Learning how to take notes in college is one of the many new responsibilities that comes freshman year. Students need to be prepared since professors often dive into the course material as early as the second day of class.
“Just start. Even if all you’re doing is jotting down what seemed to be the highlights of a lecture or a slide presentation, the act of writing it down is going to help you remember it later,” says Teresa Harrison, the academic coaching program coordinator at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Knowing how to make observations that lead to effective notes makes all the difference. Here are some best practices for note-taking in college.
Write Down Your Notes
Manually writing information helps reinforce learning, as it requires students to actively process the material while putting it on paper, experts say.
To get the most out of note-taking, students should focus on capturing key details during lectures and reviewing or summarizing them later on.
“There’s a reason for that saying — when someone doesn’t write it down — it can easily ‘go in one ear and out the other,'” says Julia Moody, a premier college admissions counselor at The Princeton Review.
Abbreviate
Don’t miss what the professor is saying or presenting in class because you’re consumed in your notes. Rather than trying to write down everything, you should focus on adopting efficient note-taking techniques, says Casey Schmalacker, vice president at New Frontiers Executive Function Coaching.
When teachers move quickly, it’s important to write down key details using a personal shorthand. Later, you can elaborate and rewrite the notes at home as needed, experts say.
“Students have so many shorthands from texting that some students will take notes as if they’re texting and then write them out longhand once they’re home,” Moody says. “As long as you can understand what you’ve written, whatever format works for you is the best way to go.”
Some examples of shorthand students may use include symbols such as arrows, the “at sign” and the ampersand, as well as abbreviating and omitting nonessential words.
[See: 6 Study Tips for College That High School Students Can Master Now]
Review Your Notes Later
Reviewing the material after class helps fill in any gaps. Students who spend 15 minutes at the end of the day studying their notes reap major recall benefits later on, experts say.
“The best note-taking method for each student is the one that they’re going to be able to quiz themselves with later,” Harrison says.
You should go back to your notes, review them and clarify anything that might need some expansion, says Shanon Taylor, the interim associate dean for undergraduate affairs in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada–Reno.
“Sometimes our handwriting can get a little bit messy when we’re writing really quickly, and if you don’t go back to it until three weeks later, you’re left looking at your notes thinking, ‘What in the world was I writing here?'” Taylor says.
If you miss a class, you should reach out to your professor or a reliable classmate to get the notes you missed, experts say.
Format Your Notes
There are various ways you can take notes, experts say, and you should format them so you’re easily able to understand the material.
“If you really want to learn the material, you’re going to have to employ all different methods of learning in order to make it really stick,” Harrison says.
Different note-taking methods should be applied to different classes. For STEM courses, experts recommend handwriting notes to allow space for writing out steps or drawing figures related to concepts and problems that the professor is demonstrating.
Since STEM is typically more problem-based, Schmalacker says, mapping out additional explanation is helpful.
In humanities courses like history or English, you’re often listening to lecture-based material that’s more text-heavy, experts say. Since professors may not use presentations, you typically need to write as you listen.
Two helpful note-taking methods for humanities classes include leaving space on the side of the page for follow-up notes or structuring the information by topic with headers and bullet points, like an outline.
To keep written notes organized and easy to find, you can use a binder with sections or a separate notebook for each class. On a tablet or computer, digital folders for each class — and subfolders for each lesson — provide similar order.
[See: Don’t Make These 8 Freshman Mistakes in College.]
Use Note-Taking Apps
Students are increasingly turning to tablets, laptops and artificial intelligence to enhance their note-taking.
You may benefit from using these apps, especially if you prefer visual organization or need features like color-coding, templates or multimedia support, experts say.
“Students may find that it’s more helpful to take notes in the form of a visual organizer,” Taylor says. “There are different apps that are available, and if you’re using a tablet, you can sketch out your diagrams and even take your notes that way.”
Some apps include Evernote, Notion, Goodnotes and Notability, all of which have free versions. These apps allow you to organize notes by class, insert images and customize your notes to best fit your needs.
In addition, typing your notes into a Google or Microsoft Word document is a great alternative to writing in a digital notebook, experts say. With these word processors, you can highlight, underline or bold key points as you take notes.
Record Lectures
With a professor’s permission, you can record as the professor is teaching to capture the full lecture without worrying about missing key points in the moment, experts say. While taking notes you can leave symbols or blank spaces in sections you need to revisit, as well as mark the timestamp on the recording to reference later.
“There are some students where the actual physical process of taking notes is not effective,” Schmalacker says. “If they record a lecture, they can listen afterwards. That way they focus in class, as opposed to focusing on trying to write down everything.”
You can use transcribers or audio note-taking apps such as Otter.ai and Evernote to record lectures, though free versions may have a time limit.
“If it’s a really complex issue, (recording) can be helpful for students,” Taylor says.
[Read: How to Get Good Grades in College.]
Access Course Materials
Lecture slides or class materials professors share in advance can be valuable tools for helping you take more efficient notes, experts say.
You can download these materials before class — either as a PDF or in apps such as Goodnotes, Word or Adobe — and write or type your own notes directly on top of the content.
“Highlight and annotate the teacher’s notes, because the notes are never going to be complete,” Moody says. “The teacher is always going to say things that they may not have written in the notes, and those little tips and tricks that the teachers may mention could be key.”
The materials are meant to supplement your note-taking, not replace it, experts say.
“You’re in college to become the expert in your field,” Harrison says. “You’re going to have to spend time outside the classroom, adding to your own content knowledge in order to truly become an expert.”
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Note-Taking Tips for Incoming College Students originally appeared on usnews.com
