Education Articles from College Matching Service

Some say class notes have become almost synonymous with college life. Many students take notes without really understanding the purpose behind it. It is like an automated response where they follow what the others are doing and what the teacher expects of them. However, there are a number of reasons for taking lecture notes.

1. Instills better listening habits. While taking down notes, you are forced to listen carefully and concentrate on the discussion. This in turn facilitates the learning process
2. Identifying the main points in the discussion. This is one of the best reasons for a student to make class notes. It helps to identify the important ideas or principles being discussed. You will also be able to distinguish between necessary and unimportant information
3. Retain necessary information. Taking down notes will help you remember information in a more precise and organized manner. They form excellent study guides before the exams.
4. Best source of external information. Class notes are like invaluable mines as far as references and outside information are concerned. They tell you all that is not in the text books and also give out valuable clues as to what information is considered important by the speaker. Also, class lectures often give out ideas or concepts that may be difficult to come across in a library or on the internet
5. Source of information regarding class assignments. Attending lectures and making notes will help you remember everything discussed in the classes. Most teachers base the test questions on their lectures. And they inadvertently give out information about their test questions during these lectures. While going through the notes before the exam, you can get a fairly good idea of what questions you might be asked to answer
6. Makes students an active participant in the learning process. As you write down the basic ideas and theories propagated, you will get a good idea of where the lecture is heading. You will be able to think and analyze things on your own. This will definitely make you more involved in the discussion. You can ask questions and clarify your doubts. This in turn will enhance the learning

It has been noticed that information that is understood, may not always be remembered. So it is mandatory to write it down. Learning to make effective notes will help you to not only improve your study and work habits and remember important information, but also develop an accurate means of arranging necessary information.

Taking notes is a major part of every student’s class time. It is a vital skill, which has a major contribution in determining the degree of success or failure of a student. Note taking is not only limited to students, people take notes at work as well during meetings and in discussions about different projects.

People have diverse opinions on taking notes. Some do not take notes at all, preferring to concentrate on listening and understanding well, and then going on to writing everything down in an organized manner, after the discussion is over. But a lot of people swear by their note taking, because most of them find it difficult to recall all the significant aspects of a discussion, no matter how closely they paid attention. So if you are someone who makes it a point to take notes whether in the classroom or the workplace, hang on, for you may find an undiscovered gem in the following tips. 

Be flexible:

By flexibility I am referring to non-linearity, a lot of people have the habit of taking notes in a linear form. This can be time consuming, moreover in reality, lectures, meetings and other events, where you have to take notes, usually do not follow a linear pattern. So try to write in a free flowing manner and make use of maps, diagrams and tables.

Get the concept:

Rather than writing everything in detail, try to get the essential aspects of the discussion. You may also have your own thoughts about the subject being discussed. Write them down as well.

Create your own short-forms and symbols:

Liberally use symbols, abbreviations and short forms of words. It will save you a lot of time and help you take down a lot more, than you could earlier.

Review

Review your notes as soon as you get the time. Reviewing helps you to enhance your notes significantly. The sooner you can do it, the better, because the discussion would be still fresh in your mind and you can add more ideas and inputs that you were unable to add during the discussion due to urgency.