Effective Note Taking

Effective Note Taking

Note Taking

Listed in the table below are documents to help you improve your note taking.

Follow each link to find out more. You can work through the materials sequentially by using links at the bottom of each page.


Effective Note Taking
General Note Taking Tips
The Cornell Note Taking System

These General Note-taking TipsFlash can really help you identify important information to write down in your notes. They will help you keep organized and useable notes. Writing from lectures in university is often very different from writing notes in high school.

What will I be able to do after reading this handout?
  • Organize the structure of your notes based on key words.
  • Filter the essential information into your notes.
When might I use this handout?
  • Before going to a lecture.
  • After going to a lecture and thinking you didn't write all the important information down or you didn't have enough time!!
How should I use this handout?
  • As a guide to improving your understanding of lectures and your ability to study from them through your notes.
Why should I use this handout?
  • The tips offered here are easy to follow and can greatly improve your comprehension during lectures and your note-taking ability.
notes

The Cornell Note-taking SystemFlash lets you interact with the lecture notes so that you not only understand the topics really well but also can see how the ideas are interrelated, which prepares you for taking the tests and exams. By using the system, you're also able to study and test yourself effectively from the notes without having to recopy them.

What will I be able to do after reading this handout?
  • Organize your note-taking structure and approach so that you can understand the ideas as a whole and in detail, and test yourself using the notes.
When might I use this handout?
  • When you recopy your notes to understand them because they're illegible or poorly organized.
  • When you recopy your notes as a way of studying.
  • When you have to take lecture notes without the benefit of the professor using an overhead, whiteboard, or PowerPoint slides.
How should I use this handout?
  • As a structured system for taking notes from which you can effectively study.
Why should I use this handout?
  • A key to successful studying is testing yourself on the material rather than simply reading the information over and over, and self-testing is one of this method's strengths.
  • You will become more purposeful in taking notes.
Footnotes
Flickr photo by pamelaadam.

Page Content By:
Learning Assistance Centre
(Last Revised Aug 31, 2006)		 Contact:
Learning Assistance Centre
lac_admin@umanitoba.ca
Current Page Rating:
(5 votes so far)