What's the best way to take notes in class?

comfortablycurt
Mon, 22 Jul 2013 01:50:06 +0000

As SLACFac noted, some professors have strict policies against recording. Unless you have a demonstrable disability that necessitates your recording the lecture, many professors won’t allow it. As mentioned, it comes down to intellectual property issues. How would YOU feel if someone was recording you without your knowledge? If professors don’t allow recording, don’t try to sneak a recorder in. If you get caught, it can create serious issues. Some professors will take their intellectual property rights very seriously.

As others have noted “trying to write it ALL down” is a bad practice. When you’re scrambling, trying to get every last word jotted down, you aren’t really paying close attention, and actually comprehending the material. I only really jot down important points. A lot of the information on a power point slide, for instance, will be basically the same material that’s in the textbook. Frequently, the power points actually come with the teachers editions of the textbook, in which case ALL of the material should be in it. It’s more crucial to write down the points the professor is emphasizing, and repeating. When they transition from one point to the next, you want to jot down the main point…but you don’t need to try to copy every single word they speak.

I’m in a GenEd speech class right now over summer sessions, and one of my friends is taking it with me. Every time we get to a new power point slide, she’s trying to jot down every single word on it. Me? I’ve taken maybe two pages of notes the entire class, and I think I have a far better grasp on the material than she does…because I’ve actually paid attention to the lectures, rather than hurriedly trying to jot down every last word.