Naturally I’m making this post as everyone is finishing education for the year so keep hold of this for September, and I hope that it is of some use! This is a semi-carry-on from my 'how to take notes from reading’, so I’ve structured it in a similar manner :)
Any questions / requests feel free to direct my way!
*I’ve made this how I would lay it out for my lectures as they’re predominately all powerpoint based. It does work if you’re in a lesson without powerpoint though!
Explaining things from left to right:
On the left-hand side, on the line: the module or course name, for example ‘The Cold War’ (if you’re using loose paper this can come as a god send if you’re not super organised and get your papers muddled up)
Right-hand side: the date of the lecture / lesson (makes organising notes much easier & quicker)
Right-hand side, above the date: what teacher taught the lesson. This is handy if you have more than one teacher per module / class so if you have any problems or questions you know who to contact rather than thinking it might have been this Professor but you’re not sure…
Left-hand side, one or two lines down: the title of the lesson (or powerpoint), for example, ‘The Influence of the West’.
*If you know you’re going to use more than one sheet of paper, number it in one of the corners :)
And this is what the finished product of my lecture notes looks like (obviously never this neat, b/c time)
I’ll talk about the margins first and then the main body because if not I’ll probably become confusing…
The ’//’: I actually stole this idea from one of my friends at uni because it’s such a good idea. So the two forward slashes (//) in the margins means new slide if a lesson has been delivered in powerpoint. This is really useful if you’re likely to re-visit the powerpoint post-lesson so you don’t get lost.
Names, Dates and Other Words & Numbers: in the margins jot down important dates, people, places or figures etc. If they’re really important circle them or, if you have time, highlight them. I guess it’s similar to the Cornell note taking system but I’ve never looked in to that so I can’t comment.. In this area, also write down things you want to research further, as well as things that you don’t know so you can come back to it at a later date.
Title of slide / Main theme of slide: I always try and write the title of the slide down (or paraphrase it) so when I go back to my notes I can chunk everything down, and find things quicker. I always write the title of the slide next to the ’//’. My exception for this is when a series of slides are under the same title or theme.
Underneath the title: This is where the content of the slide goes, and what the lecturer has said. It’s normally in bullet points, and I try to summarise both what’s being said and what’s written on the slide (yes, it can get hard & messy with lots of arrows)
Things in brackets: the things written in brackets often relate to what’s being discussed but not directly or; a name or title of something. It can also be used as a note to yourself, i.e. (see x’s work) or (to be covered next week).
Arrows: these are used to link slides or points together. Use as necessary :)
*something written in stars*: I tend to write things withing stars as ’*see slide*’ or something to similar effect. This is because the slide has a large chunk of text on it (for example a quote) or lots dates and events etc whereby I know I’ll be able to see it after the lecture and make amendments to my notes. In most cases like this, I just write down what the lecturer has been saying.
I hope that this has been useful!
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