How to take good notes while listening

True

If you cannot read your own notes they are useless. Details of the title, the lecturer's or presenter's name, the date etc. are essential if you wish to use them and, in the case of a lecture, reference them for an assignment. These details also help you to place them in a context if you are using them at a later date for revision purposes.

False

There is no maximum length for notes. Lectures and presentations vary in the quantity of useful information they contain and in the time they take to deliver. These factors will affect the length of your notes. Notes are, by definition, a short form and you need to be selective and concise when making them.

True

Notes that are written too close together can be difficult to understand later. Leaving plenty of space between points can help you quickly distinguish between a main point and a secondary point. Similarly, making lists of points (rather than by using a paragraph for example) can help you quickly distinguish groups of related points. Items in lists can be numbered or ordered by letters (a, b, c).

True

Good note-takers use time-saving techniques when making notes. For example, they may use symbols (e.g. = & \ % ) and abbreviations(e.g. abbrev.), or use figures (e.g. 780, 2M) instead of writing numbers in words. They will often note only keywords and leave out words that are less important in conveying meaning (e.g. a, the). This will take less time when they are listening and writing at the same time.

False

Good notetakers often use more than one colour when making notes. For example, they may use a different colour pen or highlighter pen to emphasise key points. In a similar way, they may also choose to emphasise important parts of their notes by the use of underlining or capital letters. Any of these methods can make key points stand out in a set of notes so that they are easier to understand when read at a later date.

Claudia's notes show use of all of the time-saving techniques on the list except for indenting.

Indenting (setting some points of secondary importance at a mid point on the page rather than aligning them with main points on the left side) is an easy way of presenting main and secondary points differently so that they are more noticeable and their relationship is instantly recognisable to the reader.

Remember, that the short forms that Claudia uses represent her own system of abbreviating words. There are commonly used abbreviations (e.g. 'prob' for 'problem'), but most people make slight modifications in the way they abbreviate words to suit their own purposes.

When taking notes you need to use a range of techniques that will save you time and allow you to present information clearly but you should also make sure that your notes contain enough information to be comprehensible after the lecture, as in some cases, they will not be needed until many months later, at exam time.

Use a variety of techniques to save yourself time and to present the notes that you take clearly. Try to record all the main or important information as you listen.

Example notes:

Making an invention: The Hot Drink Can (Chem. lec. e.g. 23/6/07)

How it wks technically:
Areas for ->
1. coffee
2. chemical reaction
3. widget -> start + control chem. react'n

How invention made:
Small co. want'd hot coffee can -> asked univ. chem. dept to devel'p
Design features = simple + safe + cheap + generates lots of heat
Exothermic reactions - make heat
Cheapest & simplest option = quicklime(QL) + water
i.e. calcium oxide reacts w/ water-> calc. hydroxide+ heat

Reqs.:
1. needs to be safe - chem. react'n confined i.e. WILL NOT mix w/ coffee
2. NOT harmful to environm't - QL & slaglime used by agric./farmers/garden centres = safe + can be recycled

Engineer -> design of can
chemistry:
how much QL + how much water? (parameters) to prod. amount of heat needed from rm temp. to 60 degs
BUT depends on reactivity of lime + vol. to be heated
In this case: drink vol. = 200ml; so 100ml for chem react'n

After comparing your own notes with the examples notes, can you identify any ways in which you could improve your own note-taking techniques during lectures and presentations?

It is useful to set aside some time a few days after taking notes in a lecture when you can review your lecture notes to check that they are comprehensible and that they contain all the necessary information (e.g. lecturer's name, title of lecture, date of lecture) you need should you wish to use them as source material for an essay.