Strategies for Effective Note-taking

Michael Buzdon; Seneca Polytechnic Accessible Learning Services; The Regional Assessment and Resource Centre (RARC)

Chapter 5: Academic Strategies

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Note-taking is not just about writing down everything you hear or read. There are a number of common note-taking strategies that all postsecondary students should become familiar with in order to master the main goal of note-taking, which is to succinctly and efficiently summarize core concepts in an organized manner.

Digital vs. Handwritten Notes

As you begin your classes in postsecondary, you’ll have the freedom to decide whether to create digital notes on a device or handwrite them on paper. Both options come with their advantages and disadvantages, so it’s up to you to figure out which method is right for you!

Digital Notes

You may choose to digitize your notes on a laptop or tablet using programs like Google Drive or Microsoft OneNote.

Pros	Cons
easier to edit easier to search for specific words/phrases harder to lose most can type faster than they can handwrite, making it easier to collect more information more quickly neater and more legible	typing is more passive than handwriting; you won’t retain as much information your device may be distracting during class or reading

Videos: Digital Note-taking

If you prefer to create digital notes, watch the videos on how to effectively do so using Microsoft OneNote and Google Drive.

DIGITAL NOTETAKING Pt. 2 | OneNote [8:13]

Handwritten Notes

The alternative to creating digital notes is handwriting them using pens, pencils, highlighters and, of course, paper.

Pros	Cons
most of us write slower than we type, so we must be more selective about what we’re writing in our notes; you’re more likely to comprehend, process and retain more information by writing things down with the absence of distracting technology, handwriting increases your ability to focus on the class or reading	they can be sloppy, making it hard to read them later it is easier to lose track of physical pages or notebooks it’s more difficult to quickly locate keywords or phrases

Video: How I Take Notes – Tips for Neat and Efficient Note-taking

Watch the video ” How I take notes – Tips for neat and efficient note-taking” [7:17] from studytee on taking hand written notes.

Your decision to type or handwrite your notes will ultimately depend on your needs, strengths and learning style. It may be useful to test out both methods and see which one you are more comfortable with. Or, you may decide to use both methods in different classes or contexts. After some trial and error, you’ll find a note-taking system that caters to your individual learning practices and goals.

Creating Organized Notes

One of the keys to creating effective notes is keeping them neat and organized. Without proper organization, the notes you take for your different courses quickly become scattered and lost.

There are many tips to keep in mind when you begin organizing your notes.

Create virtual or physical binders/folders for each course
Date and note the course code on all new notes
Begin each note with the title of the lecture/lab/reading
Number your pages
Use main ideas as titles and under each main idea, create secondary ideas
Use indents and spacing to identify new sections and subsections bold/underline/highlight important words
Use colours or other identifying information to group notes for the same subject matter together

Proper Summarizing

As already mentioned, the main purpose of note-taking is to turn your lecture/reading material into succinct yet meaningful concept summaries. This involves learning how to extract core ideas and translating them into your own words. There are many tips to keep in mind as you begin summarizing.

When possible, use symbols, abbreviations and acronyms in your notes
Decode presented information into your own words and phrases rather than typing/writing out exactly what is written/spoken
Use bullet points to get your ideas across; don’t worry about perfect grammar and proper sentences. The point of notes is for you to understand the idea, not for it to be a flawless piece of writing
Include little annotation notes which serve as tips to help you understand or practice a concept
Some instructors may provide copies of the notes/slides ahead of time with all or some of the important information listed, so you can follow along in class, highlighting or underlining important points and adding additional information as needed
When lecturing/presenting, your instructor will emphasize what information is most important
It’s impossible to write/type every single word your instructor says or every sentence in a reading, so focus on repeated terms, phrases and definitions
Remember, you want quality information over quantity

Activity: How to Take Great Notes

Practise these note-taking strategies by watching the video “How to Take Great Notes” [5:08] and treating it like a lecture! Choose whether to handwrite or type out your notes. Give your note a proper title and take succinct and organized notes of the video as you watch and listen to it.

Take a look at these example notes of the video’s first few minutes. Notice how the document is labelled and how the notes are structured.

How do your notes compare?
What strategies could use improvement?

License

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E.Y.E.S. at Seneca Copyright © 2024 by Michael Buzdon; Seneca Polytechnic Accessible Learning Services; and The Regional Assessment and Resource Centre (RARC) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.