Taking and Using Class Notes

WHY SHOULD I TAKE NOTES IN CLASS?

• Note taking is an active process that will help you concentrate during the class session and will aid you retain what you are learning.
• The lecture will contain information that you can't find in your textbook or elsewhere. This may be your only chance to learn the information.
• Your professor emphasizes what is important during the class session and your professor is the one who evaluates your performance on assignments and exams.
• Organized notes help you discover the important ideas. The underlying structure and purpose of the lecture will become clearer through the process of note taking.
• The listener can't get everything down the professor states; therefore the material must be condensed and rephrased, a process which promotes understanding.
• Your notes provide you with a written record for review.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE NOTETAKER?
Getting Ready: What to Do Before Class

• Complete all outside assignments before the lecture. The more familiar you are with the material, the better you can observe and record the lecture.
• Look over previous notes before class to provide the context for the next lecture. Quiz yourself over these lecture notes and any notes you took while reading the assignment.
• Check the course outline for the topics or key ideas that will be presented. Convert this information into questions you will seek out answers for during the lecture. This practice promotes active listening.
• Sit front and center so that you can see the board and so that people in front of you will not distract you.
• Examine your attitudes. Don't let your feelings and opinions about a professor or a subject get in your way! Regardless of whether you like the professor or the subject, the fact of the matter is that you need to do well. Doing well and developing competence and confidence in yourself counts. Come to class with an open mind and be ready to listen, even to information about which you disagree.
• Come to class prepared with the proper tools. Have plenty of paper, pencils, pens, calculators or whatever items are necessary depending upon the subject.
• Practice taking notes while watching the news on TV. You'll develop your note taking skills and be a better-informed citizen!

During Class: Best Practices
 

• Listen carefully to the introduction if one is given. Jot down the outline so that your mind will be listening for the upcoming material.
• Watch and listen carefully to the professor. Pay attention to voice inflections and body language. If the professor states a point loudly or using gestures while speaking, these are clues that the information is important; therefore, you should take the information down.
• Be brief. Summarize in your own words. The point is to understand the information, not to regurgitate the professor's every word.
• Look for main ideas by listening for signal words. Signal words indicate something important will follow. Examples include: "And what's important is...", "For example,...", "Another thing to consider....", etc.
• Get down ideas, concepts and principles as well as facts.
• Take down anything that is on the blackboard or overhead unless the professor says otherwise. (Even so, at least take sketchy notes at this point).
• Write legibly. Otherwise you will waste too much time trying to decipher your notes later.
• Use abbreviations to make taking notes faster, Develop a standard set. Ex. for example, Imp. for important, etc. But, don't over-abbreviate. Just use this technique for common words.
• Use symbols (arrows, question marks, stars) to highlight important information.
•  Skip spaces and lines so that your notes aren't jumbled.
• On every sheet record the date and course number. If your notes spill out, they'll be easy to reorganize.
• Take down assignments and due dates along with authors the professor recommends.
• Learn a note taking method such as the Cornell Notetaking System.

After Class: Active Revision and Immediate Review
 

• Immediately or as soon as possible after class, review and revise your notes. Fill in information that needs clarification. Mark sections that aren't quite clear and make an appointment with the professor to be certain that you aren't missing any vital information.
• Place any lecture and reading notes that cover the same material in the same area of your binder.
• Review all your lecture notes up to that point in the semester at least once per week. Research shows that we forget 50% of what we hear immediately: two months later, another 25% is gone. However, relearning is rapid if regular review is used.
• Look at other students' notes for models of good note taking.
• Compare notes with a classmate to catch what the other missed.
• Write a short, paragraph summary over the day's material. This process forces you to really think about what you've heard and may raise questions that you still need answered.

Other Practical Tips:

• Use 8 1/2 by 11 papers and only write on the front. This way you can see the pattern of a lecture by spreading out the pages.
• Keep your notes in a three ring binder. Use a three hole punch and add the syllabus, handouts, assignments or other materials to your binder.
• Keep only notes for one course in one binder. Buy additional binders for other courses.

***Portions adapted from: Walter Pauk. Cornell University.

Try this: Divide you notebook paper in half before attending class. Take notes on one half of the paper only. In college seminar or after you go home, review the notes. As you read and review, use the blank space to write questions that the professor may ask on a test. These questions, with the answers found in your notes, will help you prepare for a test. If you try this each day, your test scores will improve.

There is no way around it—you have to read your textbook if you want to do well in your college class. While the text may not be exciting reading, you will find reading the text before attending the class lecture will help you understand the professor better. Here is one strategy for active reading to help you engage the text and understand it better. Give it a try.

Study Habits

ISR: Input, Store, Review
An Active Reading Method

Input
1.Pre-Read: Read topic and sub topic headings. Glance at the pictures, charts, diagrams, maps, etc.
2. Skim: Much like an athlete must warm up muscles before a practice or a game, the mind needs to be warmed up and prepared to receive new information. Read the first sentence of every paragraph along with statements in italics or boldface type. Read the introduction and the summary to get a general sense of the content and organization.
3. Chunk: Break the chapter down into bite-sized pieces--small sections that will be easy to handle. Read in these small sections, checking for understanding at the end of each.
4. Question: If your textbook has review questions at the end or if there is a study guide for the course, use these questions as a guide. Write each question out on a separate notebook page. You should take notes while you are reading. Generating answers to questions will help you stay focused and interested in the material. If your book has no review section, turn paragraph headings into questions. For example, change "Basic Principles of Learning," to "What are the Basic Principles of Learning?"

Store
1. Recite: Read section by section and stop after each. Recite regularly at the end of each section. Close the book and try to remember the main points just read. What can't be recited wasn't stored. Go over again the material that you had difficulty recalling.
2. Record: Recording actively engages you in the reading process. Active methods result in better reading comprehension. Record your answers on the question sheets you created earlier. Use summary notes, not long notes which regurgitate every word you read. By paraphrasing information, you increase your ability to retain and understand the information.
Some examples of other recording methods you can use in conjunction with your summary notes.

• Key Words and Margin Notes -ask yourself, what's the point? Write main ideas and details only in the margin of the textbook.
• Use a Concept Map -a picture or diagram which shows you visually the relationships among ideas.
• Flash Cards -tried and true method from elementary school, but it works just fine in college, too. Use for learning vocabulary and math formulas.

Review
1. Short Term Review: Check retention by reviewing within 24 hours. First, try to recite the main ideas without looking at notes or flash cards. Then, review your notes and flash cards and quiz yourself -section by section -again.
2. Regular Review: Schedule weekly and monthly reviews. Re-read and re-learn information that has not been stored successfully.
3. Meet Regularly with a Study Group: Group study can be extremely helpful in terms of maintaining motivation to review. Also, you can learn by the example of others. Perhaps others in your group will teach you new ways to study that will benefit you.
NOTE: MORE TIME SHOULD BE SPENT ON REVIEW THAN ON INPUT AND STORE.

Class Participation

In many classes, no matter what the discipline or size of the class, there is an expectancy that you participate.  The professor may even make participation in class a requirement, worth up to 15 or even 20 percent of your class grade.  For that reason it is important to know how to participate in class.

• Don't be shy.  Participation takes practice, and there is no time like the present to start.
• You do not have to agree with the professor to get a good grade.  In fact, students who disagree with the professor and put thought into their arguments are likely to get more out of the class, than those that agree with the professor without questioning.

When to participate:

• when your comment will offer an alternative perspective to the discussion
• when your question will clarify something that you, and/or your classmates, did not understand
• when your comment will give a concrete example of something that has been discussed theoretically until that point

When not to participate:

• when the discussion has made you angry, and your comment is likely to be inflammatory or defensive
• when your comment will take the class off topic

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