How to Take Notes in Class
This Resource Page will help you:
- Understand the benefits of notetaking in class
- Take effective notes in class
- Maximize the usefulness of notes for classes and assignments
Why Should We Use Note-taking Strategies?
While attending classes, many students take too many notes line by line without prioritizing the content. This method is not very effective: not every word the professor says should be written down, and you may find it impossible to follow every single sentence in a three-hour class. Also, when you want to review your notes after class, you might find it difficult to capture the important parts and might get frustrated.
Using note-taking strategies during classes can help us focus and keep our brains active, and ultimately organize our notes and ideas more effectively for our studies.
To learn more about note-taking strategies when reading materials, check our Resource Page How to take Notes of Readings.
How to Take Effective Notes in Class/While Listening?
Focus on listening:
- Make sure that listening is the priority and that your notetaking is not interfering with your comprehension. You don’t need to take too many notes, nor strive for ‘perfect’ notes – you can’t capture everything.
- When you listen to others, focus on transition words/phrases to help you follow the structure of the talk and to structure your notes.
- Focus on what you CAN understand rather than on unfamiliar words. If new, technical terms are mentioned, jot them down and check their meaning after class.
Organization of in-class notes:
- Format your notes with clear labels and different colors.
- Organize your notes with bullet points, headings and sub-headings as you follow the structure of the talk.
- Make abbreviations in your notes if it helps you save time – but make sure that you can recall their meanings after class. Examples: “edu” for “education”, “ppl” for “people”.
- Your notes should primarily focus on key words/nouns rather than adjectives, verbs, etc.
Example:
This sample shows a student’s notes during a lecture about the topic “Assessments in online mathematics courses in the post-secondary context”.
How to Make the Most of your Notes after Class
After-class Review
Consolidate and organize your notes while the class content is still fresh in your mind. You can
- fill in the points that you did not have time to write down during the class
- expand the abbreviations to the full words or expressions
- check new concepts or vocabulary
Deep Review
Notetaking in grad school is normally not for memorization (as it often is in undergrad) but rather for future use in your assignments and for building knowledge and expertise. The more you review, the more likely you can turn the course content into knowledge. As a result, you’ll have richer ideas in your assignments.
Methods for a deeper review:
- Transfer your written notes into digital form (or vice versa) and add reflections and questions
- Ask yourself questions related to class content to check and fill the gaps in your class notes
- Summarize your notes in a different way (e.g., if you use the Cornell method in your class notes, try to use the mind map when you revise them.)
Below is the expanded version of the example notes shown above:
This sample shows how a student reviewed, consolidated and organized their notes after class. These notes refer to a lecture about the topic “Assessments in online mathematics courses in the post-secondary context”.
Handwritten vs Digital Notes
Refer to the table below to explore the advantages, disadvantages, and scenarios of use for handwritten and digital notes.
| Handwritten Notes | Digital Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Advantages | Enhances memory retention through physical writing. | Efficient, allows for faster notetaking. Easy to organize, edit, and search notes. |
| Disadvantages | Slower, may miss some details. Harder to organize and edit later. | Potential distractions from other apps. |
| Scenario of Use | During class: quickly note down other people’s ideas and your immediate reflections. After class: revise handwritten notes, transfer or scan them into a digital format, and organize them accordingly. | During class: jot down the notes of fast-paced classes where detailed notes are essential. After class: revise your notes, add suitable content from the instructor’s slides and peers’ ideas from the discussion board or classroom discussion. |