NOTE TAKING

This refers to the practice of

recording information from
different sources and platforms.
By taking notes, the writer
records the essence of the
information, freeing his/her
mind from having to recall
everything.
Notes are commonly drawn from a transient
source, such as an oral discussion at a meeting,
or a lecture (notes of a meeting are usually
called minutes), in which case, the notes may be
the only record of the event.
 Importance of Note Taking
• It’s almost impossible to remember everything
you read or hear from lessons-in fact, we forget
33% of what we don’t review within twenty-four
hours. That’s why students almost always take
notes by writing down the essentials of a lesson
during class or of a reading assignment, you can
review the notes later to study , piece together
the complicated parts you don’t understand the
first time, and reinforce your learning.
• The act of writing information down helps
you remember and recall it later.
• It keeps you awake. Note-taking forces you to
pay attention and helps you focus in class.
• It engages the mind. Listening carefully and
deciding what to include in notes, keeps your
mind actively involved with what you hear.
 Methods of Note Taking
• Outlining: This is the simplest and most
common ways to take notes. Points and
keywords are written down in a hierarchical
structure, typically in the same chronological
order as they were discussed in the lesson.
Note-taking outlines are divided by main
topics, subtopics, individual points, and
subpoints, with room for examples and
quotes as needed.
Outlined note-taking works especially well with
digital word processors, since you can also go
back and add new points later. It follows a
structure of Roman numerals, capital letters,
Arabic numerals, and lowercase letters.
Example:
1. Man topic 1
A. Subtopic 1
1. point 1
a. Sub point 1 or example
b. Sub point 2 or example
2. Point 2
B. Subtopic 2
I. Point 1

II. Main topic 2

• Charting: This type of note-taking occurs
when multiple topics are discussed
simultaneously or when one topic is dissected
into multiple parts. As a result, you divide your
page into two or more columns, with each
column assigned to a single topic. Charting
helps you keep your notes organized during
lessons that go back and forth between topics
rapidly.
• Cornell Method: It aims to make note-taking
faster and more efficient by allocating
dedicated space on a page for different types
of information. Basically, you divide your page
into two columns: the recall column (left)
which accounts one-third of your page and
the note column (right) which accounts for
two-thirds of the same page.
In the recall column, you write the main topics,
keywords or questions with supporting notes
written directly across in the notes column. At
the bottom of the page, five to seven lines are
reserved for a summary, where after the lesson
or reading, you reiterate the main points of the
entire class or chapter.
Example
NAME DATE
SUBJECT PAGE #

RECALL COLUMN NOTES COLUMN

SUMMARY
• The SQ4R Method: This type of note-taking is
vital while reading , so it won’t be of much use
in a classroom. The name stands for the steps
of the process:
- Survey: Take about 3-5 minutes to skim or
survey the reading, writing down all the major
headings, subheadings, topics and other key
points.
• Questions: Based on what you saw while
surveying, write down any broad questions
you have about the text.
• Read: Now, actually read the text, section by
section, keeping an eye out for the answers to
your questions from the previous step.
• Recite: After each section, write down all
major ideas, keywords, and concepts-in other
words, take notes. Again, answer the
questions you posed in the second step as
best as you can.
• Relate: As a trick to enhance memorization,
try to develop personal connections to what
you’ve just read. Can you relate to any of the
topics discussed? Does the information
remind you of anything in your own life?
• Review: When you’ve finished, reread your
notes to increase retention and help with
studying.
 Note Taking Techniques and Tips
• Write Phrases, not full sentences: Only record
the keywords that you need to get the idea of
the main point. Skip words like, ‘’the’’ and ‘’a’’
that don’t add additional meaning to the
lecture content. Retain key technical terms.
• Take notes in your words: Paraphrase what
you hear so it makes sense to you. It helps you
to understand and remember what you hear.
Try to paraphrase everything except where
information needs to be noted exactly.
• Structure your notes with headings, and
number lists: Use headings to indicate topic
areas or to include bibliographic details of the
sources of information. Use an outline form
or a numbering system and indenting to help
you distinguish major from minor points and
as a clear way of indicating the structure of
lecture information.
• Code your notes: Use colour and symbols to
mark structure and emphasis.
• Use colour to highlight major sections, main
points and diagrams: You can also use
different colours to classify and link concepts
or information by topic. However, don’t focus
too much on colour coding when you’re in the
lecture. It requires time and concentration , so
it’s more useful to do most of the highlighting
and underlining when you’re revising your
notes later.
• Underline, circle, star etc. : to identify key
information, examples, definitions, or other
important materials. Devise your own marking
code to indicate each type.
• In the case of missing something: If you miss
something, write keywords, skip a few spaces,
and get the information later. Leave a space
on the page for your own notes and
comments.
• Use symbols and abbreviations: Symbols and
abbreviations for frequently used words,
phrases or names are useful for notetaking in
lectures when speed is essential. It’s
important to be consistent so you remember
what they represent and can use them easily.
Keep a ‘’key list’’ of frequently used symbols,
abbreviations and their meanings so that you
can refer to them in the future.
Abbreviations and acronyms for
note taking
 1. COMMON ONES
NO Abbreviation /Acronym Meaning
1 Etc. (etcetera) And the rest
2 E.g. For example
3 Info Information
4 i.e. That is
5 n.b Note well/important
6 p/pp Page/pages
7 para paragraph
8 ch chapter
9 no. number
10 diff different
11 C19 Nineteenth Century
2. Discipline-Specific
These should be whatever is frequently used in
your field of study. For instance, in Chemistry:
Au=Gold, Mg=Magnesium.
In the case of quantities and concepts, these
represented by Greek letters in many fields:
A or a (alpha)
B or b (beta)
3. Personal
Develop your own set so that you don’t have to
write every word in full. You can shorten any
word that is commonly used in your lectures.
Example: Govt. (Government), nec. (necessary)
Work out a system you’ll remember and use it
consistently. Introduce a few symbols and
abbreviations at a time to help you remember
them.
4. Acronyms
Some abbreviations are so well known and
widely used that they have become acronyms-
abbreviations pronounced as words:
LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulation
Emission of Radiation)
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation)
OAU ( Organization of African Unity)
Symbols for Note Taking
SYMBOL MEANING
= Equals/is equal to/is the same as
≠ Is not equal to/ is the same as
≡ Is equivalent to
Therefore, thus, so
‫؞‬
↗ Rises, increases by
+ And, more, plus
> More than, greater than
< Less than
- Less, minus
a Proportional to
ⱥ Not proportional to
↘ Falls, decreases by
 Difference between Notetaking and Note
making
• Notetaking often happens when listening. The
goal is to quickly capture content so we can
refer to it later.
• Note making is more common while reading;
it consists in deliberately crafting our own
version so we can learn and create better.