By MIDN 1/C Natasha Houldson
Stanford Class of 1998
General Approach
Unless you are a shorthand expert, it is not possible to write down every word that a lecturer speaks. Even if you were a shorthand expert, however, this approach would not be desirable. Consider note-taking both an art and a science. With experience, it is possible to improve your "eye" for discerning which of the ideas that a lecturer discusses are most important (an "art"). You can also learn to record these ideas most efficiently and meaningfully (a "science").
Before the Lecture
• Complete the assigned reading before you go to lecture. Some students argue that they cannot understand the material until after they hear someone explaining it, while others will argue that it is difficult to gain much from lecture unless they have completed the readings. However, until you gain some experience in taking notes in college lectures, you should do the readings before lecture. If you don’t have a lot of time, then at least skim the assignment for key points, vocabulary words, and/or fundamental equations. You will probably find that exposure to the material before lecture will enhance your ability to focus on what the lecturer is trying to explain, reducing your feelings of confusion or being overwhelmed by the subject material.
• Right before the lecture begins, label your note paper with the date and title of the lecture. Be sure to number your pages.
• Consider writing in pencil, so that you can erase mistakes and avoid messy scribbles or "cross-outs" that are inevitable when taking notes with a pen.
• Use the same type of paper for each lecture. Having a uniform set of notes at the end of the quarter will help you maintain a feeling of organization and control over the material.
During the Lecture
• Become an "amateur psychologist." This means that you should try to "get into the lecturer’s head" to understand what s/he is try to communicate, instead of just what s/he is actually saying. Use the following questions to help you decide what you need to understand and remember from lecture:
-- What is the main point of this idea?
-- How does this idea fit into the rest of the lecture?
-- How can I best summarize this idea?
• Learn to balance your time in lecture between listening closely to the speaker and writing things down. Because most of what the lecturer says will be committed to your short-term memory only, you should place an emphasis on writing down what is said and waiting until later to understand the difficult or unclear concepts. Again, determining a good balance between listening closely and taking notes rapidly will become easier with practice.
• Use lots of space on your paper. Use headings, boxes, underlining, indentations, and skipped lines to help you organize the main points of the lecture. Avoid cramming information into a small space on your paper -- this only wastes time later when you’re trying to decipher what you wrote down. Again, be an "amateur psychologist," and try to imagine how the lecturer’s own notes have been organized for this class session.
• If you are allowed to ask questions during the lecture, do so. Be aggressive in asking the lecturer to explain concepts that remain unclear to you.
• Leave blank spaces on your notes if an idea is unclear, so that you can go back later to fill in the information.
After the Lecture
• If you have any questions, catch the lecturer for a few seconds right after class, before s/he leaves the room. It is far easier to ask a question while the ideas are still fresh in both your and the lecturer’s memories.
• Skim through your notes. Make any changes, correct any errors, and fill in blanks where you didn’t have time to write things down during the lecture.
• Write the date on any handouts you receive. File your notes and these handouts in a 3-ring binder in chronological order.