental diagrams, and record audio notes. It's built especially for note-taking, so bullets are easy to use and organize. Better yet, it's already included in most versions of Microsoft Word. PerfectNotes (www.perfectnotes.com) software records your lecture while you take notes. At any time, you can bookmark important points. Later, you can quickly go back and hear what you missed by clicking on your bookmarks. Or, if part of your notes are unclear, simply click in your notes and the audio will be available for you to browse through. In just seconds you can hear the exact part that was unclear. Live Scribe Smart Pen (www.livescribe.com) is a great tool for those who don't want to take a notebook to class. Take notes using the Smart Pen on special paper. Whenever you want to hear something again, just click on the notes that are unclear and hear them again. Microsoft OneNote (www.microsoft.com) effectively organizes various documents (web pages, PDFs, charts, graphs, emails, class notes, etc.) in one place. It lets you record voice only, or with video and save it in the OneNote document.

During the Lecture

Listen carefully to the introduction of the lecture. Copy what's written on the whiteboard or overhead projector. Every professor organizes each lecture into some sort of outline, even if it's implicit and loosely followed. By knowing this outline, you will be better prepared to anticipate what notes you will need to take.

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Listen carefully to the introduction of the lecture.

Take notes in outline format. Underneath section headings, write down ideas in bullet form and supplementary ideas with indented sub-bullets. This is much better than just writing down everything as a new point.
Take notes in outline format.

Professors are not always organized about following main points with subpoints, so keep in mind that you may have to re-organize your notes after the lecture. This is why it may be advantageous to take notes with a laptop, as editing becomes seamless. Your first priority should be grasping the lecture content and writing it down -- never let organization compromise your information acquisition.

Use abbreviations and skip unimportant words to take notes efficiently. Only record the important words that you need to get the idea of the point made. Skip words like "the" and "a" that do not convey additional meaning to the lecture content. Create abbreviations to help you write things down quickly, such as drawing arrows for increase/decrease or to show causation, and especially for terms used over and over again (e.g., IR for international relations). Remember: your goal is to understand what the professor is saying, not to try to record exactly everything he or she says.

Recognize main ideas by signal words that indicate something important is to follow. Your instructor is not going to send up a rocket when he/she states an important new idea or gives an example, but she will use signals to telegraph what she is doing. Every good speaker does it, and you should expect to receive these signals. Examples include:

Recognize main ideas by signal words that indicate something important is to follow.

There are three reasons why... First... second... third... The significance of _____ is... The impact of ______ is... From this, we can see...

Jot down details or examples that support the main ideas. Take down examples and sketches which the lecturer presents. Indicate examples with "e.g." or "ex." Give special attention to details not covered in the textbook, as these will likely earn you points on the exam.

Jot down details or examples that support the main ideas.

Draw diagrams for concepts you can't remember easily or don't understand.

If there is a summary at the end of the lecture, pay close attention to it. You can use it to check the organization of your notes. If your notes seem disorganized, copy down the main points that are covered in the summary. It will help in revising your notes later.

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At the end of the lecture, ask questions about points that you did not understand. When students ask questions, write down the questions and the teacher/professor's answers. This additional information might answer questions you have as well.

At the end of the lecture, ask questions about points that you did not understand.

After the Lecture

Revise your notes as quickly as possible, preferably immediately after the lecture, since at that time you will still remember a good deal of the lecture. This is a good time to highlight or underline important parts of the lecture, and to color-code recurring concepts. Marked-up notes will be absolutely invaluable when you begin to study for the test, as you can quickly and efficiently remind yourself what the key parts of a lecture consisted of.
Revise your notes as quickly as possible, preferably immediately after the lecture, since at that time you will still remember a good deal of the lecture.

Make sure to reread your notes within 24 hours of the lecture to maximize information retention.

Revise it with a classmate. Two students see and hear more than one. Your notes will have different gaps than that of your class mates.

Revise it with a classmate.

Tips
Collect notes for each course in one place, in a separate notebook or section of a notebook. Make sure your notes are organized chronologically and are titled. Use a loose-leaf notebook rather than a notebook with a permanent binding so you can re-organize notes in the most effective way when it comes time to review for exams.

If you miss a lecture, make sure to write it down in your notes as well, so that you will not forget. This way you ensure that you will get the notes from a friend or colleague instead of missing out on the material entirely. Draw a box around assignments and suggested books so you can identify them quickly. Mark ideas which the lecture emphasizes with a highlighter, arrow or some special symbol.

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Have a proper attitude. Listening well is a matter of paying close attention. Be prepared to be open-minded about what the lecturer may be saying, even though you may disagree with it. Use mind maps if you've learned how to draw them. Ask someone to show you the method, or Google the information. Mind maps are an excellent way to organize ideas on paper, and you can easily add examples / stories / supporting info / evidence in the right places even if your teacher mentions them much later.

Incorporate different colors of ink, diagrams, drawings of your own. Make your notes your notes. Take advantage of how you learn (visually, aurally [by ear], or actively) and write/draw your notes according to that style.

Bring a voice recorder. Smartphones also have apps that allow you to record sounds. However, you should still take notes. The recording is just a fall-back device in case you realize that you've missed something important or you're not sure if you transcribed something accurately.

Do not let this become a crutch. The important thing is to process the information in your head, not to record it on your recorder. Note taking -- even when only 70% is taken down -is more beneficial than 100% recording, because you make yourself process the information while jotting it down. Do NOT try to write down every word of the lecture. It is better to listen attentively, understand the topic /point being explained, and jot down the notes in point form - but not so brief that they don't make sense to you later! If your professor begins to get off topic by telling a story, pay attention and make a judgment call on whether to jot something down about it. Stories help people remember information. The story might be related to what you are learning, and may even be on the test.

Warnings
Do not do anything that might detract from taking notes, such as doodling or pen flipping. These activities break eye contact and concentration; they are also distracting to others. Therefore, if you learn best while doodling or tapping your foot, sit near people who do the same or who don't keep glaring in your direction.

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At the same time, it should be noted that doodling has been known to improve memory, so doodling during parts of lectures which do not require note making may actually be beneficial as opposed to distracting. Use discretion when doodling or doing other activities that detract from focusing entirely on the lesson. If you are gathering together your personal belongings when you should be listening, you're bound to miss an important point -- perhaps an announcement about the next exam -- or, at the very least, insult the teacher. Ask permission before using recording devices, and delete your recordings as soon as the final exam is over. Some professors may not want you to record their lectures, in case they end up shared or posted online without the professor getting credit or financial compensation for their expertise. It could even be illegal to make a recording without their permission! Remember that you are there to analyze and process, not: to record. Pieces of electronics can record better than you, but they do not get an academic degree or diploma. Make sure you keep processing and analyzing despite having a recorder at hand.

Related wikiHows
How to Take Better Notes How to Get the Most of Recording College Lectures How to Cite Lecture Notes How to Ace Your Next Test How to Impress Your Teachers How to Create Good Study Habits for Exams How to Remember Lists of Words With the Memory Trick How to Actively Learn During Lectures How to Take Notes Using OneNote How to Use Mini Tape Recorders in Class

Sources and Citations

Making the most of lectures. Article by Martin Greenhow

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