Chapter 8 Note Taking

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Chapter 8Note Taking
Effective College Learning
Jodi Patrick Holschuh Sherrie L. Nist

• Your Task in Class

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Questions to Consider

• Why is it important to take good lecture notes?
• What should I do before class, during class, and
  after class to take good notes?
• How can I match my note taking to the tasks of
  the class?
• How can I use my notes to self-test?

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The Importance and Characteristics of Good
Lecture Notes

• Whether you are attending a large university,
  small liberal arts college, or community college,
  a large percentage of information will be
  conveyed to you through lecture.
• Most professors expect you to take notes in an
  organized fashion so that you can study and
  review the notes throughout the course.

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The Importance and Characteristics of Good
Lecture Notes

• Note taking isnt too difficult if you have a
  professor who speaks slowly, clearly and lectures
  in an organized fashion but many professors
  arent excellent lecturers.
• Therefore, college students should be able to
  supply their own organization, to get down the
  important points, and to fill in the gaps in
  their notes when necessary.

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The Importance and Characteristics of Good
Lecture Notes

• Good lecture notes are important because
• They serve as a record of what goes on in class
  each day.
• When your notes are organized, they can help you
  to identify patterns in your professors lectures
  and hence what information is most important!
• They help you to spot overlap between your text
  and the professors lecture.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Are Organized.
• Strong notes use organizational strategies such
  as underlining main points, indenting details,
  noting examples, and numbering lists of ideas.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Distinguish Main Points from Details.
  
• If the information in your notes runs together or
  you have only written down the main points and
  excluded the details, your notes will be less
  useful for studying.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So, what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Include Examples.
• Examples often show up on exams, so its
  important to write down any examples of a
  particular main point that the professor
  provides.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So, what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Clearly Indicate Lecture Patterns.
• The two most common lecture patterns are the
  deductive pattern and the inductive pattern.

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Deductive vs. Inductive Lectures

• Deductive lectures begin with the generalization
  and then fill in the reasons, details, and
  examples.
• Inductive lectures do the reverse they
  progress from the specific to the general.

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Deductive vs. Inductive Lectures

• It is generally easier to follow lectures when
  they are presented in a deductive manner, while
  following inductive lectures requires more work.
  
• So it is important to determine the lecture
  pattern and adapt your note taking style
  accordingly!

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Allow for Self-Testing.
• Most students merely read over their notes,
  which often gives them a false sense of knowing
  the information when in fact they do not.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Allow for Self-Testing.
• Instead, try writing questions or key words,
  called annotations, in the margin of your notes
  to help you test yourself.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Stand the Test of Time.
• You should be able to read through your notes and
  annotations two days, two weeks, or two months
  later and find they are still understandable.

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Characteristics of Good Notes

• So what distinguishes good lecture notes from
  weak ones?
• Good Notes Use Abbreviations.
• Because most professors speak faster than you can
  write, its important to use abbreviations that
  make sense to you.

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Taking Good Lecture Notes

• Most students have every intention of staying
  alert, paying attention, and taking good notes.
• But for a variety of reasons, many students do
  not succeed.
• Several factors enter into students abilities to
  take good notes

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Taking Good Lecture Notes

• Class size. The larger the class size, the
  easier it is to become unconnected with what the
  professor is saying.
• To keep yourself connected with the professor,
  stay in the professors line of vision, sitting
  either close to the front or in the middle
  section of the room.

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Taking Good Lecture Notes

• Professors lecture style. When professors are
  not entertaining, or if they tend to speak in a
  monotone, it is hard to stay focused.
• Consider talking to the professor during office
  hours to get to know him or her it may help you
  to focus more during the lectures.

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Taking Good Lecture Notes

• Time of day. Students are most likely to fall
  asleep in an early morning class, presumably
  after they have had several hours of
  uninterrupted sleep!
• Try to avoid scheduling your classes at times of
  day when you feel sleepy or less alert.

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Taking Good Lecture Notes

• Health (both emotional and physical). Family or
  relationship problems, illness, or taking
  prescription medication all can influence your
  attentiveness in class.
• When emotional or physical problems become
  constant barriers to learning, its time to think
  about a course of action to get back to health!

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General Note-Taking Guidelines

• Sit Front and Center.
• Students who sit in the front of the classroom or
  in the professors line of vision tend to be more
  attentive and listen more actively than those who
  sit in the back.

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General Note-Taking Guidelines

• Adjust Your Note-Taking to the Professor.
• Whether your professor is a well-organized
  lecturer or disorganized and tends to get off
  topic, you need to figure out his or her style
  early in the term and make the appropriate
  adjustments in your note taking.

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General Note-Taking Guidelines

• Listen, Think, and Write.
• Rather than trying to write down every word,
  listen first, think about what the professor is
  saying, and then write that thought in your own
  words.

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General Note-Taking Guidelines

• Paraphrase.
• In other words, if your professor is a fast
  lecturer, get down the key concepts in your words
  and then filling in the details after class with
  information from the text.

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Getting Ready to Take Notes

• You need to warm up before you begin to take
  notes.
• It can make the difference between being an
  active and a passive listener!
• Here are some things you can do before you take
  notes in class

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Getting Ready to Take Notes

• Do the Assigned Reading.
• Reading before the lecture gives you the
  advantage of making connections between the text
  and lecture.

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Getting Ready to Take Notes

• Review Your Notes from the Previous Lecture.
• Spend five or ten minutes before class to read
  through your notes from the previous lecture to
  refresh your memory and get your mind ready to
  become actively involved in learning!

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Getting Ready to Take Notes

• Have the Extra Edge.
• Get to class with plenty of time to spare, and
  use the extra time to review.

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• No matter what format your notes take, you should
  have notes that are organized and easy to read.
• As you take notes, use the following guidelines

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Use a 3-ring binder rather than spiral-bound
  notebooks.
• A binder allows you to include class handouts,
  remove or reorganize your notes, and insert notes
  easily if you are absent from class.

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Take notes in simple bulleted list form, rather
  than as a tightly structured outline.
• Outlines cause many students to get distracted by
  focusing on the outline format rather than on the
  content of the lecture.

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Leave spaces between ideas and underline key
  points.
• This enables you to see where one idea stops and
  another begins and helps to distinguish between
  the key points and the details.

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Try to make your notes inviting to review.
• Neatness and organization count you will not
  want to spend much time with your notes if they
  are difficult to read and review!

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Indent and mark details and examples.
• Indenting helps you know what information is
  related. If your notes all run together, its
  difficult to tell what is a key point and what is
  supporting information.

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Number listsreasons, characteristics, types,
  etc.
• Numbering lists enables you to know at a glance
  how many factors on the list you need to
  remember.

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Format and Organization for Active Note-Taking

• Use abbreviations whenever possible.
• Abbreviating saves time and can help distinguish
  certain kinds of information, such as indicating
  an example by ex., a definition by def.,
  important information with a , etc.

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Active Listening

• Weve seen how you should take and organize your
  notes, but it is also important to be aware of
  the kinds of information you should include.
• The kinds of information you should put in your
  notes vary from class to class. Listen for the
  following cues that your professor may give as a
  way of figuring out what is important to note

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Active Listening

• Lists.
• Anytime you hear a number followed by several
  factors, stages, characteristics, etc., make sure
  you write the number of things along with the
  explanation.

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Active Listening

• Cause/Effect.
• When you hear your professor discuss causes and
  effects, be sure to write it down. Cause/effect
  cues are particularly common in history and
  political science courses.

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Active Listening

• Definitions.
• Get definitions written in your notes precisely.
  If you only get down a portion of a definition or
  arent sure that you have it exactly right, check
  your text or with your professor as soon after
  class as possible.

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Active Listening

• Examples.
• Examples discussed in class make for prime test
  questions! If you have to choose, we believe
  that its actually more important to get examples
  in your notes than it is definitions because you
  can usually get the definitions from your
  textbook.

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Active Listening

• Extended Comments.
• When the professor spends a lot of time
  explaining something, you can be sure that it is
  important information! Try to stay connected with
  the lecturer during extended comments and take
  down as much of the information as possible.

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Active Listening

• Superlatives.
• Anytime a professor uses words such as most
  important, or best explanation, least
  influential, be sure to write it down! These
  are the kinds of things professors love to ask
  about on exams.

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Active Listening

• Voice or Volume Change.
• When professors think something is important or
  they want to stress it, they generally speak
  louder and slower. A change in voice can be a
  clear indication that something important is
  being said!

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Active Listening

• Process Notes.
• Process notes are your notes taken on the clues
  and information the professor gives about the
  tasks in the course.

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Active Listening

• Process Notes.
• For example the professor may provide information
  about tests, how to study, when study or review
  sessions are held, how to think about the
  information, or how he wants an essay structured.
  This is all vital information that should be
  written down in your notes!

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Four Methods of Note Taking

• Most students have one way that they take notes
  with which they are very familiar.
• However, these students run into trouble when
  faced with taking notes in a learning situation
  that does not match their particular note taking
  method.
• Here are four different methods of note taking
  that you can use in a variety of classroom
  situations.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• For this method, divide your page by drawing a
  line down the left-hand side of the paper,
  creating a 2 to 3 inch margin.
• During note taking, take your notes on the wider
  right-hand side of the paper.
• After class use the left margin to identify the
  key points and predict possible test questions on
  the material in your notes.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• Read your notes, either to yourself or out loud,
  trying to get the information fixed in your
  memory.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• Fold your paper back, so that the only thing you
  can see is what you have written in the left-hand
  column.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• Ask yourself the question or explain the concept.
  

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• Flip your notes over to see how much of the
  material you have remembered.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• If you knew it accurately and precisely, go on to
  the next concept. If you had problems, read your
  notes another time or two and try again.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• As you learn the concepts, check them off in the
  margin.

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Method One Split-Page Notes

• When it comes time to prepare for the exam,
  follow these steps to use your notes to
  self-test
• When you begin the next study session, review
  what you know, but concentrate your efforts on
  what you dont know.

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Method Two Parallel Notes

• The Parallel Note method is useful for courses
  where the professor uses computerized slide
  presentations or other notes that the professor
  makes available before class.

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Method Two Parallel Notes

• For this method, print out the notes the
  professor supplies before class and place them in
  a 3-ring binder.
• As the professor lectures, take your own notes on
  the blank facing page, following along with the
  notes the professor supplied and filling in any
  gaps or added information.
• After the lecture, create your self-testing
  questions as described in the split-page method.

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Method Three Discussion Columns

• For classes emphasizing discussion instead of
  lecture, it is important to take notes on things
  that classmates say these comments can show up
  on exams!
• Adding an additional column specifically for the
  comments from classmates is a useful method for
  taking notes in discussions.

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Method Three Discussion Columns

• For this method, rather than dividing your paper
  into a narrow and a wide margin, divide it into
  three equal columns
• In the first column, write the question that is
  being posed or the theory that is being debated.
• In the second column, take notes on what the
  professor has to say about it.
• In the last column, take notes on what your
  classmates say.

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Method Four The T-Method

• The T-Method works best in classes where the task
  requires you to summarize the information or pull
  it together in some way.
• If you know that your exams will consist of essay
  questions or you will be asked to think about the
  information at higher levels, this method may
  work best for you.

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Method Four The T-Method

• For this method, take good, detailed notes as you
  ordinarily would.
• Draw a T at the bottom 1/4 of your last page of
  notes (you can use the back of the page if you
  need more room).

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Method Four The T-Method

• On the left side of the page under the T,
  summarize the key points of the lecture.
• On the right side of the page under the T, create
  your self-testing component by predicting some
  test questions about the material.

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Note-Taking Myths

• Students tend to believe certain things about
  note-taking that arent necessarily so

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Note-Taking Myths

• Myth 1 If You Cant Keep Up with the Professor,
  Tape Record the Lectures.
• This is a poor strategy because
• Most students dont really have time to listen to
  the tapes, and
• The tapes cant capture information that may be
  on an overhead projection or written on the
  board.

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Note-Taking Myths

• Myth 2 Copying a Classmates Notes who is a
  Better Note-Taker than You Is Better than
  Struggling with it Yourself.
• You wont learn much from copying someone elses
  lecture notes it is a passive approach to
  learning!
• A better plan is to compare your lecture notes
  with a classmates.

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Note-Taking Myths

• Myth 3 Its Impossible to Take Notes in a Class
  That Involves Discussion.
• In classes that involve discussion, the
  professors role is generally to initiate and
  guide the discussion. The students themselves
  actually generate the ideas -- and these ideas
  often find their way onto exams.

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Note-Taking Myths

• Myth 4 If My Professor Provides Notes by Putting
  them on the Web or Handing them out in Class, I
  Dont Have to Take Notes.
• Students who believe this myth rely solely on
  their professors notes and dont interact with
  their notes or attempt to learn the material
  until test time. Dont make this mistake! Use
  the Parallel Method to make active use of the
  notes the professor provides.