Effective ways to take notes from text books?

<p>I was reading one of my text book chapters today since I have a quiz on Wednesday. There are about 30/40 pages in each chapter. Font size is decent but the actual length of the pages is a bit long. What I do is I read and as I read I highlight important points. Then I write them In my notebook and then I type them on my computer so they look more organized. But I just feel like I'm wasting a lot of time doing it this way. </p>

<p>That sounds incredibly time consuming. </p>

<p>I’ve never taken notes out of a book personally, aside from copying down important equations/formulas from my math/physics books. </p>

<p>If you feel that having the notes from the book helps you, it would likely be easier to just type them right away, rather than writing them in your notebook first. That would cut out a large step at least. </p>

<p>Do you have the time to do it? If you have the time and it helps you learn the material, then keep doing it. If you find that you don’t have enough time to finish the reading, I wouldn’t recommend writing and typing them. Pick one or the other (whichever helps you learn and study better).</p>

<p>I’m taking 15 credits and I don’t have a job so I guess you can say I do have time in the sense that I don’t have other big priorities except for doing well in classes. </p>

<p>But today using my note taking method I have only read and took notes on 8 out of 30 pages. I also have 2 more chapters to read and take notes on for a different class which I have a midterm in on Thursday. My way of note taking is taking too long.</p>

<p>I don’t see the need of writing in the notebook and then transferring it onto a computer. Why not just type the notes on the computer? and eliminate writing it in the notebook?</p>

<p>I always just felt like writing my notes and then typing them has helped me retain the info better. But its really just slowing me down. I’m going to try just typing my notes.</p>

<p>I’ve read different studies that have shown that the act of physically writing something (i.e. pen and paper) aids in remembering the information. I can’t say that I’ve experienced this personally, but it does kind of make sense in a way. </p>

<p>I’ve read studies also. And I’ve read quite a few that show if you both write and type your notes then it will help you retain the information better. But I only have time for one! I’m going to try typing and if I see no positive effect I’ll try only writing. </p>

<p>What you could also do: Within budget reasons, grab a tablet computer and take notes on that. Some of the programs allow you to convert handwriting to typed print.</p>

<p>I’ve tried initially typing notes myself, and I feel like writing the information helped more because it took longer and I hated doing it which in turn gives the notes a lasting impact in my memory because of how agonizingly painful it was.</p>

<p>Sorry I haven’t read the posts on this topic but what I did is read the entire section (usually separated by a new headline) and come up with 1 or 2 question that relate to the subject material for that one section. It would help quite a bit. </p>

<p>Last night I read and highlighted the main points in a few sections and then typed. It’s a lot faster. Hopefully effective as well. </p>