1. Note Taking Strategies
7/17/2012
Note Taking Strategies
Project IMPACT,
TRiO SSS

2. Note taking from lecture
7/17/2012
Overview of Workshop
Note taking from lecture
Decide on typing or writing
Decide on a format
Capture main ideas
Assistive technology/ accommodations
Note taking from text
Develop your personal system
Capturing main ideas
Four areas we will cover
Format of Workshop
- I want it to be interactive, and I would encourage discussions about topics in the slides. Feel free to give comments and opinions.
- Shout out questions, or if you feel uncomfortable raise hand at any time
- I want this to be beneficial to you- if there are questions you have about note taking that I do not cover please feel free to ask
- Encourage you to take notes on this workshop on ppt print out I provided you- an exercise in note taking, at the end I can look them over and give you feedback
Information in this workshop is drawn from questions that my students have asked me about note taking over the years, my own experience as a student and tutor, information from other PI staff members.

3. The Challenges of Taking Notes from a Lecture
7/17/2012
The Challenges of Taking Notes from a Lecture
How should I organize my notes?
How do I keep up with the professor?
How can I concentrate on what the professor is saying, participate AND take notes?
How do I summarize a lecture?
Common questions students have about note taking from a lecture
Are there any questions you have about note taking that aren’t up there?

4. Taking Notes from a Lecture
7/17/2012
Taking Notes from a Lecture

5. Formatting Your Notes: To Type or Not to Type….
7/17/2012
Formatting Your Notes: To Type or Not to Type….
Benefits of typing
Benefits of writing
Benefits of Typing
- Many of us can type faster than we can write- this allows us to copy down more of what the professor says
- Typed notes are great because they are easy to re-format. For ex: You can easily insert Roman numerals to make it into an outline.
- You can copy key terms into their own document and print them out as flashcards.
- You can copy and paste certain information into a “study guide” from many different lectures
- You can easily save multiple copies, so you won’t lose them.
- Easy to to friends who have missed a class
Benefits of Writing
- More likely to commit things to long term memory
- Don’t have to carry a laptop

6. 7/17/2012
Microsoft One Note

7. Evernote

8. Sonocent

9. Other Tech options AudioNote- $2.99 (I Pad), $4.99 (Mac)
Notability- $2.99 (I Pad and Mac)
Google Docs
MS Word
PowerPoint

10. How Should I Organize My Notes?
7/17/2012
How Should I Organize My Notes?
Modifying your notes to fit the course
Always look at materials the professor gives you
Separating main ideas and sub-points
Avoid writing all your notes continuously
Formats
The “half page” technique
Outline form
Cornell Style
Write on PowerPoint print outs
Every class is different, many times the formatting of your notes will change as you get used to the professor’s lecturing style. \
However, some note taking styles better suit different courses.
First, you always want to look at materials the professor gives you.
- If he or she posts powerpoint slides on BB that go with lectures, print these out in this format. You can take notes over here…
- Sometimes professors may send out or post a list of key terms. This will help you know what to pay close attention to in lecture.
- Other times professors may post an outline to their lecture ahead of time, you can use this format and expand on it in your notes.
“Half page” technique
- great for classes where the lecture focuses mainly on key terms or vocabulary.
Outline form
- great for most classes, especially history.
- great because they organize main points and their sub-topics.
- when studying, its easy to find information quickly - this is easier when you type your notes because Microsoft usually auto-formats
The outline format can be tricky at first, but you can create your own note-taking format based on the idea of an outline.
- try and separate main ideas with blank lines
- use bullet points and indents for sub-points
- if your notes get sloppy, draw a box around all the information relating to one main idea.

11. 7/17/2012
Half Page Technique

12. 7/17/2012
Outline Form

13. 7/17/2012
Cornell Style

14. Printing Power Points for Note Taking
7/17/2012
Printing Power Points for Note Taking

15. Prepare beforehand Other techniques
7/17/2012
How Do I Know When the Professor Finishes One Main Point and Moves Onto the Next?
Prepare beforehand
Make use of materials the professor gives you!
Do reading before corresponding lecture
Read the lecture slides before lecture
Other techniques
Practice selecting a main idea in reading
Go back and listen to audio recordings of lecture to practice
Listen for key terms and changes in key terms
Why this is challenging
- lectures are often centered on one or two coherent concepts.
- everything in the lecture is interrelated but it can be divided into main ideas
Why should I care about this
- Not only will it lead to more organized notes for you to study from, but it’s a mental exercise in compartmentalizing information
How you do this
- it takes practice, and it involves getting used to the professor’s lecturing style

16. Selecting the main idea
If you’d like additional help with this… ask! We have another workshop!

17. How Do I Keep Up With my Professor?
7/17/2012
How Do I Keep Up With my Professor?
Use abbreviations- keep them consistent
Consider typing
Compare notes with a classmate to see if you missed any key points
Use assistive technology
Many students struggle keeping up with a professor
Abbreviations
- it’s ok to make up your own, as long as you know what they stand for
- using consistent ones can help

18. Help! How Can I Actively Listen, Take Notes, AND Participate?
7/17/2012
Help! How Can I Actively Listen, Take Notes, AND Participate?
The challenge of doing two things at once
Talk to your professor
Accommodations- Discuss with your AS counselor
Have a note taker
Assistive Technology
Voice Recorders
Livescribe Smart Pen
Sonocent
Challenge of doing two things at once
- listening and thinking while taking notes can be difficult
- it takes practice
- doing reading beforehand is essential because then you know the areas you are confused on. You can focus your attention on these areas and ask questions
Talk to your professor
- Ask him/her to provide you with an outline ahead of time, set up your notes ahead of time
- Ask for copies of PowerPoint slides
- Ask for tips and advice!
This can be especially challenging for students with disabilities, but there are accommodations that can help you with this if you feel your disability is presenting challenges with note taking

19. 7/17/2012
Smart Pen
Go to website and show video

20. 7/17/2012
How Do I Summarize a Lecture? Should I Write Everything the Professor Says?
How much you write depends on several things
Your own ability to juggle writing while listening
Are you using a voice recorder or smart pen?
Did your professor provide PPT slides?
Was there a topic you were confused about in the reading?
Your own ability
- if you have no problems with this, write down as much as you can
- Generally, the more information you can get the better because you can use this for essays and other assignments. When studying, it is easier to choose not to study every detail in your notes than it is to go look up more information. However, you want to still be able to process the information you are writing.
- If this is something you have trouble with, focus on main ideas
pulse pen or voice recorder?
- Focus on main ideas as well
ppt slides
- do not rewrite down what they already gave you
Is this something you’ve studied before?
- write down new information
Confused?
- may want to write down everything your professor says, go back and read it later to see if it clears everything up

21. After Class The Next Step: Reviewing Your Notes
7/17/2012
After Class The Next Step: Reviewing Your Notes
Immediately after class
Star information, put question marks
Five minute essay
Reorganizing notes
Rewrite in better format/ Adjust formatting
Use different colored fonts and pens
Note Key Terms
Numbering Lists
Put question marks next to areas you are confused on
- then look it up in your book, ask your tutor, or talk to your professor

22. After Class The Next Step: Reviewing Your Notes (contd.)
7/17/2012
After Class The Next Step: Reviewing Your Notes (contd.)
For the over-zealous note taker…
For the over-burdened note taker…
Making use of accommodations
For the Over-zealous note taker
- underline the most important parts of each section.
For the Over-burdened note taker
- compare notes with a classmate.
Accommodations
- listen to your recordings, look at your note takers’ information and compare to your notes. Fill in other things you remember that they missed.

23. 7/17/2012
Taking Notes From Text

24. Challenges of Taking Notes from Text
7/17/2012
Challenges of Taking Notes from Text
Do I really need to take notes from my text book?
How do I know what to take notes on?
How do I avoid “re-writing” the book?
Taking notes from a text seems to take forever! How can I make this process quicker?
Questions students often have about taking notes from text
What do you fins most challenging about taking notes from text?

25. Develop your personal system
7/17/2012
Develop your personal system
Do you want to annotate your book or take separate notes?
Are you going to underline/ highlight?
Are your books digital or traditional?
Do you want to use an app or assistive technology?

26. What Should I Take Notes On?
7/17/2012
What Should I Take Notes On?
Identify the main idea of a paragraph
If you want to underline/ highlight- only mark this
Or- write this in the margin
Or- write this in your notes
Always put information in your own words
Keep it short and to the point

27. What else should I do? Use the books structure
7/17/2012
What else should I do?
Use the books structure
Use headings and sub-headings to format your notes, if you are taking separate notes
But be judicious!
Five minute summary strategy
Use effective reading strategies
PQRST

28. Conclusion 7/17/2012 Summarizing advice
- Decide whether you want to type or write
- Choose a way to format your notes
- Identify main points during lecture
- Use abbreviations
- Do reading beforehand
- Make use of assistive technology
- Review your notes after class
- For notes from text
- make use of book’s structure
- prioritize your tasks
- flag pages and underline, then go back
Questions?
Review students’ notes