THE BENEFITS OF
NOTE TAKING
Chapter 7
IT HELPS STUDENTS STAY ATTENTIVE
“Taking notes requires the
attention to be more precisely
focused on the access, sorting, and
coding of the information than it
would be when simply listening to
a speaker or reading a document
(Piolat, Olive, & Kellogg, 2004).
Comments made by students have
often referred to the fact that
taking notes helps them remain
attentive (van Metter et al. 1994).”
 From “Note Taking and Learning: A
Summary of Research”
IT HELPS YOU THINK BETTER
“[T]he taking of notes seems
to ease the load on the
working memory and
thereby helps people resolve
complex problems.”
 From “Note Taking and
Learning: A Summary of
Research”
IT HELPS STUDENTS REMEMBER MORE,
SCORE HIGHER
 Research shows that students who take notes score higher on
both immediate and delayed tests of recall and synthesis than
students who do not take notes.
 From “Research on Student Note Taking
PREPARING TO
TAKE NOTES
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREPARE TO TAKE
NOTES?
 Before class
 Complete reading assignments due
before that class
 Complete homework problems
due before that class
 Review the reading and notes
taken on it shortly before class
 Review the homework problems
shortly before class starts
HONE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS
 Avoid distractions
 Cell phones
 Stories or questions that are off-topic
 Chatty classmates
 Prepare for potential distractions
 Outside obligations
 Dress for classroom environment
 Eat, drink, etc. before class
WE CAN ALL BE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
LISTENERS AT DIFFERENT TIMES
 The daydreamer
 The student who only hears what related to his or her concerns
 The arguer
 The student who wants to talk about unrelated items
IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS BY
 Ask questions, offer comments, answer questions
 Pay close attention to clues
 Signal terms:

“X means….”

“Y is caused by…”
 Verbal clues:

“This will be on the test...”

“As I said before…”
 Non-verbal cues:

Instructor becomes more excited or enthusiastic
 Levels of information:

Practice selectivity: listen for main ideas and subordinate ideas
NOTE TAKING FORMATS
 Use a consistent format
 Format is up to you
 Develop your system for labeling
content (processes, rules, examples,
etc.) as you record it (common
abbreviations, your own
abbreviations, etc.)
 Make sure you’ll be able to
understand your notes in the days
and weeks to come
 Note-taking formats (p. 236)
 Outlining
 The Cornell System
 Mind Maps
THINGS TO CONSIDER
 Summary is always good
 One method may work well for
one discipline or lecturer but
not as well for another
 One method may work better
for you than another
 A mashup of strategies may
work best
MORE PRACTICE
 Watch the following videos for
10-15 minutes each and switch
up note-taking strategies
between each one
 Stanford Lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=KkMDCCdjyW8
 Outlining
 The Cornell System
 Mind mapping
 Reflect and discuss on which
worked best and why.
 Harvard Lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=kBdfcR-8hEY