Effective Note Taking

Image Source: Teach Note Taking 

There are many ways in which a person can take notes for me some where effective while others weren't.  Starting college I realised my note taking skills weren’t very effective, I was constantly getting lost during a lecture as I was so busy taking notes and I found it hard to keep up and then when I got home to revise my notes I realised they weren’t making sense to me. 

This to me was a big problem I wanted to get the most out of each lecture and felt that I was going to fail.  After doing a learning styles questioner I discovered that I was an aural learner.  Knowing the type of learner I am, helped me to organise and construct my notes to make revision easier.  As I am an aural learner my notes were never going to be good as I learn best by listening.  To make sure my notes are effective I brake them up and organise them into the following three parts:

1.      Before lecture/tutorials

It is important for me as an aural learner to attend all my classes.  Before my lectures or tutorials I must revise over my previous lecture notes and construct questions on topics I am unsure of.

Image Source: Innvational Tools

2.      During lectures/tutorials

Instead of concentrating on note taking I started listen to the lecturer, and interacted more in class by asking questions.  This allowed me to bullet point important notes and leave gaps after each point to be filled in after class.

3.      After lectures/tutorials

After lectures/tutorials I would fill in the gaps of my notes I would also do mind maps to help reinforce my learning.  Also between classes I would revise my lecture notes with members of my class who didn’t understand the lecture or who were absent for some reason. 

Learning Styles Questioner