Notetaking

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Before the lecture

Do any pre-lecture or background reading you can.  Look closely at your course outline and try to read about the topic before the lecture.  Many lecturers put lecture outlines on Moodle.  If these are available, try to read them before the lecture.  Taking these notes to the lecture means you can focus on the lecturer’s explanations, and record examples, diagrams and extra details.

If possible, get to the lecture room five minutes early and read through the notes you took in the previous lecture. This refreshes your memory and helps to tune you in to the topic.

During the lecture

Write the date at the top of your first page and add page numbers as you move on to another page.  This makes it easier to sort and file your notes. Leaving a wide margin on each page makes it possible to add notes or extra information later.

Alternatively, try using an exercise book (you will need a separate book for each subject).

Listen carefully to the opening part of the lecture.  A lecturer will often make links with the last lecture, introduce the day’s topic and summarise the objectives.

The purpose of note taking is to have material to refer to later for assignments and exams (i.e. a memory trigger). Try to get down as many of the key words and concepts as you can, but be careful not to spend so much time writing that you miss the important themes.  Some students tape record lectures so they can listen to them later; however, transcribing notes can be very time consuming.  It is polite to ask the lecturer’s permission before taping lectures. 

Use abbreviations as much as possible (eg ref., rship., prev., info., esp.).  You will develop your own abbreviations for your subject area. 

After the lecture

Transfer your notes to a ring binder with coloured dividers or a folder with plastic pockets.  Read over your lecture notes as soon as you can.  Use a coloured highlighter or pen to highlight headings and keywords.  Try to remember the most important themes of the lecture.  Make yourself a one page summary from two or three pages of lecture notes, or create a mind map that summarises the key ideas and shows links between topics (ask at the Learning Centre if you would like more information about mind mapping).  Once you have made your summary, you might also like to write a few review questions and see if you can answer these without using your notes.

Some research suggests that if students don’t review their lecture notes, recall will be almost zero after one week, unless the topic was really interesting or was presented in a way that helped them remember the material.

As well as reviewing your lecture notes you should be following up on your lecturer’s suggestions for further reading.  This helps you to make sense of the notes.  You can then make a better summary of the whole topic area when you need to prepare for an assignment, test or exam.