Life in college is completely different from life in high school.It is more like getting an upgrade to your favorite building strategy game . You will have access to more cool stuff . But you may want to make some extra effort to afford them!
In high school, the tutor took it upon himself to give the students notes, as a point of reference. However, in college, it is up to you as a student to make your own notes.
Take notes in college is important as it helps you revise for your normal studies or for your finals. In addition to that, better grades start with better notes. Also, you should make it a habit of taking notes by yourself and not relying on another classmate’s work. This is because it is much easier to remember what you have written than to remember what someone else has written.
“You have to make your own condensed notes. You learn from MAKING them. A lot of thinking goes into deciding what to include and exclude. You develop your own system of abbreviations and memory methods for the information.”
― Peter Rogers, Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard
As a college student, you need to study ahead of the lecturer to make the note taking process and class participation much easier. Learning is mainly influenced by what the learner already knows.
Before heading to class for the lecture, ensure that you are up to speed with the lecturer and you have done all the assignments, to have an easier time taking notes in class. There are different strategies to take notes in college. They include the following.
The Outline Method
Using the outline method is one of the best ways to take notes in college. Most students use the outline method even without noticing it, because it comes out naturally.
It is also the easiest way of taking notes. The outline method of taking notes in college refers to selecting the main key points that the lecturer will address in class, then writing some sub-topics beneath every key point. This helps during revision in that you know which parts to cover under topic one or topic ten. The outline method is the commonly used method of taking notes in college by the students.
You can further organize your work and ideas by using the basic outline such as using bullets or numbers in sectioning your work. Reading your assignments before class will also help you identify the main ideas of the coursework. Furthermore, if you are using your computer to take notes, you can use Notion or Roam Research to outline your notes well.
Moreover, using the outline method to take notes in college is also important in that you are able to review your notes later, and summarize the work done in class on that day, using a short paragraph and in your own words. Summarizing your notes will give you the perfect memory to recall what you wrote and will help you in your next class.
Benefits of using the outline method to take notes in College:
- It is the simplest method of taking notes in college.
- It is more structured, hence can be used as a reference point in the future.
- It is easier to introduce a new point using an arrow or a bullet. This also helps you know the main points and your thoughts or addition to the main points.
- You can use the points to write down earlier as study questions.
- The outline method to take notes in college also helps you prioritize the material.
Writing on Slides
Using slides is also another strategy to take notes in college. This is another easy way of taking notes especially if you own a laptop. Creating slides helps you in separating the main ideas from the other points.
On the “title” part of the slide, you can write the main topic of discussion then on the “Sub-title” part, you can list important points that fall under the main topic.
When you are revising, it is easy to know what you need to cover in various topics. You can also choose to start with the tough topics, when the mind is still fresh and handle the easy ones later when you feel relaxed. Just like the outline method, writing on slides also has some benefits.
Benefits of using Slides to take notes in College:
- It is easier to scroll through the notes you have taken with ease.
- It is effective for revision if you are revising with your group members, since you can easily project the slides into a PowerPoint projection on the school hall.
- You can also print the slides and bring them to class, especially if the professor is one who uses slides in class.
Sit in front and at the center of the class
Sitting in front of and at the center of the class helps you take notes in college. This is because if you sit at the far end, or at the back of the class, you will not see what the professor is writing down.
In addition to that, sitting in front of the class have several advantages, some of which include the following;
- Removes all distractions. It is not easy to get distracted when you are sitting in front of the class as compared to when you are at the back with your friends. Your concentration will be on what the professor is talking about, meaning you will be able to take notes on all the important points.
- Sitting in front of the class helps you take notes in college because you will not be able to use your phone. The professor will be directly in front of you, denying you every chance to use your phone. You will have no option but to concentrate and you will learn something new in the process.
- If a point is not clear, you can easily ask the professor questions, and trust me, one never forgets about the question he or she asks.
Writing notes by hand
You can’t beat the classics ! This is why writing using hand is still a better strategy to take notes in college. This is another effective method since you are taking notes on your own.
I find it easy to remember what you have written as compared to when you are using another person’s book. They may be using short forms, or abbreviations, or they may have mixed the notes up, making it hard to trace the flow of the person’s notes. In addition to that, you can easily make corrections or add a point next to your notes since the book is yours too.
Benefits of writing notes by hand
- You are able to process the information in your book much faster.
- Your focus is also enhanced.
- Taking notes in college by hand also improves how you organize your work. You are able to determine how you have prioritized the notes.
- Instead of going through the whole a thousand plus pages, writing down helps in condensing the information, making it more manageable.
- Your memory is increased when you use handwriting to take notes in college.
- You are able to understand the information perfectly if you take notes in college by handwriting.
Show Up for Classes
Showing up to class encourages you to take notes in college. You have to come prepared in class to take notes. You can prepare by reading your assignments before you come to class. This helps you take notes in college in that you will be familiar with what the professor is teaching. Showing up in class has several advantages, all which are important for a college student.
- Showing up in class helps you grasp important information that you could not have known about if you did not come to class.
- You can ask the professor questions if a point is still unclear to you.
- If it happens that on this day, the professor assigns work in groups, you will have the chance to share knowledge with your classmates and learn new things. You also have the professor at your disposal to help you with any challenges you are facing during class time.
The List Method.
The list method is another way to take notes in College. I do not consider it the best strategy since it focuses entirely on listing everything the professor says, and not grasping and processing the information being relayed.
Using the list method is also challenging since you might not remember what a point stands for, especially if you are using shorthand in your writing. In addition to that, the list method of taking notes in college does not capture all the information that you need to study, and is usually shallow as compared to the other strategies to take notes in college.
Instead , you can go for note taking apps such as Notion or roam research to do this task more productively. These apps are now a trend among college students and they find this is one of the best ways to take notes in college.
Both of these note taking apps have nested bullet point support. This feature will help you to grasp every little detail from lectures . Doing this by hand would be troublesome for some people (Well ! I am one of them !) because , some of us have lower writing speed than typing speed . Thus will lead to half completed notes with a lack of understanding of the content.
The concept map method
The concept map method is another way to take notes in college. It is mainly used when you want to connect ideas from your course work. You are able to determine the relationship between one concept and the other.
One of the main advantages of using this strategy to take notes in college is that it gives you the flexibility to move from one point of concern to the other, and back without any restrictions.
A concept map is developed by starting with the main idea or topic of the course work. Put the topic at the center of your book and maybe circle it or box it. Then after stating the main idea, you can use branches to divide the other sub-ideas in order or priority.
These branches show a close relationship between one idea and the other. After you are done using the branches in sectioning your work, you can summarize the whole work in a few words, using your own words.
The Cornell Method
The Cornell method is one of the recommended strategies to take notes in college. Most college students find this method very effective because of how it is flexible as compared to the other methods.
This method makes it easier to define work in order of priorities and is helpful when studying too. Moreover, this method follows a very specific format which contains four boxes. The boxes consist of a header, two columns and a footer.
The header is found at the top of the page and is used to write the main information such as the name of your course or the name of the specific topic you are working on. In the first column section, the one on the left side, usually contains the notes, whereas the right column is where you recall what you learned and important points on the notes.
The footer is where you summarize the notes and the things you recall about that particular topic in a few words. It is usually advised that you recap this area using your own words to determine how much you have understood the concept.
Choosing the best strategy to take notes in college entirely depends on your needs and how convenient a given strategy works for you. Most college students prefer using the Cornell method to take notes since it is the easiest and the most effective method.
How you decide to take your notes will determine how you will grasp and process the information at hand. The main idea behind using strategies to take notes in college is so that you understand the course work and prepare adequately for your exams.
Conclusions
In summary, good grades start with taking notes in class. Writing notes by yourself is important especially since you can easily remember what you wrote as compared to when you are using someone’s book.
Using slides also comes in handy especially if your professor uses PowerPoint in his presentation. You can easily save the slides and come up with slides of your own during revision.
Showing up in class also plays an important role in taking notes in college. When you are physically in class, you are able to take notes on your own and write from what the lecturer is saying, without having to copy notes from your classmates.
This leads to another important note taking strategy which is sitting in front of the class. You are not distracted by anything or anyone when you are sitting in front of the class.
Lastly, using the outline method is also effective in taking notes in college. An outline gives you a rough idea of what the coursework is all about. Therefore, choosing the right note taking strategy is important.
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