What is Note-taking Method?

 A note-taking method will help you to prepare before the lecture

and to review key concepts after a class. It is the practice of writing down
pieces of information in a systematic way or about summarising core concepts
as precisely as possible in your own words.

Two Primary Purposes of Note-taking

1. It helps you concentrate
2. Helps deepen your understanding

Benefits of Note-Taking
Notetaking provides several benefits beyond that record of what
was presented in a lecture or class activity. Effective notetaking:
 Keeps you alert. Notetaking keeps your body active and involved
and helps you avoid feelings of drowsiness or distraction.
 Engages your mind. Listening carefully and deciding what to
include in notes keeps your mind actively involved with what you
hear.
 Emphasizes and organizes information. As you take notes, you’ll
decide on and highlight the key ideas you hear, identifying the
structure of a class presentation. You’ll also be able to indicate
the supporting points of a presentation, making study and
understanding easier after class. Such organized notes also make
it easier for you to link classroom learning to textbook readings.
 Creates a condensed record for study. A set of concise, well-
organized notes from each class session gives you what you need
for study, learning, and review after class.

Rules for Effective Note-Taking

 Select. Omit trivial and redundant details. Omit anything you'll recall
anyway!
 Condense. Replace lists with a category term.
 Organize. Choose headings and topic sentences.
 Rephrase. Use your own words.
 Elaborate. Make connections to existing knowledge.

Techniques and Tips for Listening and Note-Taking:

In general, to take good notes.
• Be sure to do any pre-reading in preparation for your
lecture/tutorial/lab, etc.
 • Watch the speaker as much as you can
• Find a note taking technique that works for you! Some note
taking methods are the Cornell, the note card or index card, the mind
map and other mapping methods, the outline and charting—Google can
find these and others for you, and you can choose the one you think is
best
• Use a large notebook! This leaves you with wide margins to add
things to; also, do not crowd your lines together
• Use a pen! Notes in pencil will smear and are hard to read
• Transform your notes in some way: find a tool (electronic or
mechanical) that suits you and stick to it!

Know what to note

• Don't take too many notes—do more listening than writing
(another reason to prepare before the lecture/tutorial/lab)
• If points are repeated, underline them to show they were
stressed—don't write them more than once
• Focus on what the author / speaker is talking about: a)
concentrate on the ideas/argument the speaker is developing b) report
the main idea c) add as much detail as necessary to help explain the
theory, concept, idea, practice or approach d) show the relationship
between the main ideas (so that the overall meaning is clear & the
information has the best possible chance of being retained)
• Listen for the signals the lecturer sends out during the lecture.
For example, ‘If there’s one thing to take away from the lecture
today…’ , ‘Now you can see why…’ or something as simple as ‘Firstly…’ or
‘To summarise…’

Know how to note

• To avoid confusion, logically organise your notes
• Date your notes for reference when you are preparing for your
assessments, quizzes and exams (note the subject, date or week and
whether lecture, tutorial, lab.). For example: AB2020_08/08/17 _wk 3–
lect 1–pt a
• use symbols and abbreviations to help you get things down
quickly and record the most information with the least effort

Know when to note

• Don’t wait until you have all the information on a topic/unit of
work– start taking notes as soon as possible!
Regularly review
• Review your notes as soon after class as you possibly can to fix
the writing you can’t read very well (and clarify anything that was missed
or only partially recorded or understood)
• Allocate time each day and week to work on expanding your
notes, as well as building the relationships between ideas and consulting
other material to develop /clarify the concepts – concept maps are
helpful
• Re-read your notes as a way to help you remember the key
theories/concepts, facts, practices and approaches

Transform your notes

• Reconstruct your notes using another format (another
opportunity to review, i.e. from handwritten to electronic)

Write phrases, not full sentences. 

Only record the key words that you need to get the idea of the
point. Skip words like “the” and “a” that don’t add additional meaning to
the lecture content. Retain key technical or discipline-specific terms.

Take notes in your own words. 

Paraphrase what you hear so it makes sense to you—it helps you
to understand and remember what you hear. Try to paraphrase
everything except where information needs to be noted exactly.

Structure your notes with headings, subheadings and numbered lists.

Use headings to indicate topic areas or to include bibliographic
details of the sources of information. Use outline form and/or a
numbering system and indenting to help you distinguish major from
minor points and as a clear way of indicating the structure of lecture
information.

Code your notes

use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis.
Use colour to highlight major sections, main points and diagrams.
You can also use different colours to classify and link concepts or
information by topic. However, don’t focus too much on colour coding
when you’re in the lecture. It requires time and concentration, so it’s
more useful to do most of the highlighting and underlining when you’re
revising your notes later.

Underline, circle, star, etc. 

to identify key information, examples, definitions, or other
important materials. Devise your own marking code to indicate each
type.

If you miss something,

write key words, skip a few spaces, and get the information later.
Leave a space on the page for your own notes and comments.

Useful Note-Taking Strategies

1. Use symbols:

Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning

:= is defined as << Much less than
=> logical implication/implies II or
→ leads to, causes (showing .˙. Therefore, so, as a
result) consequence
← caused by, because of ˙.˙ Because, since, for
(showing reason)
↑ increase, more, incline, up ″″ Ditto (from “dictus”): same
thing again
↓ decrease, less, decline, & or + and
down
= equal to, is, is the same as # number
≠ not equal to, is not, is the @ at
opposite of
≈ approximately ′ Minutes/feet
> greater than ″ Seconds/inches
>> much greater than ♂ Man, male
< less than ♀ Woman, female

2. Use Abbreviations:

e.g. - (exempli gratia): for example

Eqn - equation
I.e. - (id est): that is, in other words
poss - possible; possibly; possibility
etc.- etcetera, and so on, so forth
no.- number
n/a - not applicable, not available
 prob - problem; problematic
Approx - approximate(ly) (the symbol is ≈)
viz - namely
Diff - different, difficult
cf.- compare(d) to
imp - important
Part - participant/s
Max - maximum; maximise
NB - (nota bene): note well (remember!)
Min - minimum; minimise
w/ - with
Res - research
w/o - without
c - (circa): with, about
et al. - (et alii): and others

Other ways to abbreviate:

– omit vowels (bkgd= background)
– use the beginning of words with the final letter (inter’l = international)
– use the beginning of words only (subj =subject; meth=method/s; pro=
process; pol= pollution)
– the ‘ing’ form is very common, so this could be recorded simply as a ‘g’ at
the end of a word (chk’g = choking)

3. Use Concepts Maps and Diagrams

 Begin in the middle of the page and add ideas on branches
that radiate from the central idea or from previous branches.
 Arrows and words can be used to show links between parts of
the concept map.
 Colour and symbols are important parts of concept maps,
helping illustrate ideas and triggering your own thoughts.

Example:
 Note-Taking Tips for Kids
Paraphrase information. Copying text can be helpful but so is putting ideas into their
own words to reinforce meaning. It alerts students to gaps in their understanding and
can encourage use of new vocabulary words.
 
Separate main ideas from details. Structure content in a way that makes it easy to
quickly identify gist and specific details during review. Highlighting, colour coding,
underlining, and using punctuation and large size or capital letters, are effective ways to
signal different kinds of information. 
 
Don’t worry about complete sentences. Notes are not formal pieces of writing.
Fragments and abbreviations are perfectly acceptable as the emphasis should be on the
ideas vs. the language and format used to express them. Here’s where mind maps can
be effective. 
 
Ensure notes are correct before studying them. Reviewing notes that do not reflect a
true understanding of the original lesson can lead to poor performance on exams
despite the learner having spent ample time studying. This is discouraging for kids and
can lead to a drop in confidence and an unhealthy self-image over time. Teachers should
check students’ notes after a lesson, especially if a student is struggling in the
classroom. TOP TIP: In some cases, as with a child or young person who is extremely
dyslexic, it’s appropriate for the teacher to provide the notes. Dyslexic students may
have a problem with organisation and may need help making sense of notes and their
order.
Do include diagrams and bullet points. Notes allow learners to structure text in
innovative ways so students should include diagrams and drawings where appropriate.
Bullet points are recommended over recording ideas in a block of text.  
 
Ensure handwritten text is easy to read. Notes are often taken quickly, particularly if
they must serve as a record of information the student has heard rather than seen. This
means they may not be overly neat but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be legible.
Some dyslexic students will struggle to read their own handwriting, and this is where
being able to touch type is invaluable. 
 
Keep notes organized in a binder or folder. It’s a good idea to write the date at the top
of notes, along with a title that describes the content. Teachers may have learners keep
a note-taking journal.
 
Combine facts with opinion. Notes do not necessarily need to be all facts. Reacting to
the information delivered in a school lesson can mean including opinions and thoughts
too.
 
Separate notes from assignments and deadlines. Students may be tempted to record
assignment due dates along with their notes. This can lead to confusion so always
transfer deadlines to a school schedule or calendar planner. 

Note-Taking for High Schools

Huntingtong
Huntington is the tutoring and test prep leader. Its certified tutors provide
individualized instruction in reading, phonics, writing, study skills, elementary and
middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It
preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington
programs develop the skills, confidence, and motivation to help students succeed
and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Founded in 1977,
Huntington’s mission is to give every student the best education possible.

Huntington shares these seven strategies for effective note-taking

with parents and their teens:

1. Record meaningful facts. The goal of note-taking should be to summarize the most

important parts of what a teacher shares during a lecture: dates, names, places,
formulas or anything else that is emphasized. It’s good to write lots of notes, but
teens should focus on recording points that seem important, recurring themes or
other details that are critical to their overall understanding.

2. Group ideas. Lots of “raw” notes may not make studying any easier for a student.
It’s a good idea to leave space on the left- or right-hand side of the notebook for
condensing and recapping concepts. During class or afterward, teens can write down
any main ideas on the side of their notes, or at a minimum, subtitles of what was
discussed.

3. Think quality over quantity. New high school students tend to think good note-
taking means recording everything the teacher says. It’s a common challenge for
students: focusing so intently on taking notes that they forget to listen and process
information enough to be thoughtful about what they record in their notebooks. Big
picture: notes should concentrate on what the teacher wants the class to know. That
may very well mean teens’ pencils aren’t moving the entire class period, and that’s
perfectly fine.

4. Follow along in the book if appropriate. When the teacher focuses on a particular

chapter or topic, it can be helpful later on to have page numbers to refer to for
clarification or more information. Teens should ask at the beginning of the period if
the teacher is referencing textbook material.

5. Date and title notes. It’s a minor thing that can make a huge difference: labeling
notes will prove helpful when it comes time to study for a test. Teens should always
put the date, class name and topic(s) discussed at the top of their notes.

6. Highlight the clues. Teachers usually point out information that students need to
know and it is a smart idea to call out these cues in notes. Teens should listen for
phrases like the most important part, for example, in summary, as a review and the
only exception to this is. These should trigger careful note-taking and teens should
notate these important points with an asterisk or other symbol.

7. Say it another way. One of the most important parts of note-taking is not the
note-taking itself—it’s the reflection process. Teens should write down complex
points in their own words so they are easier to understand later. This helps
information “click” and reinforces long-term retention.

Note-Taking Methods

1. Note-taking method #1: The Outline method

The Outline method is one of the best and most popular

note-taking methods for college students. It lets you organize
your notes in a structured form, helping you save a lot of
time for further reviewing and editing. As the name suggests,
this method requires you to structure your notes in form of
an outline by using bullet points to represent different topics
and their subtopics. Start writing main topics on the far left
of the page and add related subtopic in bullet points below
using indents.

Pros

 Highlights the key points of the lecture in a logical way

 Ease of use allows the students to focus

 Reduces the reviewing and editing time

 Gives a proper and clean structure to your notes

Cons

 Not suitable for subjects like chemistry and math that

comprise of formulas and charts
 Doesn’t work well if the attended lecture doesn’t follow a
certain structure

2. Note-taking method #2: The Cornell Method

It is a unique note-taking method that finds its application

in a variety of situations. What differentiates it from other
methods is the page layout. The page is divided into three or
four sections starting from one row at the top for title and
date (optional) and one at the bottom along with two
columns in the center. 30% of width should be kept in the
left column while the remaining 70% for the right column.
This format provides the perfect opportunity for following through with the 5 R's of note-

taking:
 Record
During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts and
ideas as you can. Write legibly.
 Reduce
As soon after as possible, summarize these facts and ideas concisely in the Cue
 Column. Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity,
and strengthens memory.
 Recite
Cover the Note Taking Area, using only your jottings in the Cue Column, say over
the facts and ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in
your own words. Then, verify what you have said.
 Reflect
Draw out opinions from your notes and use them as a starting point for your own
reflections on the course and how it relates to your other courses. Reflection will
help prevent ideas from being inert and soon forgotten.
 Review
Spend 10 minutes every week in quick review of your notes, and you will retain
most of what you have learned.

Pros

 A quicker way to take, review, and organize your notes

 Summarizes all the information in a systematic manner

 Helps in effective learning as it enables to absorb

information in a shorter time

 Helps you to extract main ideas

 Cuts down time for reviewing

Cons

 Pages need to be prepared before a lecture

 Requires some time for reviewing and summarising the

key concepts

3. Note-taking method #3: The Boxing Method

This method might be still widely unknown but gains
increasing popularity. All notes that are related to each other
are grouped together in a box. A dedicated box is assigned
for each section of notes which cuts down the time needed
for reading and reviewing.
Digital note-taking apps for the iPad are especially helpful
for this method because content on the page can be
reordered or resized subsequently. It also allows you to zoom
in on the page, which helps to focus on one topic at a time
during the review.

Pros

 Segregates and organizes your notes in the form of boxes

 Let’s you focus on one box at a time while reading

 Help you memorize the relation between notes in a visual

way
 Perfect for people that take notes on an iPad

Cons

 Not suitable for every lecture type

 Doesn’t work well if no overall topics can be assigned to a

group of notes

 Requires additional time to group the notes in the end or

during the lecture

(Jimeno)

4. Note-taking method #4: The

Charting Method
It is an ideal method for notes that involve a lot of
information in theform of facts and statistics, that need to be
learned by heart. The information will be organized in
several columns, similar to a table or spreadsheet. Each
column represents a unique category which makes the rows
easily comparable.
Pros

 information is clearly structured

 fantastic for reviewing

 notes are easily comparable

 a lot of information can be memorized rather quickly

Cons

 Very time-consuming method

 Barely makes sense to apply this method in a

lecture/class where the content isn’t clear beforehand

 doesn’t work for information that can’t easily be

categorized
5. Note-taking method #5: The
Mapping Method
When the lecture content is intense, the mapping method
works best. It helps organize your notes by dividing them
into branches, enabling you to establish relationships
between the topics. Start with writing the main topic at the
top of the map. Keep dividing it into subtopics on the left and
right as you go down.
Pros
 Visually appealing

 Can be used for noting down detailed information but in

a concise form

 Allows easy editing of the notes

Cons

 While mapping your notes, you might run out of space on

a single page

 Can be confusing if the information is wrongly placed

while taking notes

Useful Apps for Note-Taking

• Evernote - taking notes, clipping web pages & recording audio
• Microsoft OneNote - organising thoughts, to-do lists, & projects
• Google Keep - collecting images, drafting documents, and creating checklists
• Simplenote - simple notes, & keeping them organised across all devices
• Zoho Notebook - visually organising multiple note formats
• Apple Notes - quickly taking notes on Apple devices
• Quip - combining notes with documents and spreadsheets
• Dropbox Paper - discussing projects inside Dropbox
• Box - notes simple notes in box folders
• Bear - organising notes, minimalist markdown editor

Best handwriting apps

• Paper - combining sketches, images and text notes
• Penultimate - adding written notes and drawings to Evernote
• Squid - free-form writing & document notation

Best companion apps for notes

• WordFlowy - lets you write notes in lists (that’s all but you can zoom in on
important stuff)
• Jotbox - for recording quick audio (good for capturing your thoughts on the go)
• Jot - turns each new tab into a canvas for note taking (simple)
Difference between Note taking to note making
Note-taking is fast, uses the original author’s language, and generally feels easier.
The issue is the content is often poorly assimilated and easily forgotten. In
contrast, note-making is slower, more involved, and uses our own language. As a
result, the content is easier to understand and remember.