Reprint of: 
Introduction to Note-Taking For University Students
Counseling and Development Center
York University, Toronto, Canada
Copyright (Permission Requested)

Summary

1. Try to be an effective listener. Avoid early judgment of the speaker, pay attention, have an interest, develop a purpose for listening to the lecture. Use your ability to think to summarize the lecture during short pauses and use it to anticipate the direction of the lecture. Above all, avoid the passive listener mentality which says you have to "get it all"; instead, listen for key ideas, main details, and transitional phrases which point to the structure and focus of the lecture.

2. Use short forms when recording information. Point form phrases, abbreviations and symbols should probably be used in place of full sentences in most situations. Obvious exceptions would be when there's a definition or you don't understand or there is some indication to write something out in full.

  3. Be alert for both verbal and non-verbal cues. These indicate structure in the lecture, the relationships among ideas, and importance. These cues include transitional phrases and words, body language, voice tone and pace, repetition of ideas, and the time spent on certain subjects.

  4. Notes are taken to have a permanent record of the understanding you have of the lecture. This forms the basis for regular review, exam preparation, critical thinking, and it gives an opportunity to get involved in an exchange of thoughts, an active interaction with the material.

5. Be selective. Take notes which reflect the interests of the professor, themes of the course, keywords or phrases on overheads or chalkboards. Choose information according to your purpose, what you want to learn, and ideas and thoughts which need clarification or which extend prior reading and learning.

6. Takes notes according to an organized format. The organization and relative importance of ideas should be reflected in the notes. Consider a format which promotes returning to them within the first twenty-four hours and which can be used to self-test your understanding of the material. Cornell notes and Mind Maps (mapping notes) are ideal for this purpose.

7. Review your notes regularly and cumulatively, looking for developing course themes, and relationships between the ideas of successive lectures. Doing this regular review can assist you in "seeing the big picture" and makes note-taking a task which is part of an integrated system of study.