Being a college student can be stressful as you struggle to catch up with endless classes, assignments, reports, and presentations. Unfortunately, being punctual is only half the battle won – making sense of the torrent of information thrown at you and soaking in as much knowledge as you can is key to getting and maintaining those all-important grades. The only way you can do this is by paying attention during lectures and mastering the art of taking effective notes.
Now, note-taking is quite different from recording or transcribing everything your lecturer says. Efficient note-taking is an important part of the learning process. It involves rapidly absorbing the learning material and jotting down important points in a way that suits your learning style.
Benefits of Note-Taking in Class
Active note-taking improves focus during class and helps you better understand important concepts. It also promotes comprehension and retention of material, so you are able to better remember what you’ve learned in class. Students who write effective notes are highly likely to form good study habits and consequently do well in exams and assignments. And who doesn’t want to succeed in college?
Post-class, those notes come in handy for reviewing material and preparing for tests. Well-written notes save time and energy and prevent the confusion caused by trying to make sense of the disorganized chicken scratch that often passes for notes.
However, taking notes in class can be quite intimidating. If you have ever found yourself wishing you could take better notes or struggled to understand what to write down during lectures, here are some excellent note-taking methods to try.
5 Effective Note-Taking Methods
1. The Outline Method
For people who like structure and simplicity, the outline system is one of the easiest (and most popular) methods of note-taking. You have likely been using it without even knowing it had a name.
In the outline method, points are written on the basis of space indentation – using indents, major topics are placed farthest to the left and sub-topics are added farther to the right. Supporting notes are placed below each subtopic using more indents to the right. Each new thought is indicated by arrows, bullet points, or numbered lists.
The outline system focuses on the content as well as the relationships between individual items in the learning material. This technique organizes notes in a logical manner, which greatly reduces the time it takes to review and edit them later. It also allows you to focus on the lecture, so you don’t miss valuable information or spend too much time organizing your notes. However, for classes that involve a lot of graphs and formulae, like math or chemistry, you should look for other, more suitable note-taking methods.
2. The Cornell Method
Invented in the 1940s by Walter Pauk, professor of education at Cornell University, the Cornell method is a note-taking system that many consider to be superior to all others.
In the Cornell method, each sheet is divided into four sections, with each section devoted to a specific purpose. The top section, a small area separated by a horizontal line from the rest of the page, is used to record the subject, topic, date, and page number. The bottom section, consisting of 5-7 lines, is similarly separated by a horizontal line and used to write a summary. The rest of the page is divided into two columns; the larger column on the right is used to record important points made during the lecture. You can also use it for diagrams, graphs, doodles, page references, or anything that represents the learning material. The smaller column on the left consists of questions or cues that help you remember the larger ideas on the right. The summary may be written directly after class or later when you’re reviewing your notes.
The Cornell method requires little preparation, thus making it an ideal system for taking notes in class. It encourages students to reflect on their notes and summarize them in their own words. Many find that simply using this method is enough to memorize study notes and do well in tests.
3. The Mind Map Method
A mind map is a two-dimensional structure designed to organize your notes in the form of a diagram. Unlike other note-taking systems, mind maps are created on a blank sheet of paper or a digital canvas.
The topic or subject of your mind map is placed in the center of the page; notes, in the form of keywords or phrases, radiate outwards like branches from the center. Later, when you’re reviewing your notes, you can lend more depth to your mind map in the form of smaller sub-concepts – dates, formulae, supporting facts, and the like – that you add to each branch.
The mind mapping format makes it easier to take effective notes, particularly if you’re using mind mapping software that allows you to add extra notes, files, links, and a whole bunch of information to it. With a mind map, you get an instant overview of the topic, without having to leaf through multiple pages. It displays the connections and relationships between individual ideas/subtopics at a glance. As you construct the map, you are actively processing the information, thus creating more meaningful notes. Mind maps often include images, colors, and icons that act as mental triggers that help you retain information.
4. The Flow Method
Having a bunch of beautifully written notes is useless if you don’t understand the topic or subject. Flow-based notes are admittedly messier but many students feel they help them understand the material better.
Flow-based note-taking involves writing out the major ideas presented in a lecture – dates, descriptions, facts, details – using a few words rather than lengthy sentences or paragraphs. Once you’ve jotted down an idea, use arrows to connect it to other ideas to make a web of interrelated components instead of an organized hierarchy. Feel free to add doodles, graphs, diagrams, or anything that helps you actively learn the material as you write.
Unlike other, more systematic note-taking strategies, the flow method can diminish readability but boost learning and comprehension. It also maximizes active learning in the classroom, helps students engage with the material, and retain a lot of material from lectures.
A word of caution: While flow-based notes work well for classroom learning, especially for visual and auditory learners, it can be tough to review them later. Many students pair flow notes with the Cornell method to easily review them for tests.
5. The Slide Writing Method
An increasing number of professors are using PowerPoint slides as an aid to classroom teaching. The slide writing method is the easiest and most efficient technique to take notes when your professor uses a lot of PowerPoint slides.
If your professor makes the slides available before the lecture, load them on your laptop instead of printing them out. During class, follow along with the slides as your professor lectures and take additional notes at the bottom of your screen. After the lecture, print out the slides in notes view – you will thereby get the slides as well as the accompanying notes you recorded.
If you don’t have the slides beforehand, take notes in your laptop as usual. Just mark the new slide number in your notes every time the professor changes slides. Later, when the slides become available, load them up on your laptop and copy-paste your class notes under each slide in the notes section. Then, print out the slides in notes view.
The slide writing method gives you a leg up in the note-taking department. Since your professor has already done the job of outlining the lecture, all you need to do is expand on important concepts already presented in the slides. You will also be able to retain a lot more information from the lecture – each time you review the slides, it will be like getting a detailed walkthrough of the material presented in class.
Note-taking is a skill that must be acquired through practice and experimentation. Try different methods to see what works for you and commit to it. This will make your life a whole lot easier!
Finally, regardless of the method you use, it is important to get the most out of the hard work you put into the note-taking process. Review your notes within a day or two after the lecture to digest all the information and ensure you retain it over a long period of time.
