Note-Taking Techniques

1. Identify the main ideas. The first principle of effective note taking is to identify and write down the most important ideas around which the lecture is built. Although supporting details are important as well, focus your note taking on the main ideas. Such ideas can be buried in details, statistics, examples, or problems, but you will need to identify and record them for further study. Some instructors announce the purpose of a lecture or offer an outline of main ideas, followed by details. Other instructors develop presentation slides. If your instructor makes such materials available on a CMS beforehand, you can print them out and take notes on the outline or next to the slides during the lecture. Some instructors change their tone of voice or repeat themselves for each key idea. Some ask questions or provide an opportunity for discussion. If an instructor says something more than once, chances are it is important. Ask yourself, “What does my instructor want me to know at the end of today’s class?”
2. Don’t try to write down everything. Some first-year students try to do just that. They stop being thinkers and become just note takers. As you take notes, leave spaces so that you can fill in additional details that you might have missed during class but remember or read about later. Take the time to review and complete your notes as soon after class as possible. Once you have decided on a format for taking notes, you might also want to develop your own system of abbreviations. For example, you might write “inst” instead of “institution” or “eval” instead of “evaluation.” Just make sure you will be able to understand your abbreviations when it’s time to review.
3. Don’t be thrown by a disorganized lecturer. When a lecture is disorganized, it’s your job to try to organize what is said into general and specific points. When information is missing, you will need to indicate in your notes where the gaps are. After the lecture, review the reading material or ask your classmates to fill in these gaps, or ask your instructor. Some instructors have regular office hours for student appointments while others are willing to spend time after each class session to answer students’ questions. However, it is amazing how few students use these opportunities for one-on-one instruction. The questions you ask might help your instructor realize which parts of the lecture need more attention or repetition.
4. Keep your notes and supplementary materials for each course separate. Whether you use folders, binders, or some combination, label your materials with the course number and name. Before class, label and date the paper you will be using for taking notes; after class, organize your notes chronologically. In your folder or binder, create separate tabbed sections for homework, lab assignments, graded and returned tests, and other materials. If you take notes electronically, you should create separate files and folders with specific names and dates. You can create a course folder and add subfolders for notes, assignments, and projects within each folder for that course.
5. Download online notes, outlines or diagrams, charts, and graphs from the course management system (CMS) site and bring them to class. You might be able to save yourself a lot of time during class if you do not have to try to copy graphs and diagrams while the instructor is talking. Instead, you can focus on the ideas being presented while adding your own labels and notes.
6. If handouts are distributed in class, label them and place them near your notes. Add handouts to your binder or folder as you review your notes each day.

• Write down any equations, formulas, diagrams, charts, graphs, and definitions that the instructor puts on the board or screen.
• Write the instructor’s words as precisely as possible. Technical terms often have exact meanings and cannot be changed.
• Use standard symbols, abbreviations, and scientific notation.
• Write down all worked problems and examples step by step. The steps are often necessary in answering exam questions. Actively engage in solving the problem yourself as it is being solved at the front of the class. Be sure that you can follow the logic and understand the sequence of steps. If you have questions you cannot ask during lecture, write them down in your notes so that you can ask them in discussion, in the lab, or during the instructor’s office hours.
• Consider taking your notes in pencil or erasable pen. You might need to make changes if you are copying long equations while also trying to pay attention to the instructor. You want to keep your notes as neat as possible. Later, you can use colored ink to add other details.
• Listen carefully to other students’ questions and the instructor’s answers. Take notes on the discussion and during question-and-answer periods.
• Use asterisks, exclamation points, question marks, or symbols of your own to highlight important points in your notes or questions that you need to come back to when you review.
• Refer back to the textbook after class; the text might contain better diagrams and other visual representations than you can draw while taking notes in class. If they are not provided in handouts or on the CMS, you might even want to scan or photocopy diagrams from the text and include them with your notes in your binder.
• Keep your binders for math and science courses until you graduate (or even longer if you are planning to transfer to a four-year college or university). They will serve as good review materials for later classes in math and science. In some cases, these notes can also be helpful in the workplace.