OAE Online Workshops

Note-taking — A Few Tricks

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Make it easier to come back to your notes later.

  • Keep each class separate.
  • Use 1 side of the page only (it keeps space free for additional notes, reflection).
  • Make it legible, but not fussy…recopying, while nice, isn’t normally necessary and IS time-consuming (if you reorganize your notes when recopying, it may be worth your time).
  • Leave spaces when unsure, and make repairs later.

Tricks of the trade:

  • Use color
  • Use abbreviations, signal words
  • Copy & label diagrams, noting page #s in text
  • Note examples
  • Date & label handouts

You may already have a note-taking style that works for you. Following are brief descriptions of four useful styles. Experience tells us that effective notetaking approaches have these qualities in common:

  • Clear levels of organization
  • A reasonably good match for both the professor’s style and your preferences
  • Flexibility for reviewing/reciting/revising: your goal is to be able to REFORMAT the material in a way you can use to practice your recall (re-reading your notes is NOT enough)
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