I find that college freshmen struggle with taking notes in class. Why wouldn’t they struggle? Very few need to take notes effectively to be successful in high school, and no one teaches them to take notes when they come to college.
Many colleges and universities offer a course on effective study skills. These classes often discuss note taking. If you have the opportunity to take such a class, I highly recommend it. In the end, such a course will save you time and effort—and improve your grades.
Students need to understand that note taking is a skill. They won’t innately know how to take good notes in a college class. Of course, the most effective strategy for each individual person will vary. You may have to try several strategies to see which work for you. However, here are some ideas that college students typically find useful:
1. Go to class. This is an obvious one, but it’s the first step in good note taking. Unfortunately, many students don’t even get this far. You cannot take good notes if you aren’t there—and you shouldn’t trust your classmates to take adequate notes for you. Go to class!
2. Don’t write too much. You cannot and should not try to write everything your professor says. I find that students who try to write too much often miss much of what is going on—because they are too busy writing. Learn to distinguish what is important from what is tangential. Take notes on key points. Think about your notes as an outline of the class lecture, not a transcript of it. If I look out on a class while I am lecturing, I see that the better students are sometimes writing, but they often look up and make eye contact with me.
3. Participate in class. How does this help you to be an effective note taker? If you are involved in class, you will look at your notes and remember more of the context of each point. You will think things like, “Oh, yeah, that’s what I asked the question about,” as you review your notes. Involving yourself in class discussion will help you to connect what you’ve written to what was going on in class at the time.
4. Organize your notes. It may work for you to have a different section of a notebook for each class, or maybe a different notebook for each class. You can also take notes on loose paper and then staple or bind the papers. You want to avoid taking notes on random pieces of paper and just throwing them into random folders or backpacks. (You’d be surprised how many students do not have a “place” for the notes they’ve taken.)
5. Type your notes. When I was a student, this was a very effective strategy for me. I would type up my notes before a test. Sometimes I even added clip art! The ideas that I was having trouble grasping I would put in bold or italics. I would learn and review as I typed, and I would also have a clear and concise study guide that I could carry around with me for a few days before the test. I could pull it out to review whenever I had an extra couple of minutes.
6. Have a note taking buddy. Make sure your buddy is a conscientious student with good attendance. If you have to miss class, ask them if you can copy their notes and if they could catch you up on any announcements. You can also ask if they can nab you any handouts from class. Do the same for them if they have to miss. Warning: Never let your notes out of your sight. If they want to copy your notes, walk with them to a copy machine after class, so you don’t have to trust them with your notes.
Remember, if you struggle with taking notes, you shouldn’t be discouraged. Note taking is a skill, and often it’s a skill that isn’t emphasized. Most college students become better at note taking as they progress through their academic careers.
