I don't know if this is a US-only problem or just something that's common at my university, but I am always shocked by how little my first-year students (and even experienced students) understand about taking notes in class, and how few of them take notes while doing assigned readings. They seem to feel that note-taking is just copying what's on the PowerPoint slides and then tuning out until the next slide, or trying to write down every word I say, or just waiting to be told to write something down. But those are all kind of opposites of what it should be. I don't teach hard sciences or mathematics and can't speak to best practices in those classrooms, but here's an abbreviated version of the spiel I give my social sciences students on note-taking:
Taking notes is actually a really powerful form of studying, if you work at it, and can save you lots of study time later as well as making you quicker on the uptake "in real life." There is loads of science on this. When taking notes in class, I recommend putting things in your own words as often as possible, underlining things that are clearly important or emphasized by the prof, working to identify the most relevant info being presented - as it is being presented - and making sure you get it on paper, drawing little pictures to help you remember things, adding swear words, having fun with it - whatever helps you listen and make sense of things for yourself as they happen in the classroom. This puts the information in your personal timeline as something you actively experienced, and it will stick in your memory better. Reviewing your notes later will be more than just rereading and trying to remember what you passively saw or heard in the classroom, it will be revisiting what you thought about the info, what the context was, and (usually) what the professor was really getting at. The same goes for jotting down a few thoughts/reactions while doing assigned readings. I can often predict how well a student will comprehend and remember a lecture just by glancing at their notes.
If you're already a note-taking ninja, I apologize for the preachy post. If not, I hope it helps you a little with the academic part of university life. Best of luck to you!
came here to say "learn tot ake notes" and was pleased to see your comment.
Most of my long term memory came from redoing my notes at least twice from my initial notes (and doodling pictures to go with them) and sticking the hard to remember parts on post its all over my living space. My house was plastered in (colour coded) physics equations in the months leading up to exams :) I got the top score for my year so it must have worked xD
Thank you for this. I've had previous teachers say somewhat similar stuff, mainly around not just copying word-for-word, but highlighting the important aspects and trying to put everything into your own words. But what you have said is extremely helpful as well. I'm okay with taking notes, but I'm not the best. I'll make sure to bear all your advice in mind next time I'm taking notes.
Great! Finding the little tricks and techniques that work best for you is a process that takes time to master, but it'll pay off even early on . The short version of my spiel, by the way, is: "Participate, all the time, in your head, and record that in your notes."
I don't know if this is a US-only problem or just something that's common at my university, but I am always shocked by how little my first-year students (and even experienced students) understand about taking notes in class, and how few of them take notes while doing assigned readings. They seem to feel that note-taking is just copying what's on the PowerPoint slides and then tuning out until the next slide, or trying to write down every word I say, or just waiting to be told to write something down. But those are all kind of opposites of what it should be. I don't teach hard sciences or mathematics and can't speak to best practices in those classrooms, but here's an abbreviated version of the spiel I give my social sciences students on note-taking:
Taking notes is actually a really powerful form of studying, if you work at it, and can save you lots of study time later as well as making you quicker on the uptake "in real life." There is loads of science on this. When taking notes in class, I recommend putting things in your own words as often as possible, underlining things that are clearly important or emphasized by the prof, working to identify the most relevant info being presented - as it is being presented - and making sure you get it on paper, drawing little pictures to help you remember things, adding swear words, having fun with it - whatever helps you listen and make sense of things for yourself as they happen in the classroom. This puts the information in your personal timeline as something you actively experienced, and it will stick in your memory better. Reviewing your notes later will be more than just rereading and trying to remember what you passively saw or heard in the classroom, it will be revisiting what you thought about the info, what the context was, and (usually) what the professor was really getting at. The same goes for jotting down a few thoughts/reactions while doing assigned readings. I can often predict how well a student will comprehend and remember a lecture just by glancing at their notes.
If you're already a note-taking ninja, I apologize for the preachy post. If not, I hope it helps you a little with the academic part of university life. Best of luck to you!
came here to say "learn tot ake notes" and was pleased to see your comment.
Most of my long term memory came from redoing my notes at least twice from my initial notes (and doodling pictures to go with them) and sticking the hard to remember parts on post its all over my living space. My house was plastered in (colour coded) physics equations in the months leading up to exams :) I got the top score for my year so it must have worked xD
Thank you for this. I've had previous teachers say somewhat similar stuff, mainly around not just copying word-for-word, but highlighting the important aspects and trying to put everything into your own words. But what you have said is extremely helpful as well. I'm okay with taking notes, but I'm not the best. I'll make sure to bear all your advice in mind next time I'm taking notes.
Great! Finding the little tricks and techniques that work best for you is a process that takes time to master, but it'll pay off even early on . The short version of my spiel, by the way, is: "Participate, all the time, in your head, and record that in your notes."