Chandler Dalton

Mrs. Isenkul

UNIV 150

18 September 2014

Note-Taking Strategies

Note taking is a very important skill to have while trying to learn a new subject. Some variables that may affect ones style of note taking are the subject or course being taken, the way a professor lectures, and the amount of experience a student may have with note taking strategies. All of these variables are critical to how notes are taken, and ultimately determine a grade.

Experience is a huge factor in the way you take notes. When you first start college as a freshman, I bet that you would try and copy exactly what the professor says verbatim. Doing this you will produce random, useless scrawl, and when you try and study them, you won’t be able to recall what the professor said. As a sophomore, you will learn how to calmly produce detailed outlines. With outlines it is much easier to recall what the professor said, rather than random, ungrouped facts. As you gain experience throughout the years, note taking will become easier because you will have more practice. I imagine as a senior, minimal notes would have to be taken in order to understand material.

Another variable that could affect the way one would take notes is the subject of the course such as math, English, history, etcetera. The design of the course can greatly influence the structure of your notes. For example, the notes for math and history shouldn’t look the same, and if they do, you’re doing something wrong. If you’re in a class based heavily on information in lectures you should take extensive notes and review them to make sure they’re complete. If they aren’t complete shortly after the lecture you should fill in the details and perspectives shortly after. In courses that are based on opinion of issues, you should spend most of your time listening and thinking about the discussion, paraphrasing and noting questions to ask

There are many different types of professors out there; some just deliver masses of information at a rapid pace, without pauses or visual aids. Others (the good ones) will deliver organized lectures at a fair pace and maybe even use the whiteboard to outline, emphasize, or illustrate important material. If you have an amazing professor she might even put an outline of the lecture on the Web before so you can look over the material in the textbook, so you have an overall understanding of the lecture while the professor just fills in the details. Professors who teach lecture classes actually expect you to have some background knowledge of the subject research shows that background knowledge greatly increases our ability to make sense of and remember information.

In conclusion, the type of notes you take isn’t completely up to you it depends on many variables such as your professor, the structure/design of the class, and the amount of experience you have in note taking at this particular level.