How to take notes from a lecture you attend

Here is one of the many ways to take notes from a lecture you are listening.. Please review carefully and try to find your own way to take better notes...

Here are the steps you might want to follow...

1. Listen carefully to the introduction of the lecture. Copy what's written on the whiteboard or overhead projector. Every professor organizes each lecture into some sort of outline, even if it's implicit and loosely followed. By knowing this outline, you will be better prepared to anticipate what notes you will need to take.

2. Take notes in outline format. Underneath section headings, write down ideas in bullet form and supplementary ideas with indented sub-bullets. This is much better than just writing down everything as a new point.

• Professors are not always organized about following main points with subpoints, so keep in mind that you may have to re-organize your notes after the lecture. This is why it may be advantageous to take notes with a laptop, as editing becomes seamless.

• Your first priority should be grasping the lecture content and writing it down -- never let organization compromise your information acquisition.

3. Use abbreviations and skip unimportant words to take notes efficiently. Only record the important words that you need to get the idea of the point made. Skip words like "the" and "a" that do not convey additional meaning to the lecture content. Create abbreviations to help you write things down quickly, such as drawing arrows for increase/decrease or to show causation, and especially for terms used over and over again (e.g., IR for international relations).

• Remember: your goal is to understand what the professor is saying, not to try to record exactly everything he or she says.

4. Recognize main ideas by signal words that indicate something important is to follow. Your instructor is not going to send up a rocket when he/she states an important new idea or gives an example, but she will use signals to telegraph what she is doing. Every good speaker does it, and you should expect to receive these signals. Examples include:

• There are three reasons why...

• First... second... third...

• The significance of _____ is...

• The impact of ______ is...

• From this, we can see...

5. Jot down details or examples that support the main ideas. Take downexamples and sketches which the lecturer presents. Indicate examples with "e.g." or "ex." Give special attention to details not covered in the textbook, as these will likely earn you points on the exam.

• Draw diagrams for concepts you can't remember easily or don't understand.

6. If there is a summary at the end of the lecture, pay close attention to it. You can use it to check the organization of your notes. If your notes seem disorganized, copy down the main points that are covered in the summary. It will help in revising your notes later.

7. At the end of the lecture, ask questions about points that you did not understand. When students ask questions, write down the questions and the teacher/professor's answers. This additional information might answer questions you have as well.

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Summarize-a-Journal-Article

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