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Note Taking Strategies

Two Dozen Do's and One Dozen Don'ts

Do's:

  1. Look over previous notes before class. (Maintains continuity.)
  2. Attend all lectures (It’s a continuing story.)
  3. Be academically aggressive. (Sit up straight with "rolled-up sleeves.")
  4. Take a front seat to see and hear better. (You won't dare snooze.)
  5. Use a large, loose-leaf binder. (Gives ample room.)
  6. Carry lined loose-leaf (8 1/2 X 11) sheets to class. (Insert into binder on return.)
  7. Write on only one side of sheet. (Spread out for review.)
  8. On top sheet, record course, lecturer, and date. (In case of spill.)
  9. Begin taking notes immediately. (Don't wait for inspiration.)
  10. Write in short, telegraphic sentences. (Parsimoniously meaningful.)
  11. Make notes complete for later understanding. (Don't sit there puzzling.)
  12. Use modified printing style. (Clear letters, not scribbles.)
  13. Use lecturer's words. (Lecturers like to see their words in exams.)
  14. Strive to detect main headings. (As if you peeked at the lecturer's notes.)
  15. Capture ideas as well as facts. (Get the drift too.)
  16. Keep your note-organization simple. (Easy does it.)
  17. Skip lines; leave space between main ideas. (Package the ideas.)
  18. Discover the organizational pattern. (Like putting together a puzzle.)
  19. If the lecture is too fast, capture fragments. (Jigsaw them together later.)
  20. Leave blank spaces for words to fill in later. (Thus avoid voids.)
  21. Develop your own abbreviations and symbols. (Not too many, but enough.)
  22. Record lecture’s examples. (If you don’t, you’ll forget.)
  23. Identify your own thought-notes. (What’s the lecturer’s?)
  24. Keep separate loose-leaf binders for each course. (Don’t combine notes yet.)

Don'ts:

  1. Don’t sit near friends. (Can be distracting.)
  2. Don’t wait for something "important." (Record everything.)
  3. Don’t convert lecturer’s words. (Takes time and invites imprecision.)
  4. Don’t look for facts only. (See ideas too.)
  5. Don’t give up if the lecturer is too fast. (Some is better than none.)
  6. Don’t stop to ponder. (Do so later in your room.)
  7. Don’t over-indent. (You’ll run out of right-side space.)
  8. Don’t doodle. (Breaks concentration and eye contact.)
  9. Don’t use spiral-bound notebooks. (Can’t insert handouts.)
  10. Don’t consider any example too obvious. (Copy it!)
  11. Avoid using Roman numerals. (You’ll get tangled up.)
  12. Avoid too many abbreviations. (Trouble deciphering later.)
The Baker College System