Why Should You Take Notes During Class?
I'm glad you asked. 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 what the key ideas are and what to highlight or ignore. 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 studying, learning, and reviewing materials after class.
Below is a helpful visual. If you are using a screen-reader, the text in the image is transcribed after the image.
The text from the top of the image is as follows:
Taking effective notes in lectures and tutorials is an essential skill for university study. Good note-taking allows a permanent record of key information that you can integrate with your own writing, and use for exam revision. Taking reliable, accurate notes also reduces the risk of plagiarising [sic]. It helps you distinguish where your ideas came from and how and what you think about those ideas.
The text from the boxes, moving clockwise, is as follows:
- Any references provided
- Anything you don't understand (difficult concepts or unfamiliar terms)
- You thoughts, questions, and ideas
- Key concepts and main points
- Important examples
- Definitions and new vocabulary
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