Taking effective notes is a critical skill that can significantly impact your academic success. Good note-taking not only helps you retain information but also makes studying for exams more efficient. Here are some strategies to enhance your note-taking abilities.

What are notes?  What is their purpose? 

Notes are a BRIEF record of facts, topics, or thoughts written down to aid your memory. If your professor provides access to their PowerPoint slides prior to class, print those out (3 slides to a page) so you can take your notes directly on them.   

Eight (8) Tips for How to Take Effective Notes: 

1. Taking Good Notes 

Your study time and success on exams will be greatly improved when you take the time to take good notes in class.  You are also more likely to stay focused during class when you are taking good notes.  Lastly, taking notes will help keep your mind on what the professor is saying.   

2. Organizing Your Notes 

Binders and notebooks can help to organize your notes.  Using a binder with loose-leaf paper allows you to add pages where you need them.  

3. Format Your Notes 

Label your notes with: 

• Subject 
• Date 
• Topic 
• Page number of the text/ PowerPoint topic 
• Key terms in the margin  

Leave some space between ideas so you can add additional information later.   

4. Listen for Main Ideas 

Listen for the most important ideas in class.  Professors will often use phrases to emphasize a point.  Be sure to listen actively for these cues and write those down.  Additionally, write down anything the professor writes on the board.   

5. Find Vocabulary Words 

Emphasize vocabulary words in your notes to draw your attention to important points.  Being able to identify important terms will help you focus your studying.  Use flashcards or other study techniques to test yourself on your comprehension of key terms and concepts.  

6. Use Abbreviations in Your Notes 

Adopting your own form of short hand in your notes will allow you to write down information faster.  Remember, these notes are to help you when you are studying.  Don’t worry about writing technicalities like punctuation or writing in complete sentences.  Some examples of abbreviations are: 

• Up arrow for increasing 
• Down arrow for decreasing 
• b/c for because 
• @ for at 
• & for and 
• w/o for without 

7. Condense Your Notes 

After class, take the time to rewrite your notes to make them more legible or to correct any mistakes you made.  This is a great time to add onto points you had trouble grasping.  As you do this, try to create charts, timelines, etc. to help you understand the information more deeply.  Try to get rid of any unnecessary or repetitive information.  By condensing your notes, you are making your notes easier to study, eliminating any redundancy and deepening your understanding of the material while you rewrite them.   

8. Use a Note-Taking System 

Four popular note-taking systems are: 

• Cornell Note-Taking system 
• Outline Method (or Linear Method) 
• 3-Column System 
• Mind mapping  

When choosing a system, it is important to pick the note-taking system that works best for you.  The key is to have legible notes that are easy for you to understand when you refer back to them.  (See images above)

Three-Column Note System

The Outline Method/ Linear Method

Mind Mapping