There are three major approaches to note taking, each of which will be outlined and described in this post:
Outlining is an effective way to capture the hierarchical relationships between ideas. In a history class, you might write the name of an important leader, and under it the key events they were involved in. Outlining is a great way to take notes from books, because the author has usually organized the material in a fairly effective way, and you can go from start to end of a chapter and simply reproduce the same structure in your notes. Place major points farthest to the left. Indent each more specific point farther to the right.
The advantage of this is that level of importance is indicated by distance away from left margin.
For lectures, outlining has limitations. The relationship between ideas isn’t always hierarchical, and the instructor might jump around a lot.
Requires more thought for accurate, understandable organization and, therefore, cannot be used during lectures that move too quickly.
For lectures, a mind-map might be a more appropriate way of keeping track of the relationships between ideas.
In the centre of a blank sheet of paper, you write the lecture’s main topic. As new sub-topics are introduced, you draw a branch outward from the centre and write the sub-topic along the branch. Then each point under that heading gets its own, smaller branch off the main one. When another new sub-topic is mentioned, you draw a new main branch from the centre.
The thing is, if a point should go under the first heading but you’re on the fourth heading, you can easily just draw it in on the first branch. Likewise, if a point connects to two different ideas, you can connect it to two different branches.
If you want to neaten things up later, you can re-draw the map or type it up using a program like FreeMind, a free mind-mapping program.
If you want to make your mind-maps memorable, and visually appealing, consider using different colours, and incorporating images/diagrams.
Mind maps can be used for just about anything in your degree! A mind map can help you:
Outline your ideas on a subject
Visualise a whole concept
Here are some advantages and disadvantages to mindmaps:
Mindmaps are adaptable - they can be used for lectures; note-making from books; essay plans etc. as well as less structured tasks.
They are easy to add ideas later, at any time.
They can help you focus on the links and relationships between ideas so you don’t just have disconnected facts.
They can be personalised with pictures and symbols to make things more memorable.
They are a useful tool for condensing lots of information – e.g. a whole topic into a mind map poster, to aid revision.
You can’t incorporate large chunks of text.
You have to stick to the rules of mind mapping to get the optimum benefit from the tool.
Creating the map may take time. However, this will help you to review or recall information and will check your understanding.
When you’ve personalised your map, it can be difficult for others to understand.
About a quarter of the way from the bottom of a sheet of paper, draw a line across the width of the page. Draw another line from that line to the top, about 2 inches (5 cm) from the right-hand edge of the sheet. You’ve divided your page into three sections. In the largest section, you take notes normally — you can outline or mind-map or whatever.
After the lecture, write a series of “cues” into the skinny column on the right, questions about the material you’ve just taken notes on. This will help you process the information from the lecture or reading. In the bottom section, write a short summary of the material you’ve covered.
Set up folders for each topic. Create these folders before lectures/class and save your notes into the correct ones. It will keep all of your notes organised and easy to find. You might want to have different folders for lecture and reading notes. Develop a system which is intuitive for you.
Know the program. Choose which program you’re going to use to take your notes. There are lots of options available, including Microsoft Office. If you can’t afford Office, then you can look into (illegal) free downloads of it. If you have Office, you could also use Onenote. Alternatives include free programmes like Evernote which allow you to access your notes from anywhere on any device.
Get a template (M Office only). On Microsoft word, you can download different templates. See if there is a template that you can use for taking your notes. Alternatively, you can create your own template by adjusting the margins, font, size, etc. and saving your preferences. If you don’t want to use a template, you can just use the default settings.
Name the notes. Make sure that you name the notes so that you know what’s inside. On Microsoft word, when saving documents you can add tags. Then you can search these tags for any documents with that specific tag. I’ve found this to be a really useful organisational tool.
Do you need anything to take your notes? If you’re using a tablet, you can buy Bluetooth keyboards which will connect and can be quicker than typing on the screen. You can also buy a stylus which will let you write like you would with a normal pen; some devices also have the option to convert your handwriting to typed notes.
Get to know your keyboard. If you’re using a keyboard, then I suggest looking at this website which will teach you how to touch type.
Become familiar with keyboard shortcuts. Especially for things like bold, italicise, underline, highlight.
Downloads. If the teacher/lecturer puts up any material for the lecture download it. These are typically powerpoint slides. When I take notes next year, I will download these and split screen between word and powerpoint. Then I’ll be able to copy and paste material and diagrams straight from the actual powerpoint, speeding up my process.
Back up. Please, back up your notes on google docs. If your computer crashes you will have a backup of your notes that will be essential to studying! Again, for the people in the back, back up your notes!
Creating your notes. Use the technology to your advantage.
Use bold/highlight/italic. Make your heading and subheadings stand out from the rest of your text.
You can even make sub bullet points (like this) using the tab key to follow your line of thought/reason.
Highlight the important things; you could even use different colours for different things. E.g. yellow for important dates, blue for important quotes.
Develop an annotation style. For example, sometimes you might fall behind a bit, and miss a detail. When this happens to me I insert a series of dots into my notes, like this (……..) and I know that means I missed something so I can return to the recordings to find out what I missed. You could use question marks (?) to indicate something that confuses you that you need to do more reading on. There are lots of different symbols so you can develop your own system.
This also works with words. If you have certain words which you’re typing a lot then you can make them shorter and easier to type. For example, the word “participants” comes up a lot in my course, but I use “ps” because it’s shorter and quicker to type.
Choosing between typing and handwriting:
Is creative; colour/ highlight/draw
Lots of experience using the technique
Can be a slow, ling progress
Quick; can keep up with teacher
Easy to transport; all ntoes on a single memory stick
Can be printed to have a digital and paper copy
Paper doesn’t have to be used; environmentall friendly
Add coliur/highlithg/etc.
Easily shared with other people
Different fonts can make it easier for people with dyslexia
Laptop may be too heavy to take to class
Not everyone has a laptop; expensive
Battery life might not be a suitable for a full day of classes
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