Chapter 4
Taking Notes
P.O.W.E.R. Plan
Prepare: Considering Your Goals
 Organize: Getting the Tools of
Notetaking Together
 Work: Processing—Not Copying
— Information
 Evaluate: Thinking Critically
About Your Notes
 Rethink: Activating your Memory

Prepare: Considering
Your Goals
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Identify the instructor’s goals and your goals for
the course—Read the Syllabus
Complete assignments before coming to class
Be prepared to listen to a lecture…even if the
instructor is not the “best lecturer”
Review the previous class notes
Choose a seat in the classroom where you can
see and hear
Organize: Get the Tools of
Notetaking Together
Bring the appropriate writing utensils and
paper to class
 Choose the right type of notebook (looseleaf usually preferred)
 Write on only one side of the page
 Take textbook to class
 Consider taking a laptop computer to class
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Work: Processing—
Do not Copy Information
Active listening is different from “hearing”
 Listen for key ideas
 Search for the meta-message
 Listen for repetition
 Look for nonverbal signals
 Use short phrases, not sentences for notes
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Notetaking Experiment
Listen as I read the following and take
abbreviated notes:

1.
2.
There are two kinds of job analyses
used by human resource experts:
job or task-oriented analyses
Worker or employee-oriented analyses
How did you write your notes?
Notetaking Experiment

Two kinds of job analyses
– Job-oriented (task-oriented)
– Worker-oriented (employee-oriented)
Take Notes in Outline Form
I.
Key Concept
A. Main Idea
1. Supporting Idea
2. Supporting Idea
a. Specific details
b. Specific details
Outline a Lecture
Listen to the following five-minute lecture
and take notes in outline format
 After listening to the lecture:

– Did you all agree on the main ideas of each
passage?
– How are your notes different or similar?
– How can you improve your notes?
Outline a Lecture
Copy information from board or overhead
 Use different notetaking techniques for
class discussions
 Listen carefully during discussions for
important ideas
 Pay attention to instructor’s summary
 Ask questions

Improving Notetaking
Getting Over Stage Fright
Sit in front of room
 Write down question before you ask it
 Participate early in the semester by asking
questions
 Don’t wait for someone else to ask the
first question in class
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Special Techniques
How do you cope with instructors who
mumble, talk too fast, teach less than
interesting lectures?
 Ask questions
 Ask for a conference and discuss with
instructor your difficulty in keeping up
 Meet with other students to compare
notes
 Record the lecture
 Report discriminatory or harassing
remarks to a supervisor
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Evaluate: Think Critically about
Your Notes
Do your notes represent what was
covered in class?
 Do they reflect the emphases of the
instructor?
 Are there any key points that are not
clear?
 Do any points need to be clarified?
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Rethink: Activate Your Memory
Transfer information from short- to long-term
memory by rethinking the class lecture
 Use the 2 ½ inch column on the left-hand side
of the page to jot down keywords, significant
points, major concepts, controversies, and
questions
 Create study notes that summarize key points
 Use flashcards
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Rethink: Activate Your Memory
How many times have you said, “I don’t
need to write it down, I’ll remember it?”
 How many times have you remembered
the information?
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Concept Mapping
Taking Notes as You Study
Highlight, underline, circle and make notes
in the margin of your text
 Make flash cards (online courses often
include these cards)
 For magazines or library books, copy down
key ideas, definitions, formulas in outline
or concept mapping form
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P.O.W.E.R. Plan
PREPARE
Consider your goals
ORGANIZE
Get the tools of
notetaking together
WORK
Process—don’t copy—
information
EVALUATE
Think critically about
your notes
RETHINK
Review your notes shortly after class
to activate your memory
Career Connections
Taking notes effectively in meetings at
work may provide a significant career
advantage.
Resources
Note-Taking Make Easy by Judy Kesselman-
Turkel and Franklynn Peterson (University
of Wisconsin Press, 2003)
Web Links
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Cornell Notetaking System:
http://www.byu.edu/stlife/cdc/learning/not
e-tak.php
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Concept Mapping:
http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hn
douts/class1.html
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For Disabled Students:
http://www.stlcc.edu/fp/access/Stu/NoteHa
ndout.html
Journal Topics for 2/20/08
What do you feel you are successful at?
 How did you accomplish that success?
 What can you apply from that experience
that can help you with reaching your goals
in college?
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