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Advice on effective note-taking

Introduction

Three general points should be borne in mind when considering the best way to take notes, whether from readings or in class:

  1. Taking notes from a text and from a lecture are very different enterprises. They are therefore addressed separately below.
  2. You need to read/listen with questions in mind rather than 'passively'.
  3. As far as possible, you should try to take notes in your own words. This is especially important when reading difficult texts, as it ensures that you really must get to grips with the material you are reading. Obviously, it is not always possible in class, as the pace of a lecture may leave you little time to think about how to re-phrase what the lecturer is saying.

Note-taking in class

The Cornell System

The Cornell system for taking notes is designed to save time but yet be highly efficient. There is no rewriting or retyping of your notes. It is a Do it right in the first place system.

  1. Preparation:
    1. If possible, use a large notebook. The only advantage of a small notebook is that it is easier to carry, which is not your main objective. A large notebook allows you to adequately indent and use an outline form when taking notes.
    2. Use only one side of the paper, so that you then can later lay your notes out to see the direction of a lecture.
    3. It's often a good idea to draw a vertical line 2 1/2 inches from the left side of your paper. This is the recall column. Take your notes to the right of this margin and use the margin for jotting down questions during the lecture. Later on, when revising your notes, you can jot down key words and phrases in the recall column.
  2. During the lecture:
    1. Try to record notes in paragraph form.
    2. Capture general ideas, not illustrative ideas.
    3. Skip lines to show end of ideas or thoughts.
    4. Try to leave a few spaces blank as the lecturer moves from one point to the next, so that you can fill in additional points later if necessary. Your objective is to take helpful notes, not to save paper.
    5. Using abbreviations will save time.
    6. And, of course, write legibly.
  3. After the lecture:
    1. Read through your notes and make it more legible if necessary.
    2. Now use the column. Jot down ideas or key words which give you the idea of the lecture. (Reduce!)
    3. You will have to reread the lecturer's ideas and reflect in your own words. Cover up the right-hand portion of your notes and recite the general ideas and concepts of the lecture.
    4. Overlap your notes showing only recall columns, and you have your review.

Other points to bear in mind in class

  1. Listen actively: Y
    • You are there to listen to the lecture, not to act as a stenographer. Listening is not the same as 'getting it all down'.
    • f possible, think before you write - but don't get behind.
    • Do not try to take down everything that the lecturer says. It is impossible in the first place and unnecessary in the second place, because not everything is of equal importance.
    • Spend more time listening and attempt to take down the main points. If you are writing as fast as you can, you cannot be as discriminating a listener. (There may be some times, however, when it is more important to write than to think.)
  2. Listening is - and should be - a critical exercise, but be open-minded about points you disagree on. Don't let arguing interfere with your note-taking.
  3. Listen for cues as to important points, transition from one point to the next, repetition of points for emphasis, changes in voice inflections, enumeration of a series of points, etc. Always be alert to cues about what the lecturer thinks is important.
    • Pay particular attention to anything the lecturer puts on an overhead or handout - if (s)he has taken the trouble to give it to you in that form, (s)he probably considers it important - and copy down everything the lecturer writes on the whiteboard, blackboard or overhead, regardless.
  4. Raise questions if appropriate - especially if you are getting lost.
    • Questions that can wait until the end of the lecture probably should wait. Note them down to ask at the end. However, if you need to clarify something urgently in order to avoid simply 'losing the plot', then raise your hand to ask straightaway.
    • Remember that asking questions is often a public service: you may think that yours is a 'dumb' question and that you will look dumb if you ask it, but this is rarely the case. Chances are, if you didn't understand something, some of your colleagues also failed to understand it. By asking the question, you'll be helping them as well as yourself. You'll also help the lecturer, who needs to know if and when he/she is in danger of losing his audience.
  5. Develop and use a standard method of note-taking including punctuation, abbreviations, margins, etc.
    • Make your original notes legible enough for your own reading, but use abbreviations of your own invention when possible. The effort required to recopy notes after the lecture can be better spent in rereading them and thinking about them.
  6. Sit as close to the front of the class as you can, so there are fewer distractions and it is easier to hear, see and attend to important material.

After class: editing lecture notes

There are several good reasons for organising and reviewing your notes as soon as possible after the lecture (this fits with advice I will be giving you later in the year on exam revision, by the way):

  • The lecture is still fresh in your mind: you can fill in from memory examples and facts which you did not have time to write down during the lecture. Moreover, you can recall what parts of the lecture were unclear to you so that you can consult the lecturer, the class teacher, a classmate or your readings for further information.
  • Immediate review results in better retention than review after a longer period of time. Try to look things over within 24 hours of the lecture or at least before the next lecture; otherwise, retention will drop and you will be relearning rather than reviewing.

Annotating your notes is usually preferable to recopying them, at least until you begin to revise for exams in earnest. When reviewing notes after a lecture:

  • underline key statements or important concepts
  • use asterisks or other signal marks to indicate importance
  • use margins or blank pages for co-ordinating notes with your readings, with other lecture notes, etc, or for noting questions for further consideration
  • use margins for noting major headings or themes, so that the outline of the lecture can be quickly grasped from the marginal markings

It is often a good idea to use more than one colour of ink when taking notes or editing them. I usually rely on black for most things, with red or green to circle / underline / annotate as needed. The human eye is lazy, and a simple thing like changing colours makes it much easier to scan a page and pick out the main points. Sometimes I use three or four inks on a single page.

Reading and note-taking

  1. Wherever possible, try to begin by reading the text over once, quickly, looking for the main idea, for what the essay is about in general, and for what the author seems to be saying. Don't get bogged down in details. (If you come to an unfamiliar word, circle it but go on reading). If you are using a photocopy, use a pen or pencil to make a few very limited notes highlighting the structure of the piece and its main sections.
  2. Then re-read the text slowly and carefully, this with the aim of isolating the single most important claim the author makes: his/her thesis. Try to get some sense of structure. The thesis determines the structure, so the structure, once you begin to sense it, can lead you to the thesis. If the author has stated his thesis fully and clearly and all in one place, your job is easier. The thesis is apt to be stated somewhere in the last few paragraphs, in which case the preceding paragraphs gradually lead up to it, or else somewhere right after the introduction, in which case the balance of the essay justifies the statement and refers back to it.
  3. Sometimes, however, the author never states the entire thesis in so many words; he gives it to you a piece at a time and you have to put it together for yourself. If this is the case, then ask yourself, 'What is the author trying to prove?' 'What is the unifying principle of this essay'? or 'What idea does everything in this essay talk about?' or 'Under what single main statement could all the subdivisions fit?'
  4. When you think you have grasped the main point, the whole essay goes to prove, write it down in your notes or (on a photocopy) in the margin. If you find you have several possible theses, don't panic; they all fit together somehow-or, at any rate, the author means them to do so. One or more will probably turn out to be supporting the thesis rather than part of it.
  5. In making notes on the essay (or marking it up with marginal notes and underlining, if you are writing directly onto the text), remember the following:
  6. Having identified the author's principal claim, you want to evaluate how well he/she supports it. This means focusing on the main points of his/her argument in support of the thesis. Focus your notes on these, and don't try to copy down all the facts, dates, examples and other evidence he/she adduces, although do take note of the general shape of the evidence or the logic of argument deployed. Ultimately, you want your notes to provide you with the skeleton of the piece, not with a shorthand re-copying of everything in it.
  7. Within each structural subdivision (chapter or section) try to isolate and note down the main points the author is making. Sometimes this will be very clearly stated at the start of a chapter or section but at other times it will only be implied, and you will need to find it.
  8. Try to note down any explicit or implicit indications in the text that might help you identify the audience the author has in mind. What assumptions did he make? What did he take for granted his audience already knew, or already believed, or both? Is his audience hostile or friendly? Is he/she implicitly or explicitly engaged in an argument with someone else? Closely linked to this is the question of why the author wrote the piece.
  9. Do not treat each piece you are reading in isolation. If you can see links between what you are reading and other things you have read, then note them down. Does this author's view contradict or support the views of other authors you've already read? Is he following a path already established by someone else whose work you know? Likewise, note down links to ideas presented in lectures.
  10. Be sure to note precisely the page numbers of specific arguments or passages you think you may need to cite directly. This is also useful when it comes to revision, if you discover you have not quite 'got the plot'. I usually note the page I am on in the far left margin of the page, so that it is always clear from what page notes were taken. Also remember to take full details of the text-author, title, publisher, date, etc, so that any quotations can be precisely referenced and the bibliography can be completed without an unnecessary trip back to the library.
  11. Building diagrams of the concepts that the author uses to make his/her argument is often very useful in ensuring that you properly understand them yourself.

How to read a difficult text

  1. If you find that a text looks particularly difficult for you, the best approach is often to read it through superficially before you try to master it.
    • Look first for the things you can understand and avoid getting bogged down in the difficult passages.
    • Read right on past paragraphs, footnotes, arguments and references that escape you. There will be enough material which you can immediately grasp (even if it is only 50% or less) that will enable you to understand the book in part. What you want, in the first instance, is not mastery of the text but a general sense of its contents.
    • The best place to start is often with the very things that you might be most inclined to overlook:
  2. If you are dealing with a book, look at its title page and preface and note especially the sub-titles or other indications of its scope and aim or the author's special angle. Students often skip such preliminary matter but it can give you very useful clues about what follows.
    • If a journal provides abstracts of its articles, read the abstract first. Many abstracts are, alas, a waste of time, but a well-written abstract should give you a good idea what the text is about.
  3. The same is true of the table of contents of a book or the section headings in an article or chapter. A quick look at these can give you a general sense of the book's structure; use them as you would a road map before taking a trip.
  4. In the case of a book, check the index for the range of subjects covered or the kinds of authors quoted. When you see terms listed that seem crucial, look up the passage. You may find the key to the author's approach.

Now you are ready to read the text or skim through it, as you choose:

  • If you opt to skim it, look at the chapters which contain pivotal passages or summary statements in their opening or closing pages. Then dip into a page here and there, reading a paragraph or two, sometimes several pages in a sequence.
  • Thumb through the book in this way, always looking for the basic pulse beat of the matter.
  • With a bit of luck, you may soon find that you are not skimming the text at all. You are reading it, understanding it and perhaps even enjoying it.