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Academic Skills Center

The document provides guidance on effective lecture note taking. It discusses taking notes before, during, and after class. Notes should include a record of the key ideas and facts presented to help students learn and review the material. The format of lectures usually includes an introduction, thesis, body of content organized in common structures like chronological or topical, and summary. After class, students should edit and organize their notes, add clarifications, and set them up for effective review with techniques like writing questions. Recognizing the instructor's approach and aim can help students focus on the important content.

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Cristian Zaharia
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34 views

Academic Skills Center

The document provides guidance on effective lecture note taking. It discusses taking notes before, during, and after class. Notes should include a record of the key ideas and facts presented to help students learn and review the material. The format of lectures usually includes an introduction, thesis, body of content organized in common structures like chronological or topical, and summary. After class, students should edit and organize their notes, add clarifications, and set them up for effective review with techniques like writing questions. Recognizing the instructor's approach and aim can help students focus on the important content.

Uploaded by

Cristian Zaharia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ACADEMIC SKILLS CENTER

STUDY SKILLS LIBRARY

Lecture Note Taking


Discussion
Notes provide a record of the lecture content. They should help you to learn and remember the ideas
and facts presented. Reorganized or edited notes may form the basis for integrating all course materials
and information. This may help to reduce cramming and going over great masses of unlearned materials
at the close of the quarter.

Notes should also represent your understanding of the content. They should encourage you
to take an active thinking part in the lecture and to do reference reading. Notes may also
represent your questions and reactions. If notes are used in the ways suggested, they may
help you overcome nervousness and fear of examinations through more thorough learning
and preparation.

The Content of Lecture Material


Instructors have different ideas about what "Learning" in their lectures should include. An
introductory nature, getting a body of knowledge is a chief aim. In others, comparative
viewpoints may be criticized, controversial issues may be discussed, research may be
presented, or theoretical brainstorming may be emphasized. It is important that you try to
define the instructor's aim since it will help you to focus on the material.

You should also try to recognize where the lecture content comes from so that you can later
check and clarify information. Some lecturers will directly follow the course textbook while
others will use material from supplemental sources or personal experiences.

Knowing the degree of detail or generalization will help to plan the actual recording on
content. Some instructors may cover only a few points with much explanation to make them
clear but not necessarily important to the actual notes. Others may pack the lecture hour with
facts, leaving you to determine the major points.

The Lecture Format


Most lectures include an introduction to get your attention, a thesis statement to tell what the
day's topic will be, a body of content about the topic, a summary statement, and a certain
number of irrelevancies. The body of the content is generally organized round one of the
following formats:

1. Inductive – begins with a small fact, building upon that to a major conclusion.
2. Deductive – starts with a major point and gradually defends that point down to the smallest
fact.
3. Chronological – organized according to time, often earliest to most recent.
4. Spatial – uses diagrams, maps, or pictures to guide the direction of the lecture.
5. Logical – follows some sequence of events or steps in an evolutionary manner.
6. Topical – presents several content areas with no apparent connection.

Most instructors have a typical pattern which they follow in their lectures. If you can recognize this
pattern, you will be able to listen and structure your notes more effectively. Both thinking and writing will
be more clearly organized.

For each class you will need a different note taking system. Because the combinations of factors about
you, the instructor, the classroom conditions and the task vary constantly, your strategies for one class will
rarely be exactly the same as for another.

Note Taking Before, During, and After Class


Before Class:

Review yesterday's notes and edit them. Think about what may be presented today. Study
today's lesson, text, or readings. Survey or preview the next lesson.

During Class:

Actively participate

1. Do more listening and thinking, and less writing if you understand the material.
2. Watch for verbal, visual, or postural clues, which indicate main points. Examples: voice
inflections, material on board, repetitions, gestures.
3. Ask questions or write them down for further clarification when you disagree or are unsure.
4. Sit in front of the classroom if you have difficulty concentrating. Maintain eye contact with the
instructor when possible.
5. Have a system of taking notes.

After Class:

Edit your notes as soon as possible -- the sooner you do so, the less you will forget. Do the following:

A. Reorganize notes:

1. Number, label or underline to stress major and minor points.


2. Take out repetitions or irrelevancies.
3. Add or clarify where needed.
4. Code the margins with key topics.
5. Reduce notes.

B. Set notes up for review:

1. Write summary statements.


2. Turn major headings into questions to use in selective reviewing.
3. Mark points you expect will be included on the test.
4. Write possible questions over the material given.

Embrace Your Unlimited Possibilities 2


Bibliography

Deese, James and Ellin. How To Study, 3rd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1979.

Johnson, Sue. The 4 T’s: Teacher/You, Text, Talk, Test - A Systematic Approach to Learning
Success. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College, 2nd edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.

Raygor, Alton L. and David Wark. Systems for Study. New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc, 1970.

Embrace Your Unlimited Possibilities 3

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