How To Take Better Lecture Notes | LBCC Study Skills
Long Beach City College
Summary
The most important takeaway is that effective note-taking is a critical skill for academic success, serving as an external memory aid and an interactive study tool that must be actively developed through preparation, efficient in-class techniques, and structured post-lecture review.
Key Takeaways
- Prepare Before Class: Before a lecture, dedicate 5-10 minutes to review your previous class notes and another 15 minutes to preview the relevant textbook chapter, familiarizing yourself with main terms and summaries to better follow the new material. 4:44
- Prioritize Quantity Over Brevity: When in doubt about whether to record a point during a fast-paced lecture, always err on the side of writing too much rather than too little, as memory is unreliable for test preparation weeks later. 6:52
- Adopt a "Note Diet": Increase note-taking speed and efficiency by creating and utilizing a key for abbreviations of frequently used terms (e.g., P=poison, R=reconstruction) and by omitting unimportant words to focus on essential phrases and concepts. 9:16
- Consult Your Instructor: Early in the semester, show your initial lecture notes to your teacher and request feedback to understand their specific expectations for what information should be recorded and how to best tailor your note-taking style for their class. 20:59
- Implement the Cornell System: Prepare your note paper by drawing a vertical line (approx. 1 inch from left margin, stopping 5-6 lines from bottom) and a horizontal line near the bottom; use the main section for lecture details, the left margin for main ideas during class, and then fill in keywords/titles and a concise summary after the lecture. 28:15
- Review Interactively: To study, cover the main detail section of your Cornell notes, read the keywords or main ideas from the left margin, and actively test your recall of the information, uncovering details to check for accuracy, treating your notes like flashcards. 38:00
- Type or Rewrite Notes: For challenging classes or dense lectures, consider typing or rewriting your notes after class; this active process of rephrasing and organizing not only serves as a powerful review but also results in more refined and comprehensive study materials. 42:40
