31 Strategy: Taking Focused Notes

Focused note taking is a skill that can be especially applied to an information source. This would include taking notes during lectures, discussions, or any reading from a text. For learning to take place most effectively—and for you to remember the material—it is important to revisit your notes multiple times in a variety of ways. This is where the “focused note taking” comes into play.

There are five phases of the focused note taking process. Take a look and get ready to apply the various note taking phases to your courses in the near future…

Phase 1

Taking notes. In this phase, you select a format, set up the page, record the essential question, and take notes based on the source (lecture, discussion, text, etc.). Check out the following strategies when it comes to taking notes in this first phase.

• Establish a purpose and objective for note taking. Ask an essential question to guide your note taking.
• In a complete sentence, what are you trying to answer by writing notes on this topic or objective? Why do you have to do this? Every time you write down notes, your mind should keep coming back to that question to remind you that what you are writing is part of a larger idea

Select the best format for the notes. The following are a few possibilities:

Cornell Notes. This is a note-taking format best done on a piece of notebook paper (rather than pre-formatted paper). Take a look at the following example Cornell Notes template. The print within the boxes provide further guidance for each section.

2 Column Notes

3 Column Notes. In this format of note taking, a third column offers a space for questions, diagrams, math answers, and so forth. It can especially be handy with vocabulary, math, or science note taking.

Phase 2

Processing notes. This step involves thinking about the notes. Review and revise notes in order to clarify content and make connections. Underline, circle, delete, add, chunk, and highlight to identify, sort, organize, and classify the main ideas and supporting details.

Phase 3

Connecting Thinking. Phase three involves thinking beyond the notes.

Ask questions and make connections to deepen content knowledge. Add your own thinking to identify places of confusion and to make connections to prior knowledge. Note that within each of the above note formatting options, this step [connecting thinking] is already built in to the process.

Phase 4

Summarizing and Reflecting on Learning. Think about the notes collectively. Pull out the most important pieces from the notes and write a summary that includes the meaning and importance of the content.

• As you summarize and reflect, consider the following prompt: What have I learned?
• Answer the original essential question.
• Think about how your set of notes will be useful.

Phase 5

Applying Learning. Use your notes and apply them to future learning.

Abbreviate

• Most classes have jargon you can abbreviate. In an American Government class, for example, the word “Government” will be used a great deal. In an Earth Science class, long words like “environment” or “Photosynthesis” might be used regularly. Abbreviate them—“gov,” “env” and “PhSyn” will be much easier for you to write quickly. If you are worried you will forget what your abbreviations mean, make a glossary at the top of your page.
• Abbreviate common concepts. For examples, instructor may say that something has increased or decreased, improved, or gotten worse etc. Use an arrow up or an arrow down to represent that idea. You can the arrow up or down in any class.
• Use mathematical symbols to represent ideas like “added,” or “lost,” “divided” or “multiplied.” For example the concept:
• “The Governor needed five more Congress members’ votes in order to pass the bill” might show up like this in your notes:
• “Gov need 5 + cong member to pass bill.”
• Pay Attention to Numbers

Listen for Phrases that Help You Set Goals

• Most instructors provide some direction for students about what they will cover in a lecture. Often this happens at the beginning of class (So make sure you arrive at class on time, notebook and pen ready!)
• Listen for phrases like:
  • “Today we are going to talk about . . . “
  • “We are going to discuss the reasons why _____________ happened.”
  • “There are five kind of . . . .”
  • “It is important for you to understand . . . “
  • “___________ is significant because . . . .”
• Phrases like this help you understand what the goal of a lecture is. If your instructor says “The Civil Rights Movement had five significant effects on public policy” that means you need to end class knowing those five effects—you can make sure your notes reflect that.

Listen for Transitions

• Most instructors give you some warning when they are about to move on to another topic. Learn to pay attention to how your instructor’s transition. Here are some clues:
• Some will stop a lecture and ask if there are questions about what he/she just said. Often, that is a cue that he/she is moving on to another topic.
• Others will cue the class by saying something like “The second important point . . . .” This tells you that the instructor is moving on. In your notes, write “2^nd important point . . .”
• Sometimes instructors will “change gears” by warming you that something is different than something else. For example, is a Biology teacher is talking about deciduous trees and wants to shift to talking about evergreen trees, she might say something like, “Evergreen trees are different from deciduous trees in several important ways . . . .” In your notes, write something like “Evergreen diff from decid trees ‘cuz .. . .”
• Instructors will sometimes write lecture outlines on the board—make sure to use them! However, many students make the mistake of writing down only what the instructor puts on the board. Usually, this simply isn’t enough. Taking more through notes is necessary.

After the Lecture

The notes you take are like another book for your class. You need to use them like you would a book to study for your class, which mean that your notes have to have some of the same qualities a book does. Here are some ways to organize your notes:

• Create an “index.” After the lecture is over, jot down a few words about the subject of that day’s notes. Put it under the date that you put across the top of the page. Something like “Reasons the Civil War Started” will be fine. When you review notes later, you can scan the subjects to find the notes you need.
• As you know, textbooks often have important terms bolded. You can do the same thing. Use a highlighter to mark important terms. Make sure your notes have a definition of the term that makes sense to you. If they don’t add to the definition by drawing an arrow and writing in the margin.
• As you also know, textbooks often use bullet lists, headings and subheadings. Use a different colored pen and/or highlighters to go back to your notes and make your own headings and subheadings. For example, if you instructor is lecturing over the five major outcomes of the Civil Rights movement, go back to your notes and write (in the margins if you have to) “Five major outcomes of Civil Rights Movement.” Next, number each reason so you can clearly see them. If you seem to be short a reason or two, visit your instructor or talk to classmate to see what you missed.
• Tab your notes. As you get closer to a big exam or paper, make tabs for your notes. You can buy tabs at office supply stores or make your own out of tape and colored paper. The tabs will run alongside the edge of the notes and will divide your notes up by subject. If you are taking an American History class, one tab might say “Revolutionary War.” Another might say “Civil War” etc.

Having well-organized notes is a great start, but it isn’t quite enough. After you organize your notes, you need to review them. Here are some ways to review your notes:

• Ask yourself why your instructor decided to lecture over this material in the way that he or she chose to do. What type of lecture is it? Hand-in-Hand or Jumping-off-point? Why do you suppose he or she chose to deliver that type of lecture to the class today? How does the lecture relate to other course materials you have to read for the course?
• Make sure you understood the lecture itself. When you review, pretend you need to tell a classmate who missed the lecture what the main ideas were. Actually explain the notes—either out loud or silently.
• Add additional notes of explanation you didn’t get a chance to add in class. Make sure you understand any abbreviations you might have used.
• Identify concepts that were not clear to you. Mark confusing parts up with questions marks and find a classmate, a tutor, or your instructor to get the concepts clarified.
• Share notes with a classmate. What did he or she write down? How is it different from what you wrote down? What can you add to one another’s notes?