How I make my notes

pensandmachine:

So. This is a super-long post on my note-making process & tips!

1. Before the lecture

• Read the lecture material before the lecture: our lecturers provide us with the syllabus plan for the semester so I have a general idea of what would be covered in the following lectures. I scan through the corresponding section in the textbook before the lecture so I have a general idea of what’s what. Some of the lecturers even put up the lecture slides beforehand- if so, I skim through them. If I have neither textbook nor slides, I do brief research on the internet.
  
• I jot down key points and questions (around 5) onto a post-it as I skim through the material. I expand on these when I take notes in lectures.
• This way I can have a general idea of what I can expect in the lectures.

2. During the lecture

• NEVER MISS LECTURES! This is a temptation that is REALLY hard to resist, since they don’t take registers at lectures in our university. But even so, I always try to go to lectures because I know that if I don’t, I’ll probably have to spend double the amount of time to catch up with what was taught in the lecture.
  
• The Cornell note-taking system. I’m sure a lot of you know about this system already. (template found here) I divide the pages in my notes into 3 sections per the template, like:

The note itself is taken in the RHS column. The LHS column is for questions and annotations later. The bottom rows are used for summarising. 

• Keeping the post-it from pre-reading in mind, I take notes. How are the points being expanded? How are the questions being answered?
  
• I try to reword what the lecturer says or what the slides say before I write them down. I need to concentrate very hard to not miss what the lecturer is saying.
• In some lectures, I record the lecture using the Recordium app. (I record all my philosophy lectures, since the discussions tend to be chaotic and I miss important points quite often)
• I summarise the content of the page into 2-3 points at the end of the lecture, and write them down in the bottom block.
• I don’t use rulers or correction pens during note-taking at this stage. It’s not imperative that these notes are perfect, as long as they are legible. I’d rather spend my time writing down as much of what my lecturer has to say as possible.
  

3. After the lecture

• I take a seat somewhere and open up my notes, and my textbook. I begin annotating on the LHS column using a different coloured pen.
  
• On the LHS, I jot down 1. the points or questions from pre-reading that has been expanded or answered by the contents to the right, 2. questions or what I need to clarify on, 3. thoughts or comments.
• I then read through the textbook and add in extra information into my notes - information that the lecturer brushed over too vaguely or too quickly, or something extra to help me understand the material better. 
• If the lecturer did not mention it, chances are that it isn’t too important - so I tend to leave those materials out.
• If there is something that I did not understand during the lecture, I try to understand it now. I read the part again, then read the textbook, then do some research on the internet. If I still don’t get it then, I go ask the professor or a tutor. Once I get it I write down why I didn’t get it before and how it makes sense now.
• I read thru the notes once I am done annotating. I should have a full understanding of the material now!
• The above process takes about 20 minutes for me.

4. Back from campus

• Once I am back from campus, I find example problems related to the material taught in the lectures. Often these problems would be from the week’s tutorial problems. And then I try to solve them for practice.
  
•  If I can’t get the answer, I go through my notes and try again. If I can’t get it eventually, I take it to a lecturer or tutor later.
  

5. Weekends

• On weekends, I make my summary notes!
  
• Now is the time for neatness and perfection. So I do a brief plan of my summary.
  

On a scrap piece of paper, I scribble the main headings and main concepts from the week’s lecture notes. This is the backbone of my summary. (excuse the terrible handwriting)

Now I move onto my summary book.

(I unfortunately forgot to take, and therefore don’t have, step-by-step photos of my summary… I will try to remember next weekend.)

So the general structure of my summary is:

• 1. Heading: I write down the chapter heading, or I just make up a heading that seems appropriate. Sometimes I skip this part.
  
• 2. Subheading: This serves as a header for the section, and also as a divider to separate the section from the rest. I sometimes use blocks and lines to separate the sections too.
  
• 3. Diagrams (and graphs): Graphs and diagrams often appear in engineering courses; I have to consider how to scale them so that they will fit onto the page appropriately.
  
• 4. Post-its: When I need to add in additional information or I’ve run out of space, I write the info on a post-it. It’s a great space-saver :)
  

The summary making process itself can be slow, and requires quite a bit of thinking.

• I consider how much info I need to fit onto this one page. Sometimes the week’s material may take up half a page, or might need two pages. I put this into consideration as well.
  
• Then I consider the size of the subsections relative to the whole. How much space will this section need on this page?
  
• I write down the subheading and summarise the contents using the bullets below:
  

I use the same bullets for my lecture notes too.

• I reword the sentences so that I can think about them as I write. I also tend to use a lot of abbreviations in the summary (eg. diff. for different).
  
• Continue filling the page, section by section. Make sure the placing of the sections isn’t too monotonous, and also that sections are clearly separated from each other.
  
• When I think I am going to run out of space, I choose what size post-it I will use and where I want to place it before I write on it.
  
• Once done, I fill in blank spots by drawing in little decorations.
  

I use the STAEDLER triplus fineliners (20 col.) for the summary making.

If you have any questions regarding this post please inbox me! 

-Gia