Taking Lecture and Class Notes
Information presented in class often contains the central concepts of the course and the material most likely to be included on exams. Yet, students frequently do not realize the importance of notetaking and listening. The following handouts provide tips on how to recall more information from your lectures through active listening and purposeful notetaking. In addition, lecture notes can be a critical tool for preparing for exams. Suggestions are provided for how to use your notes regularly to review.
The documents on this page are provided for downloading in Microsoft Word and/or Microsoft Excel format. You will need to have Microsoft Office 97/98, or later, to read and print them.
Listening
Listening is an essential learning tool, however, humans are poor listeners. Research shows that individuals can only recall 50% of what they hear and that 20-30% is incorrect! The following documents outline ways to improve your listening habits and retain more information from class.
- Learning by Listening (21K Word)
- Ten Bad Listening Habits (28K Word)
Taking Notes
While many students view notetaking as an activity conducted simply in lecture, solid notetaking skills require preparation and reflection as well. Your class notes can serve as an important tool for reviewing for exams and distilling key concepts. The following handouts provide suggestions on ways to take good notes and use them well. The key is to develop a system that enables you to :
- review regularly
- recite (repeating key concepts from class)
- reflect (connecting class ideas to other notes and readings)
Note Taking Handouts
- Taking Lecture Notes (26K Word)
- The Cornell Note Taking System (21K Word)
- Taking Notes for Others (22K Word)
