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Some students try frantically to write down everything their professor says in a lecture. Others take hardly any notes at all, planning instead to rely on the lecture outline or worse yet, their memory. If you fall into either of those camps, you’ve likely discovered by now that your method of note taking isn’t very effective.

For starters, fighting public enemy No.1 is distractions - Students have all of these electronic devices and are often trying to multitask. Even during their lectures, they’re tending to their phones or are on social media or playing games. Not eliminating those distractions when they go into their class is probably the first mistake students make. So, Turn off your phone and put it away. Make sure your laptop is open only to what’s being covered in the lecture.

Next, don’t expect any lecture outline to replace the need to take notes. Your professor will expand upon the topics listed in the outline (which can be used to organize your notes) and may also provide valuable examples.

NOTE TAKING TIPS

Create a system of abbreviations and symbols to help you write faster. Don’t try to write verbatim everything your professor says. Rather, summarize key concepts he discusses and write a conclusion of those concepts in simple language and in your own words.

If taking notes by hand, leave a margin-plus-sized space on the left side of the page so you can come up with a question (either during the lecture or when reviewing your notes afterwards) that summarizes each section. It helps keep you focused and to make connections to what you’re learning. Those questions will become a review tool when you study for exams.

If you’re a visual learner, create diagrams or concept maps instead of just sentences to help you visualize connections between different ideas. Use coloured highlighters strategically — such as one colour for definitions, another for conclusions, another for headings and another for subheadings so you can readily find the information you’re seeking.

Listen for cues from your professor. If a professor spends a long time talking about or is really passionate about a topic, that’s a good indicator it’s something you’ll need to know for an exam. If he says certain information will be on the exam, mark it with an asterisk.

If you have to miss a lecture, ask a classmate for their notes but don’t make it a habit. People’s notes tend to make sense only to them. Students will sometimes compare notes in a study group to see if they took away the same things from a lecture.

Once the lecture is over, review your notes and perhaps even create study tools, such as cue cards. Use 24-hour rule: within 24 hours of attending a lecture, spend some time reviewing your notes. Otherwise, there’s a good chance you’ll forget a lot of what you learned.

Read the assigned textbook chapters before each class. This provides a context for the lecture material and enhances note-taking. Sit front and centre. The closer you sit to the lecturer, the more alert you’ll be. And the fewer distractions you’ll have. Identify the topic of the lecture at the beginning of your notes. Number your pages and include the date. This will help organize your notes and allow you to identify anything that may be missing. Reinforce what you learned in a lecture by teaching or talking about the material to someone else.

Source <> http://www.torontosun.com/2017/01/09/tips-for-effective-note-taking-at-lectures

Image source <> https://iversity.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/bigstock-Students-listening-and-taking-46263373.jpg