5 Questions About Note Taking That Every Student Must Ask

By Bryce Buchmann on February 22, 2014

Flashnotes.com is the student-to-student study materials marketplace. Flashnotes.com gives college students what they need most–more money and better grades. To learn more about Flashnotes, click here.

How students take notes in college classes can vary greatly from person to person. The strategy that works best for you may not work as well for someone else and the way another person approaches note taking might not work for you. Developing an effective strategy for taking notes is an integral part of succeeding in college, but with everyone taking notes in different ways it can be hard to find good advice on note taking.

Some decisions about note taking require experience and rely on personal preference. Will you use a computer or a pen? Do your notes follow the structure of an outline provided by the teacher or do your notes dance to the beat of their own drummer? These are questions that call for individual perspectives and don’t have certain answers, but they must be asked to ensure successful note taking.

As you muddle through the difficulties of getting the most out of note taking, here are five questions you will need to answer.

Photo via www.bourkeassociates.com

1. Should notes be typed or handwritten?

Based on classes I was in, it seems like lap tops have taken over as the preferred tool for taking notes. Students can type faster than they write and with a computer they can email and print the notes for other people and themselves when it comes time to cram.  But some classes will make note-taking on a computer more difficult.

In economics classes I found that writing equations and drawing graphs was much simpler when taking notes by hand. As The Art of Manliness pointed out in a note taking strategy article, taking notes by hand can also be beneficial in physics, calculus, chemistry, and other classes.

In addition to considering the subject material, there are many other factors to consider which may implore you to switch to pen and paper in all classes. If your approach to note taking uses arrows and diagrams often then a computer is clearly not the best tool to use. Furthermore, some studies have found that the physical act of writing is good for memory and learning.

2. Where should you sit?

The quality of your notes may have a lot to do with how closely you pay attention in class and paying attention in class can be improved by choosing the right seat. While many students choose to sit near the back and find this works for them, sitting in the front and center of the lecture hall can be helpful in many ways.

According to USA TODAY, sitting closer to the professor will keep your attention as he or she speaks and may also give them a better impression of you as a student. But just moving seats may not help you and as Western New England University psychology professor Chris Hakala said, “If you tell a bad student to sit up front, it’s not going to do a whole lot.”

3. Can you use a recording device?

No matter how good you are at writing or typing notes, an audio recording of your professor’s lecture is guaranteed to help you study. Whether you have perfectly outlined notes on your computer or a few scribbles in a torn up notebook, going over them while listening to the lecture again will help you understand and memorize concepts.

It’s important to remember that some professors will not allow you to record their lectures. If a teacher does not explicitly say you are allowed to record them, you should ask permission before doing so and obey the rules if you’re told not to use a recording device. But with permission, you can use a lap top, phone, tablet, or a standalone recording tool, and you will definitely make more of your time studying.

4. Are other students taking the same notes as you are?

Going over someone else’s notes can be a great way to remind yourself of the things you might not have written down. By trading notes and looking over what each other wrote, you and your fellow classmate can both improve your notes and learn the subject material from a different perspective. This will also help you by making sure you didn’t miss any important points.

5. How much of what the professor says needs to be written down?

Obviously you can’t go into class like a court reporter writing down every word uttered by a professor, but only copying down the most basic information from slides can also be useless. The trick is to find a happy medium between writing down too much and too little. This happy medium is different for all people though and can only be found with practice and experience. Sometimes writing down one thing can distract from what’s said next. You have to decide what’s important enough to write down and sometimes exclude things if you think you can remember without writing it down.

Note taking is a skill that comes with time and practice. With the amount of time and effort it takes to become a good note taker, hopefully by the time you’ve perfected the art you will soon be walking across the stage with a college degree.

Post your notes and study guides for sale today on Flashnotes. To learn more about Flashnotes, click here.

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