How to
Take Lecture Notes
The syllabus calls on you to "master basic facts and interpretations" and emphasizes the word, "master." To do this, you will need good notes on class lectures. Good notes are the most efficient tool to study for quizzes; the correlation between people who take good notes and people who score high on quizzes is almost perfect. Because this is so important, and because not all students are experienced in this, I provide here some advice on taking and using lecture notes. 1. Show up for class prepared and on time. You should do the assigned reading in advance, for I often refer to it in lecture without explanation and assume you know what I am talking about. You have to be there on time, because at the beginning of class is when I give some overview of the material that tells you what the organization is and where it fits with other topics. You have to be there every day, because you cannot study adequately with someone else's notes. 2. Get yourself a good notebook and keep all your notes in it. A loose-leaf is best, because then you can add pages and rearrange them and punch holes in handouts and put them in, too. (Oc course, you may be taking notes with your laptop, and that’s fine., too.) 3. Learn to listen. This isn't TV, where you sit and it happens to you. You have to be intellectually engaged, following through the argument to see where it is going, asking questions if you have lost your way. This is why I do not allow tape-recording of lectures; when you tape, you're not involved. 4. Use a two-page format for your notes. On the right-hand side record (in a hand and size you can read late at night, when you are cramming for exams) your synopsis of the lecture; on the left-hand side record dates of classes, references to handouts, references to readings, your own comments, ideas about potential exam questions, and anything else you think you need to note. 5. Capture the organization of each lecture; this is particularly important when you review for essay questions. Get the title down prominently at the beginning, and then so arrange and mark your notes thereafter as to remind you how things relate to one another. Use indentations, headings, arrows, spaces, numbers, letters, stars, underlining, circling, or whatever your personal code is. Formal outlining with Roman numerals and so on is not necessary and sometimes not possible. The lectures in this course are tightly organized, so if your notes are not, then you need to review point #3 above. Learn also to recognize the words of transition that convey the lecturer's design—"First of all," "finally," "most important," "for example," and other such words. 6. Get down the key terms used in the lecture—concepts defined, proper nouns mentioned repeatedly—the sort of things that you suspect would make good multiple-choice questions on exams. 7. Be selective. If you write too much, you not only will be unable to listen well in class but also will be unable to study well later. If you have too many notes, then before you can study, you have to make notes from your notes. If you take too few notes, however, you will not be able to reconstruct the material in your mind. So how do you know what to take down and what not to? Of course, you have to pick up the obvious cues—when I say, "Write this down," for instance, or highlight a term on a slide—but this is only part of the answer. What you have to be sure of is that you get down the organization of the lecture and the key terms used. As you do so, omit superfluous words and abbreviate wherever you can. 8. Sometime after class, and preferably the same day, review your notes to make sure you can understand them. Talk through them to yourself. This is the time to make additional notes about possible exam questions, particular points to remember, things to ask about later, and so on. Having trouble with this? Want us to have a look at your notes with you and make suggestions? Just ask. |