After the first week of real classes the one thing that has me really puzzled is taking notes. I'm in social science classes and I really only see two types of note takers. Those who try and type everything the prof says or puts up on slides and those who write nothing. Coming from an independent learning high school (westmount) the one thing I never had to do was take notes so I'm really screwed.

I don't get those who write everything. I mean there were people in my class tonight that were writing stuff with no relevance to the course or stuff a 10 year old would know. If the prof posts slides on elm why write them out in class? The only thing I can think of is retention by writing. By doing this though you miss half of what the prof says and I can't see anyone having the time go back and read everything they wrote anyways.

I'm thinking the best way to take notes is to only write stuff the prof says and even then only when its important. Important like something that could be on an exam of test. Once that is done, add my notes to the corresponding slide. Does that make more sense or more common among upper years. I guess trying to learn from a class full of people who don't know what their doing either isn't the way to go.

I also have some serious repetitive motion injuries in my hands and wrists and even one hand written page in a class is agonizing. I might be one of those few people that could also benefit from recording lectures and spend two hours a day in the car reviewing lectures.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

I'm one of those people who writes out what's on slides and what important things the professor says. I do it for retention purposes... I often rewrite everything multiple times, and summarize it after as well because one of the ways I learn is by writing. I don't care if slides are available online because I won't learn by just reading them, and the same goes for printing the slides... it's just a waste of ink and paper.

You need to figure out for yourself how you learn best. For example, if you're an auditory learner then you might be better off just listening in lecture, and maybe recording lectures to listen to again when you want to review.

Once you figure out how you learn best, then you'll understand what kind of note-taking will suit you best.

I have never taken notes for qualitative social science subjects(polisci, socio, peace studies, philo). I always used to sit and listen; once so often I would write down an important pointer or two! But then again I was able to obtain complete and elaborate notes from people I knew in those courses! But I don't recommend that approach to anyone!

For the quantitative economics though, I write down every single thing! Because what you are writing down is based on your understanding! Your Textbook might not explain it in exactly the same way!

Plus you are paying alot of money for every single lecture! Why not make it count and write down whatever is neccesary!

You can try Centre for Student Development (CSD) in the basement of Student Centre, they offer workshops and tips on how to take effective notes among other valuable resources.

As said before, each person learn differently. For me, I print out the notes and just supplement them with what I see as important and re-read it all later. You might also find it helpful if you read or skim through the readings before class (not always possible but worth a try).

Depending on what type of learner you are, a viable alternative is to invest in an audio recorder. What I did in my first and second years (when I had courses which covered a lot in a single lecture) was use an audio recorder to record the spoken lectures. Then on my written notes, (I would only copy the written, hard-copy information) I'd occasionally jot down the time that appeared on my recorder. Particularly when the professor would start a new section, or refered to a diagram/new page, etc. If you don't throw down some reference points, you'll find you often have a difficult time keeping track of what figure etc. the professor is talking about.

I used this to my advantage in two different ways:

1) I could listen to the entire lecture and follow along with my written notes as I did so (pausing the recording if I needed to let some information digest).
2) I could read my lecture notes until I needed a refresher. Then I'd find the nearest reference point (like say I had a marker "12:53") play the audio recording from that point, and stop it when I heard what I needed.

I agree with chugaucon, that seems to be effective for most people. And writing during lectures helps you retain the information a little better, of course you have to pick out the important notes and not write mindlessly as the prof is speaking. I haven't found that enough though, so using the lecture notes and textbook to make notes is the best way to go, although you should try out different ways to see what works best for you =]

My style of learning is a bit of both.

I download the slides and use Adobe Acrobat Pro to type supplementary notes right on top of the slides, basically what the teacher says that I find important.

In the end I only end up writing a sentence or two for the odd lecture slide. Most of the time I'm just listening to the professor.

I am a mix between auditory and visual learner. I do learn through all the different styles of learning (auditory, visual, experimental, writing, problem solving and intensive drilling) but I find I'm more efficient when it comes to auditory and visuals.

In high school I was dominantly and auditory learner. I never took notes and just listened in class. However, I found university a lot more fast paced and it was difficult to absorb everything through auditory learning alone. I discovered that I'm actually a really good visual learner and I'm starting to favour that gift.

Everyone learns differently. Some people learn by writing everything down while others learn by just listening. Some even learn through the book alone. If it works then it works. My suggestion to you is to ignore how other people learn and to find your own style of learning. Try a bit of everything and see how well you retain the information.

Efficiency is also the key. If you are a slow writer then you should really find another way to learn other than writing (although you could write what the teacher says and at home you can write what's on the slides).

If the notes are posted online, I take down only the important stuff that are not on the slides and how the prof connects them.

If they aren't, I take down everything word for word, and summarize it after. I can write fast and legibly and listen critically at the same time.

I guess it really depends on your strengths.

If a professor posts their slides or what have you online, I would normally print those off and write anything they add (of importance) onto it. If not, I just type on my computer if a professor does quick lectures, and I only take down what I think is important/interesting/what they stress. So you have to be a good judge of these things. (It's difficult in first year, but I've learned that more is better. When review time comes, you'll know what information to cut out.)

When it comes time for review, I often condense these notes. Read them over and over until there's information I know as if it were common sense. I'm not really memorizing it (unless if it really requires it), but moreso trying to understand it. After that, I condense them into flash cards, or I stress (highlight/underline) points that I know I'm still having trouble understanding or remembering.

Another thing I find really helpful, is actually trying to recall information outloud. So say you make yourself a few mock questions or you write down a term on a card, write the answer/definition on the back and try to say it outloud without looking at it. I think this really reinforces it, for me anyways. People look at me like I'm a little nutty sometimes, but hey, an A on a midterm/exam is completely worth it.

I don't seem to get profs who have slides. I think I've had about three or four in my entire university career, and most post the slides after lecture is done.

I furiously scribble everything down and then re-write and summarize notes at the end of the week. It helps me retain things and it also makes my notes a hell of a lot neater.

As for the wrist/hand issues, get yourself to a specialist (there happens to be one at St. Jo's in Hamilton, but you would need a referral). Your problems are not going to get any better without treatment.

I have some serious problems with one of my wrists which I've been spending two years trying to work out, with only marginal success. Because of my degree programs I spend a lot of time typing, and that is one of the things that aggregates my wrist. Moving my wrist in general causes me pain, so there is no way I can get around not doing school work...my point being you need to find a method to at least make things bearable otherwise your education will suffer. (and no, it's not carpal tunnel, my wrist pain is in a completely different area...)

I've been writing down the slide number (some profs are nice and number their slides, some i have to count), if it's avaliable online, then write notes beside the number. I print off the slides from the internet, and rewrite my notes onto the slide.

I don't get people who rewrite what they can get on the internet? Just print it off...

Originally Posted by Flag

I've been writing down the slide number (some profs are nice and number their slides, some i have to count), if it's avaliable online, then write notes beside the number. I print off the slides from the internet, and rewrite my notes onto the slide.

I don't get people who rewrite what they can get on the internet? Just print it off...

You retain better when you write things down. It's a method of studying.

Hmm I have different note taking strategies for different courses.

For classes where prof just reads everything off the slide, I underline or hi-light important words. If' it's a class where the lecture is word for word from the slide but the actual material is kind of difficult or tedious to memorize, I print on one side and make summaries, (that are colourful), drawings and maps on the back of the page after class.

If it's a class that has slides with minimal content, I usually write down everything that is new to me... and I usually refine my notes on the computer sometime after the lecture. I don't really do note taking on the laptop during lecture though.

In math class, I copy the new stuff or things I need to review but I don't write down the stuff I already know very well... (just lazy) I try to solve the problems before the prof does and then write the prof's solution in a different colour if I was wrong.

The only course I never took notes in was in multimedia 1a03... most of that was common sense.

I don't bother rewriting entire notes. I find taking the key points and kind of summarizing them is a lot more effective. I've shrunken down entire courses into a 8.5 x 11 (double sided). :p

Originally Posted by Jay

I don't bother rewriting entire notes. I find taking the key points and kind of summarizing them is a lot more effective. I've shrunken down entire courses into a 8.5 x 11 (double sided). :p

I have waaay too much info to be able to do most of that. :(