Taking Lecture Notes
(last update Mon, Mar 8, 2004)
Why should I take lecture notes?
  1. There have been studies by psychologists which show that unless you take notes, you will forget 70% of what is said within 30 minutes of hearing it. 
  2. Class time is so limited that your teachers do not have any time to waste on trivialities; therefore, their lectures will almost always be on the most important points of the chapter, in other words, the topics that will be on the tests for the course.
  3. Your teachers' lectures will almost usually be easier to understand than the textbook, and so you can use their explanations to understand and interpret the difficult related passages in your textbook. 
How can I take lecture notes that will take advantage of the natural strengths of my brain to help me study for exams?

Prepare your folder paper for effective notetaking by using layout and color.

  1. Divide the page one-third on the left and two-thirds on the right by folding the paper over. If you are right-handed, you are also right eyed, which means your right eye is your dominant eye, and this is important because the right side of your body is controlled by the left side of your brain, the side where language and details reside, and thus, important information will be in a physical location on the page to make it easy to transfer to a physical location in your brain that processes that information in the most efficient manner.
  2. Use a pen (not a pencil which smudges) to make notes that will be permanent, clear, and easy to study from for tests.
  3. On the top line write the course number and title, the topic for the lecture, and the date. In the upper right-hand corner, write the date of the lecture. This will help you to easily find the notes you need when you are studying for a test.
  4. Take your lecture notes on the right side only. This will ensure that the details go to the left side of your brain, where details are stored.  
  5. After the lecture is over, on the left side, write questions that mirror the notes on the right side. Questions are main ideas, which typically "live" on the right side of the brain. If your questions are on the left side, they will transfer more easily to the right side of the brain.
  6. Use highlighter pens in different colors to highlight key words and concepts to make them stand out and more easily transfer to your brain. If you are a visual learner, which most men and many women are, the colors will help you to remember the words better.
  7. Leave the back of the paper blank.
  8. Take about at least three to four pages of notes per hour in class.
  9. Keep your notes in a three-ring binder using index dividers to create separate sections for each course you are taking.
  10. Every evening, spend about 15 minutes quizzing yourself by using the questions and reciting the answers back until you get them right. Keep doing this until it's time for your exam.
How can I keep up with a teacher who speaks fast?
  1. Use abbreviations, symbols, acronyms, etc., to get down as much as possible. For example, in a history class, use H for the words history, historical, historic; use numbers, arrows, shapes (circles, squares, etc., ).  
  2. Leave out unimportant words (for example, articles, prepositions, etc.,). Make sure you get key words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs).  
  3. Do not stop writing during the lecture; just keep going even if you miss sections or misunderstand other parts. Do not stop to try to piece together the meaning of complicated passages. You can do that later after class is finished.  
  4. Use asterisks * for points that are difficult to understand. 
  5. Leave blank lines for information you miss writing down.
  6. Later you can ask a classmate or your teacher about unclear sections and missed information.
What should I do after class is finished?
  1. Check out vocabulary used in the lecture
  2. Make a vocabulary list for the specialized words your teacher uses or explains in the lecture.
  3. Put the list on the back of your lecture notes for that day. 
  4. In the entry for each vocabulary word, list the word, the meaning, your own meaning, and the abbreviation you used for the word.
  5. If the word is used in more than one lecture, list it on a separate page that you put at the beginning of the section for that course.
  6. Check out confusing sections (*) and missing information with another student or your teacher and fill in those places on your notes.
  7. Ask your friends and teachers questions.
  8. Copy down the answers in the blank spaces you left and next to the * you put in your notes.
  9. Make questions about your notes.
    • After class is over, make questions using WH-words such as what, why, how, who, when, where, etc., that reflect the content of your notes.
    • Make questions that cover several related points in the notes, not just individual facts. You need to chunk together a "glob" of information.
    • Create 3 to 5 questions per page of notes.

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