Listening

The key to effective note-taking is active listening. Train yourself to listen efficiently by following these steps:

1. Be ready. Before you go to class, read your textbook assignment and review your lecture notes from the previous class meeting. The information you gain through this reading and review will make you an informed and discriminating listener.



2. Keep your mind on the lecture, not on the teacher. Don't let yourself be distracted by your teacher's gestures, movements or style of delivery. Pay attention to what faculty members say, not to how they say it.



3. Be alert physically. Sit near the lecturer so you can hear and see clearly. Try to sit up straight; it will help you stay alert.



4. Be alert mentally. As you listen, evaluate major generalizations and note the evidence that supports them, remember the textbook's coverage of the material being presented, participate in class discussions and try to anticipate possible test questions.



5. Be open-minded. Even though you may not agree with everything your lecturers and fellow students say, don't let your resistance cause you to stop listening before they have fully explained the points they are trying to make.



6. If your teacher permits you to tape the lectures you may wish to but...you should not let this be a substitute for listening carefully in class. Many students find that rather than listening to taped lectures they make better use of their study time by reading, reviewing, and reflecting on the material.

Note-taking

Once you've established the habit of good, active listening, taking effective lecture notes should not be difficult. Here are some tips that may help.

1. Keep your class notes together by writing them in a notebook. Use a separate notebook for each course you take. Write the title of the course and the lecturer's name on the notebook where you can easily see it. Some students prefer to keep their notes in a loose-leaf binder.



2. Record the class date each time you take notes.



3. Take notes on one side of the paper only. You can read them more easily and, if you find it helpful, you can use the other side for notes on your textbook that coincide with the lecture, or for other comments you may wish to write down later.



4. An effective format for note-taking is:




Draw a vertical line about 2-½ inches from the left edge of each page (assuming you are using 8-½ x 11 inch paper). Write your lecture notes in the space to the right of the line. Later, write in key words or brief summaries to the left. Leave occasional blank spaces in your notes to show where one idea ends and another begins, and to give yourself room to write any additional comments later on. (From Walter Pauk, How to Study in College, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1984).



5. Write legibly. Don't find yourself in the embarrassing situation of not being able to read what you wrote down.



6. Try to arrange your notes in outline form. Use numbers and indentation to indicate major and minor points, subdivisions or lists. Listening for key phrases in the lecture, such as the following six types or the three major causes, will help you systematize your notes in this way. (However, don't try to make an elaborate, correctly labeled outline in class; you probably won't have time.)



7. Use your own words. Except for definitions of technical terms, paraphrase what your teacher says rather than writing it word for word. Think of this as a double-check. Putting lecture material in your own words helps you be sure you really understand it.



8. Take notes as fully as possible. This includes copying diagrams and other illustrations written on the board and recording examples the lecturer uses to clarify abstract concepts.



9. Develop a system of abbreviation. Since at times your teacher may cover material more rapidly than you can write it down, you can speed up your note-taking by using shortcuts, such as & for and, % for percent, and by making your own abbreviations for words you find yourself writing frequently. If you use many abbreviations, you may wish to keep a list of them to help you remember what they mean.



10. Identify points your teacher emphasizes. Use underlining, capital letters or asterisks.



11. Pay special attention to reading and other assignments as well as book titles and other references your teacher mentions. Circling or otherwise identifying them will make them easy to find later.



12. Summarize each lecture. After each class, read over your lecture notes and write your own summaries of the key points and ideas, perhaps in the spaces you have left for later comments. Using a different ink color will help your summaries or additional notes stand out.



13. Keep your own thoughts separate from your teacher's. Writing down ideas and questions prompted by the lecture is an excellent note-taking and learning device. Just be sure that you bracket or otherwise identify these notes as your own ideas.

To sum up, getting the most from a lecture is a three-step process.

LISTEN - THINK - WRITE

You listen attentively. Then you evaluate the content of what you hear. Finally, you record in your notebook what's important.

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