Note-Taking Guide
Why Take Notes?
Concentration on lecture/reading
- Note taking keeps you focused, whether you're in class or reading your textbook.
- Writing notes means that you're kinesthetically processing information.
Resource for homework and test prep
- Your notes will help you study for tests and tackle assignments.
- Notes often contain information that can't be found anywhere else—including the internet and your textbook—and provide clues as to what the instructor finds most important.
Enhanced learning
- Taking proper notes means you are filtering through information and thoroughly encoding it.
- By writing content in your own words and choosing the most important things to write down, you're building connections between what you already know and what you're learning.
Note Taking Guidelines
Don't: Use complete sentences or worry about spelling and grammar
Do: Streamline information by using abbreviations and shortcuts.
Don't: Try to write down everything the lecturer or textbook is saying.
Do: Take notes selectively. Capture main ideas and subpoints.
Don't: Take unorganized, free form notes.
Do: Use some kind of structure to organize your notes. See the following page of this handout for formats you can experiment with!
Don't: copy definitions and concepts verbatim
Do: Use your own words. It might seem slower at first, but it gets easier with practice.
Note-Taking Methods
Have lots of conceptual information? 
...try OUTLINING! Tools to try: OneNote, Google Docs, Evernote | Need a tried-and-true study tool? 
...try CORNELL NOTES! Tools to try: Incompetech Cornell Lined Paper |
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Want to visualize processes, ordered information, or models? 
...try CONCEPT MAPPING! Tools to try: Lucidchart, Popplet, SimpleMind | Have lots of reading or downloaded lecture slides? 
...try ANNOTATING! Tools to try: Notability, PDF, Expert, Xodo |
Note-Taking Tips for Online Lectures
- Schedule a consistent time to watch pre-recorded lectures, and make sure to review previous lectures' notes in advance
- Take breaks judiciously between long or dense lectures to stay alert
- Listen for signals that lecture material is worth jotting down:
- Numbers in explanations ("Three main branches...)
- Changes in volume or tone of voice, or using more gestures
- Transitional language ("therefore," "consequently...")
- Repeated information, or topics that came up in readings
- Warnings about common mistakes or misunderstandings
Download a pdf version of this page
Note-Taking Guide
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. You may reproduce it only for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University.