Chances are you’ll attend quite a few lectures at Kent. Think of your notes as a study tool to use later—how can you make them most helpful now for future studying?

You can maximize what you learn in and from lecture by following the three easy steps below:

Listen Actively in Lecture

• Look over your notes from last time and prepare for the day’s lecture, anticipating themes, concepts, and ideas that the lecturer will present.
• Get to class early so that you can choose a seat free of distractions and close to the lecturer.
• Listen for main ideas and for the supporting relevant details. (You’ll add details to your notes later, after class).
• Pay particular attention when the lecturer is analysing, synthesizing, or processing information for you, such as when she makes a list, notes cause and effect, uses superlatives, spends a lot of time explaining something, or says “put this in your notes”.
• Ask questions when you don’t understand something.

Take Clear Efficient Notes: Use the Cornell Method

• Using only one side of your paper (so you can add notes later to the back if you need extra space), draw a vertical line a few inches from the left side of the paper and a horizontal line a few inches up from the bottom of the page. (See below for an example.)
• Take legible notes in the big central ‘box’ portion of your paper. Don’t write out every word that the lecturer says. Rather, focus on main ideas, themes, and concepts, taking down only those details, examples, or illustrations that will help you to remember the central point(s) of the lecture.
• Use consistent, understandable abbreviations whenever possible.
• Skip lines to indicate transitions from one thought or idea to the next.
• Leave noticeable blanks for words, ideas, or dates that you didn’t catch but can fill in later.
• Put question marks in the left-hand margin to indicate that you should do further investigation on this section of your notes, either on your own or by going to office hours.
• Signal your own thoughts in your notes. Make sure you pay attention to your own thoughts too, especially where something sparks an idea. You’ll want to come back to your own ideas and insights so you can make your own connections when you review your notes.

Review Notes and Fill Gaps

• Review your notes within 24 hours of taking them. Students forget 50% of what they learn if they don’t review within 24 hours.
• Fill in any blanks you left and answer any questions you may have from lecture.
• Use the left-hand margin to annotate your notes indicating key terms, concepts, dates, and any other important information that will help you to review for exams or write papers.
• Use the bottom margin to write a summary of each page of notes—or, if it makes more sense, summarize at the end of one set of lecture notes.

Following these steps will help you to store information in your long-term memory and better learn your module material the first time around — a real timesaver when it comes to reviewing for quizzes, tests, and exams.

Page setup according to the Cornell Method