Taking lecture notes

1. Nursing Study Skills
5/22/2017 1
Session 4
Note Taking Part 3:
Taking Lecture Notes

2. Objective of Lecture Notes
• Your notes are the “textbook” for the lecture
content of a class so they need to be legible, clear,
and easily understood.
• Most professors take a great deal of their test
material out of their lectures.
• Plan to use your notes later to study for the test.
Source: How to Take Excellent Lecture Notes (PDF) at: http://www.roanestate.edu/webfolders/hillm/study-
help/How%20to%20Take%20Excellent%20Lecture%20Notes.pdf
2

3. Remember…
• Lecture does not provide you with everything
you need to know. It’s meant to provide you
with an overview of key topics that you need to
read and learn more about on your own.
• Lecture is a starting point for key topics.
• DO NOT daydream during lecture because you
will lose the thread of information that you
need to remember.
3

4. What is Important?
• Learn to recognize and capture signal words.
• Don’t attempt to record every detail of the lecture;
writing every word can make you lag behind.
• Learn a new note taking method!
4

5. Signal Words
• The instructor is not going to always say “This is
important” when stating an important new idea
or giving an example, but he or she will use
signals to convey what they are doing.
5

6. Common
Signal
Words and
Phrases
• “There are three reasons why…”
• “First”…” “Second…”“Third...”
• “For example...”
• “For instance...”
• “As a result...”
• “Finally...”
• “In summary...”
• “From this we see…”
• “Now this is important…”
• “The basic concept here is…”
6

7. Participation is Key
• Participation helps increase your understanding of
the material.
• It can make the information taught more
interesting and memorable.
• Be prepared to participate actively. READ the
material before coming to class.
• Participation makes the lecture go by quicker too!
7

8. Stay Focused
• Don’t allow distractions to pull you away from the
lecture and note taking.
• Listening, thinking, and writing should be your
main lecture activities.
• You are not a spectator; you are a participant!
Source: How to Take Excellent Lecture Notes (PDF) at: http://www.roanestate.edu/webfolders/hillm/study-
help/How%20to%20Take%20Excellent%20Lecture%20Notes.pdf
8

9. Find the Structure
• Your goal is to create a complete record of all the
main points made and capture the overall
structure of the lecture.
• When you decipher the structure of the lecture, it
becomes a series of ordered points that can be
more easily grasped by your mind and recorded in
your notes.
• Learning the lecture style of your instructor early
on can set the stage for the entire class.
9

10. Professor’s
Cues
• Watch for the professor to give verbal
and behavioral cues during the lecture
such as:
– Changes in tone of voice
– Speed of speech
– Pauses in speech
– Changes in facial expressions
"I lecture" by Stephen Curry, Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sc63/4104887849/)
is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
10

11. Technical Terms
• Record the definitions of all technical terms.
• Most professors want you to learn the
vocabulary.
• Try to form sentences of your own using the
words. This will help you remember them.
• Usually will appear on the test.
11

12. Illustrations
• Write down examples, problems, diagrams, tables
and graphs.
• Connect them to the main idea that they go with
in your notes.
12

13. Keep Your Notes!
• Your notes are a major part of your active learning
process.
• They could actually be useful in other courses.
• Notes help you internalize and store information,
so later courses reinforce what you have already
learned.
13

14. Participation Outside of Class
• Try explaining what you learned in class to an
outsider.
• Teaching a subject is a great teacher of its own.
• Don’t bore your audience though!
14

15. Freebies
• Ask for outlines, copies of lecture presentations, or
anything else the instructor is willing to give.
15

16. Summary
• You can’t take your instructor home, but you
can take their thoughts on a subject with you.
Your notes are a way of doing this. Effectively
taken notes can be nearly as advantageous as a
textbook.
16