Table of Contents
Listening Computerization
Content to be added.
Note Taking
Effective notetaking involves extracting and recording the important ideas covered in lecture in a way that will help you to recall them. Good notes provide a valuable means for review and learning and can increase the probability of doing well on an exam.
Suggestions to Improve Note Taking
1. Think before writing. Relate what is being said to what you already know or have reviewed. Use your own interests/needs as well as information common to the course to guide your thoughts.
2. Preparing for class is an aid in helping you to become aware of the major concepts and in deciding what to record.
3. Be selective. Listen to everything, but do not try to write it all down. Search for the main ideas and sort out the important subpoints and details. Notes should be brief, legible and consistent.
4. Take accurate notes. Use our own words, but don’t waste time thinking of synonyms. Lecturer’s terms may be simplified later. Use brackets to separate your own ideas from those of the lecturer.
5. Abbreviate words whenever possible, but be consistent.
6. Don’t worry about missing a point. Leave spaces and fill what you missed later. Also, leave spaces for expanding and clarifying notes.
7. Record all important facts: dates, names, places, formulas. Copy diagrams and illustrations which will clarify your notes.
8. Draw a single line through mistakes, rather than erase or black out completely. This saves time and energy, and you may find later that the mistakes may have been important to record after all.
9. Integrate lecture notes with text material. This is helpful for clarification and retention of material. If text material is repeated in the lecture, you can make a notation for later referral to the text. Be sure to note supplementary examples or elaborations.
10. Review notes after class. Reread and edit your notes as soon as possible while the information is still fresh in your mind, adding and clarifying in order to increase your understanding.
Write a summary (a paragraph or two) or formulate a summary question at the end of your notes to consolidate ideas and to reflect the relationship of facts and ideas with each other and as a whole.