Making notes in lectures
Lectures are an important part of undergraduate courses. They provide an excellent framework for further study. Making notes can help you to concentrate on the lecture.
Lecture recordings can be a helpful study tool, especially for revision: see Using lecture recordings for how to make the most of them.
Veronika
Second-year Psychology
View Veronika's student perspective
Transcript
A typical lecture gives you a broad overview of the topic that you then have to read up about in more detail later on by yourself.
And usually they'll have lecture slides and you can access them on the internet later on if you want to revisit the material - or recently they've started to do Sounds Direct, which will be on Study Direct [now Canvas], which is really useful for revision.
And just if you miss a lecture or anything like that it's good to be able to hear it again.
Sebastian
Third-year Physics with Management
View Seb's student perspective
Transcript
It depends really, sometimes lecturers are kind enough to put all their lecture notes, all their slides, everything on Study Direct [now Canvas]. Sometimes they don't, so what I do, if those lecture notes are available I print them off and I make notes while the lecturer goes through them.
However, sometimes I just have to take notes and because in Physics they write everything on the board, so you just need to copy it down from the board.
In management note taking is very important because lecturers like to talk about their own experience because they mainly come from industry, so they're not the biggest fans of writing everything on the board. So they just talk away and you have to learn to write down the key points they make.
Sometimes they do put slide shows on the web, which is helpful but it's not enough - to write essays you really have to listen to what they say.
Tips on taking notes in lectures
2. Work out how the lecture fits into the module.
3. Look at handouts. Your lecturer may have uploaded notes to Canvas for you to read before the lecture. They may be useful as a basis for your own notes. You can annotate them with your own thoughts.
In a lecture, you should switch your phone to silent and do not talk. Only use your devices for making and viewing notes - or as directed by the lecturer. If you wish to record the lecture, ask permission first. Many lecturers record their lectures and make them available to you anyway.
2. Label your notes - including the title and date of the lecture - and keep track of your page numbers. This will help you find information later on.
3. Make your own notes. Don't rely on your lecturer's notes or notes written by friends. Writing your own notes will improve your understanding.
4. Organise your notes. Leave plenty of space so that you can easily add to your notes later. You could use a ring-binder for notes or create a system of files and folders on your laptop or through your university login.
Alternatively, you could use a digital note-making tool like OneNote or Evernote. These tools allow you to tag your notes with key terms, making them easily searchable.
5. Do not attempt to write everything down. It is unnecessary to reproduce the contents of a lecture exactly. Your notes should be an interpretation of the material. Try to capture the logic of the argument or key points of information. Use headings and sub-headings in your notes to make this clear. Lecturers often provide guidance about the structure and format of their lecture. Listen for phrases such as ‘there are three key reasons for x' or ‘it is essential to note that y'.
6. Note questions and points you do not understand. Follow these up through individual research, in a tutorial or during your tutor's office hours.
7. Include details so that your notes will make sense to you when you read them. Write specific examples that will help you remember key points and label graphs, tables or charts.
8. Don't leave early. During the last 10 minutes or so, the lecturer may helpfully repeat points, draw conclusions and summarise material.
• Have I accurately recorded all main points?
• How were these developed?
• How do they relate to each other?
• Which issues were clarified?
• What will be discussed in the next tutorial/seminar?
• Can I summarise the material in one paragraph?
• Do I have further questions to discuss in class?
2. Reflect on your notes. Lectures are often a one-way process, so discussing your notes with other students will help you to understand them more fully.
3. Avoid recopying your notes. This wastes time; it's best to make good notes in the first place. However, if you take handwritten notes, itcan be useful to type them up. During the process, you can reflect on the lecture and reinforce what you've learnt while organising your notes in a structured way. You could use tools such as Word, Google Docs, OneNote or Evernote.
