General Note Taking Tips

Placement is important: sit down front and do not read, talk, or daydream. Pay close attention throughout the class, particularly at the beginning and end (where you tend to drift). In addition, you will be able to hear what the professor says more clearly and read the overhead.

Leave space in your notebook: in the spaces, fill in your questions and supplemental information later (from textbook, study groups, peer notes etc).

Use a method: try the Cornell note-taking method, SQR3 (reading strategies that is adaptable for note taking) or your own method, if it works.

Two Dozen Dos And One Dozen Don'ts

The twenty-four dos and twelve don'ts that follow are the essentials of note taking. Weave them into a magic carpet of your own design and glide over all the rough spots of note taking.

Dos

•  Look over previous notes before class. (Maintains continuity.)

•  Attend all lectures. (It's a continuing story.)

•  Be academically alert. (Sit up straight, with "rolled-up sleeves.")

•  Take a front seat to see and hear better. (You won't dare snooze.)

•  Use a large, loose-leaf binder. (Gives ample room.)

•  Carry lined 8 ½ x 11 loose-leaf sheets to class. (Insert them into a binder afterward.)

•  Write on only one side of sheet. (Spread them out for review.)

•  On top sheet, record course, lecturer, and date. (In case of spill.)

•  Begin taking notes immediately. (Don't wait for inspiration.)

•  Write in short, telegraphic sentences. (Make them meaningful.)

•  Make notes complete for later understanding. (Don't sit there puzzling.)

•  Use modified printing style. (Clear letters, not scribbles.)

•  Use lecturer's words. (Lecturers like to see their words in exams.)

•  Strive to detect main headings. (As if you peeked at the lecturer's notes.)

•  Capture ideas as well as facts. (Get the drift too.)

•  Keep your note organization simple. (Easy does it.)

•  Skip lines; leave space between main ideas. (Package the ideas.)

•  Discover the organizational pattern. (Like putting together a puzzle.)

•  If the lecture is to fast, capture fragments. (Jigsaw them together later.)

•  Leave blank spaces for words to fill in later. (Thus avoid voids.)

•  Develop your own abbreviations and symbols. (But not too many.)

•  Record lecturer's examples. (If you don't, you'll forget.)

•  Identify your own thoughts in your notes. (What's mine? What's the lecturer's?)

•  Keep separate loose-leaf binders for each course. (Don't combine notes.)

Don'ts

•  Don't sit near friends. (Can be distracting.)

•  Don't wait for something "important." (Record almost everything.)

•  Don't convert lecturer's words. (Takes time and invites imprecision.)

•  Don't look for facts only. (See ideas too.)

•  Don't give up if the lecturer is too fast. (Some is better than none.)

•  Don't stop to ponder. (Do so later in your room.)

•  Don't over-indent. (You'll run out of right-side space.)

•  Don't doodle. (Breaks concentration and eye contact.)

•  Don't use spiral-bound notebooks. (Can't insert class handouts.)

•  Don't consider any example too obvious. (Copy it!)

•  Avoid using Roman numerals. (You'll get tangled up.)

•  Avoid too many abbreviations. (Trouble deciphering later.)

Source: Unknown

 

Russell Conwell Center

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