<p>Hello! I find myself not taking notes because when I do, I tend to never look at them again and that they don't help me study at all. When I do take notes I tend to copy the power point slides put up by the professor verbatim and or transcribing everything the professor says. Am I the only one this happens to? Is there any way for me to improve my note taking skills so they could be of use to me?</p>
<p>A lot of students find the process of writing things down helpful. I don’t look back at non-technical notes often, but writing them in the first place forces me to pay attention and really understand what’s going on in class.</p>
<p>As for the notes themselves… copying word for word isn’t too helpful. I try to get main ideas down, and do bullet points for related information. Don’t write down things that aren’t important, and don’t write down things you already knew.</p>
<p>First of all, you don’t HAVE to take notes. Don’t take them just because you feel like you’re supposed to. If it doesn’t help you to do so, then don’t do it.</p>
<p>I take notes during lecture because when I’m studying for the exam, I go back and read them to remind myself of what the professor said during lecture. If you don’t need to do that (you can remember what the professor said, the professor gives you the slides that have everything written on them already, the class is primarily text or reading based, etc), then by all means, don’t take notes. I’ve seen many students just go to lecture and listen, and that’s absolutely fine.</p>
<p>And when I take notes, I do usually just write down what the professor says, and then before the exam, I’ll go back through and condense it down into something that’s more manageable to learn and remember for the test. There’s no right or wrong way to take notes, though, and as long as it works for you, then it’s absolutely fine.</p>
<p>Funny I always take notes but never really looked at them ever since High school really unless it was a social studies class.</p>
<p>It depends on the class for me. In my calculus, physics, and chemistry classes I take notes. There are important definitions, notation, and problem types that are crucial to have on hand in those classes though. In class material in those types of classes usually closely reflects the material that will be on the exam. In those classes, the notes are the most valuable study material.</p>
<p>In my anthropology class and Spanish class though, I barely take any notes. Those classes come down a lot more to critical listening. In my anthropology class, I’ve probably taken 10 pages of notes this whole semester. Spanish is probably closer to 3-4. In my calculus, physics, and chemistry classes, I’ve taken a lot more. I don’t know the number, but upwards of 50 in each most likely.</p>
<p>Other classes I’ve had in the past had very few notes. I had an intro to the humanities class last semester that I probably took 2-3 pages of notes for all semester. I’ve probably taken about 3 pages worth of notes altogether in the 2 English classes and one communications class I’ve taken during college.</p>
<p>Taking notes down helps me better recall the terms or concepts better than not writing it down, even if it’s by a bit. I have done both methods of taking notes down and printing out powerpoints to study by (and taking notes ON the ppt slides). Taking notes down by writing, even if I never go back, helps me recall so much better!! I think there has been a study done that writing things down helps with memory. </p>
<p>I usually take notes just like the ppt slide, but will add commentary the professor adds or note some important things s/he says will be on the exam now.</p>
<p>I’m another for making notes of the key points, important words or ideas and also things you don’t understand- so you can look it up later or email your professor.</p>
<p>I do write my notes out properly afterwards. I find this is when I’m processing the information. I have dreadful handwriting at speed and I like having a neat paper in my folder. However, I won’t look at it again until the night before the next class or the exams.</p>
<p>There’s some excellent note-taking advice and methods on this thread! </p>
<p>I can add that sometimes I rewrite my notes as a way to force myself to study, especially for the classes where the tests are almost solely based off the professor’s lectures (I’ve had about 3 of those so far). I rewrite them (by hand) and try and color coordinate according to types of content/importance/chronology. </p>
<p>However, like the others said, there are some classes where I hardly take notes, like French and writing. French is speaking-intensive and reading-based, so participating and doing the reading is basically it. Same with writing. It truly does depend on the class.</p>
<p>I really don’t take notes either. The only time I take notes are classes that require step by step problem solving like math or accounting. In most “read the book take a test” classes I get by just fine taking little to no notes. It just all depends on how you learn. If you think taking notes will help you remember things better then do it. Taking notes generally has a negligible effect on my performance so I don’t take them</p>
<p>I took notes, copied from the PowerPoint slides, and they were useless, in a lecture class. I started recording the lectures, and the grade on my “notes” test was a C, and the test after recording the lectures went up to an A. I listened to all the lectures a second time the day before the test, as well as reading textbook chapters as assigned (not the day before).</p>
<p>Then again, for some classes notes are more helpful, but only when I write down things I think are important. If I just copy they don’t make sense later. Obviously, for some classes like foreign languages, notes are necessary.</p>
<p>All in all, I think notes are overrated and not necessarily the best strategy for every class. I take them in every class, but more often then not they are not helpful at all.</p>
<p>I think what works best varies from person to person. I used to take notes by writing/drawing on the slides using a Wacom tablet connected to my netbook. Now I use an iPad Mini for the same purpose. I find that the note taking process is very useful for me, even if I don’t end up going back and reading them. Taking notes keeps me engaged, paying attention, and trying to figure out what’s important and worth writing down. I don’t usually go back and read my notes straight through, but they are a really useful reference.</p>
<p>It’s different for everyone, though. You have to figure out what works for you.</p>