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3 Reasons to Take Notes In Class

September 4, 2012 By Leah4sci 5 Comments

note-takingIn addition to paying attention in class, lecture notes can be your most powerful study resource. Yet many students don’t bother with it, thinking they can get necessary information from their textbook, PowerPoint presentation, or the student in the next row.

This is not the case. Taking notes is not only about having a ‘set of notes' to study from. Here are 3 important reasons why YOU should be taking your own lecture notes:

1. Know What to Study

Obvious enough, right? Most people don’t realize the value of notes. Taking notes during the lecture lets you know exactly what you’ve covered in class, which topics to skip, and where you left off. Don’t be the student who skips the review of Chapter ‘X’ because you didn’t take notes and forgot it was on the exam.

2. Teacher Emphasis

Every teacher has a unique approach to their topic and will focus more heavily on one aspect or another. The topics of heavy focus tend to be the topics winding up on exams. Sometimes the very examples the teacher used to emphasize a topic will show up as an exam question. Taking notes lets you capture those key focal points you may miss by just studying the lecture slides or reading the textbook.

Speaking of lecture slides, it’s great if your professor provides them ahead of time. Print those out, preferably with lines to each slide’s side, and take notes directly on the slides. This will not only give you the information you need to study, but will help with mental recall of the lecture by allowing you to connect the notes with what you heard in class.

3. Minimize Personal Distractions

When you have nothing to do, especially in boring lectures, your mind looks for alternate forms of entertainment. Suddenly the cloud shapes are fascinating, and the little bug crawling up your neighbor’s desk (please don’t shriek) is the most exciting occurrence since your graduation. Actively taking notes keeps your mind present. By giving yourself something ‘to do,’ your attention is devoted to listening and writing, and you are less likely to let your mind wander.

I will end with a quick story. A recent organic chemistry student absolutely despised going to lecture. On my advice, she still attended class, and began every tutoring session with: “You should be very proud; I wrote down everything the professor said and drew, although I didn't understand a word of it.”

While I am quite familiar with the standard organic chemistry curriculum, seeing examples and problem sets from the course allowed me to teach the exact information this student needed for class. We dissected her notes and worked through the specific problems. When exam time rolled around, the problems weren’t as terrible for her as they were for her classmates. Without realizing it, she had captured the professor’s emphasis points and prepared for exams accordingly. And yes, she did wind up with an excellent orgo grade.

Do you take notes in class? Why or why not?

Drop me a note in the comments below.

Filed Under: Study Tips Blog Tagged With: good student, study tips, taking notes

Comments

  1. Chann Sokly says

    November 1, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    I always take notes during my class because taking the note give me more detail aside from the book or PowerPoint presentation.

    Reply
  2. Chriselle says

    April 2, 2018 at 7:47 am

    Thank you so much for this!! I love taking notes as I am a first year student this just made me realize how important it can be to take notes in class

    Reply
  3. kalli figgins says

    March 2, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    I sometimes take notes in class but not all the time. If it is required to take note then I will. I like taking notes in class because they help me in my classes but also I feel that they take a lot of time.

    Reply
  4. Tyrel says

    February 15, 2018 at 11:25 am

    yes because i have to and i enjoy it

    Reply
  5. Dennis says

    January 13, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    I always take notes during lecture sessions.

    Reply

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