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How To Take
Awesome
Notes In Class
Fiach Smyth
May 18, 2016

Note-taking is a skill that is often not given the

attention it deserves. Your notes are the backbone

of your study; they summarise your learning, they

inform your revision, they provide the context

within which you can relate the things you have

been taught. Good study notes make study

quicker, easier, and more e"ective. The very act of

taking notes in class already bene#ts your

learning, and the process of organising them is

study.

Here we will go through how to take notes in

class, how to organise your notes and how to write

good notes that will help you with your study

down the track.

Why take notes in class?

There are two bene#ts to taking class notes. One

of these bene#ts is apparent: how many classes do

you have each day? Each class throws information

at you, information that you need to know. What

your teacher tells you in English class might make

perfect sense at the time, but how much of this

will you remember after you've sat through a

History class, and then a Maths class, and then a

Science class? The amount of information you pick

up each day is huge; having a page or two of notes

as a reminder of what was discussed is a great aid

to the memory.

The second bene#t is more subtle. By taking

notes in class you are having to think about what

you're learning, analyse it and decide which bits to

write down. You're cataloguing the information,

comparing it to the knowledge you already have,

considering it in the context of the topic you are

studying, and evaluating it for importance.

The very act of using a pen to write words on

paper makes our memory of those words

stronger.

Even if you never convert your class notes into

study notes, the process of taking notes enhances

both the memory and the learning

experience. The very #rst step in creating a

database of good study notes is taking notes in

class. Taking notes seems like something that

should be fairly easy, and it is, if you know what

makes class notes good.

Don’t worry if they’re

rough

Class notes do not need to be perfect. Your study

notes are going to be well organised, ultimately,

but at this stage the most important thing is to

just write down anything you think might turn out

to be important. You're not transcribing your

teacher; you don't need complete sentences, you

don't need everything in order. You can cross

things out, use arrows to crudely link things on

di"erent parts of the page, leave notes for

yourself to look something up later, circle and

underline things to make them stand out.

メ

1 6
JUNE2013-CORE3. sxcasSo°
2sinxsin50°+Sinxcos40°+sin40cosa=2co cos50°=sin40°
DGiventhat 2
3
2tarasino®+tanxcAs40°+sin40°→2cosS0°
32-229-529-4 aaxi+bx+c+dxte 张性 ×10*
Ans sin50°•Cos40°
x'-4 x3-4 •X sime(2Sin50°+COS40)=cosx(2cosSO°-sin409)
3x7+10x cosx casx.
→x1-453x4-2x3-5x1-4
-3x7-12x3 =tanx(2sin50°+cos40º)-200550°-sin40°
0+10x3-5x3 2sinSO°+C0340° 2sinSO°+Cos40°
10x3 =24
L(x3-4)=(x+2)(x-2) @Hencesolvefor0s0$360,
2Cos40°+cos40°
2cos(20+50)°=sin(20+40)°
HOPE
•sin409 to1d.p. CHANGETHE
3x2-2x+7 3cos40°
Givea thatfla)Ine,x>0 tan 28=|+07409 RANGE!
sketch
~22347220x
-2x3-0x7-8x @y-f(x) actan(tan20=|tan40°)
0+7x7+8x-4 •20=15.63°
+7х*+0x-2.8
0+8x+24 ©y+-f(x-4) •0•4.8°
ITWASO
3)180°+ 26=195.6°97.8°
asymptote→x=0
3360°+20•375.6°-187.80
©540°+20=555.63°- 277.8°
foy)(1,0))
@usingcale,findthecoordsoftheturningpointof
asymptole y*f(x)→>f(x)-25x2*-16,xeR
•×→+4
y=-f(x) (5,0) dy→vu,+UV,=(e'*)(50x)+(25x")(2e?*)
43
meansyou 60.5）
(5,0)
10,-
(-5,0))
u=25x*u'=50x Soxe?*+50x*erx
Youvemadethismistake
before!
いですい：2ex e'x(sox+Sox")
Given2c03(x+50)°asin(x+40)*
50x(ex+xe*) °soxe'*(1+x)
@Show,withusingacalculator(whoevendoesthat?)that 0=50xe*x（1+x） 0,-16
So,50xex0 or
ang メニー！ Coords(-1,25e*-16))
So...
•2cosx1050*-sináinso 9*25（-）060-1 bShowthatf(x)=0canbe
wittenal
=25e-16
2(cosxcasso-sinesinso=sinxcos40°+sin40°Cosx* ©Iterationformula:
16-25x*e?* x
•2coxcosSo*-2sinasinso•sinxcos4o+sin40°cosx* X00=05
e 25 9x3ei
=2cosxcos50°-sin4p'cesx:2sinsinSo'+singuesuo®
25
x,=0.485,x2=0.492,x3=0.489. xe
=Cosx(2C0550°-sin40°)=sinx(2sinSo"+cos4o")→tanx(2tan ex
)
cosx(2cos50°-sin40* d）Estimaketorato2d.p.（**）"OhasTA
Cosx(2001So%-Sin40°) coota,where ReVIs
0 036
0.51
04 e* E
f0.485)=-0.487f(0495)=0.485→signchange,Soa=0.49, mustlie
behreen.
THIS

Image: Revisorde/Tumblr

Maybe your teacher spends a few minutes

explaining something you already know; you don't

need to note that, or maybe note it but don't

spend much time on it right now. Or maybe your

teacher skims over something you don't quite get;

de#nitely make a note of that, so you know to ask

them about it later.

Your notes need to be legible to you, and they

need to mean something to you, and they need to

highlight what's most important to you; focus on

that.

Remember, they’re only

temporary

Ultimately you are going to make actual study

notes. They're going to be informed by these class

notes but, as we'll discuss in a later blog, you can't

make a good overview of a topic you've not yet

#nished learning, so these class notes are only

temporary. When you're making them, keep that

in mind. You don't need to polish them, you don't

need to think of them in terms of being

comprehensive summaries of the unit of study.

Think of your class notes more like the planning

stage of your study notes.

Further reading: How To Maximise Pre-Exam Study

A quick note is a good note

Don't agonise over your notes. Just jot down

whatever you think might be helpful and worry

about the details later. You shouldn't be focused

on your notes when you're in class - you should be

focused on your teacher, and on the discussions

you and your classmates are having about the

things you are learning. If you're sitting there

trying to make sure your notes are absolutely

perfect, you're missing out on all that. Just put

down whatever you think is useful, then, if later on

you #nd you missed something, that's okay; you'll

have other chances to write it down in other

classes, or you can ask your teacher about it next

time.

Teachers are experts when it comes to

communicating information; expect ideas and

terminology to be mentioned many times as you

learn a topic, not just once. Take notes quickly and

worry about the details later.

Image: Georgi Studies/Tumblr

Reviewing your class notes

Each night you should spend just a little time

reviewing the notes you took that day. Read over

them; do they still make sense? Are there any

extra notes you need to add, to clarify them? Do

you have additional thoughts about something

now that the class is over?

If something no longer makes sense, note that

down - that's something you need to listen out for

next class, investigate now, or perhaps discuss

with your teacher or a tutor.

If you're going through your class notes and

need help understanding an area or concept,

connect with a subject specialist now to get

expert help.

Get online study help now

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