Developing an effective system
-
During the lecture
- Find a note-taking format that suits you best (see later section on format options).
- Listen for the structure and information in the
lecture.
- Label important points and organisational clues: main
points, examples.
- WRITE EVERYTHING IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
- If you can’t catch something, don't let it
worry you into inattention!
- Leave blank spaces
- Subtle details to be filled in later
- Additional information on a topic that the lecturer
might come back to
- Summaries; outstanding questions for reference later
- To avoid having to recopy them later!
- Use the main ideas that are discussed in class as
titles.
- Under each main idea note any secondary ideas.
- If demonstrations are done in class, make note of
them so that you can use them to jog your memory later.
- Similarly, always make note of examples to put the
knowledge you have gained in a context you will understand later.
- Note the titles of theories, laws, and other base
elements required in order to understand a chapter. If you have time,
write down their definitions.
- Write down statistics, references, dates, and proper
names.
- Use symbols and abbreviations – you can
create your own, but remember to be consistent.
- Resist distractions, emotional reactions or boredom.
- Pay attention to the speaker for verbal, postural,
and visual clues to what's important.
- If your lecturer has an accent you find hard to
understand or has mannerisms you find distracting, relax and attend
even more carefully to the content of the lecture.
- Date and note the course code on all handouts given
to you.
- If working with loose paper, note the course code,
date and number your pages.
- Instead of closing your notebook early and getting
ready to leave, listen carefully to information given toward the end of
class; summary statements may be of particular value in highlighting
main points; there may be possible quiz questions, etc.
|
