GOOD NOTE-TAKING CAN BE LEARNED The mechanic of taking notes is important and

should be learned (See Handout - Cornell Method of Note-taking). This paper,

however, will plunge directly into the mental processes involved in taking notes.
Listening and thinking are the keys to good notes, as well as to good conversation.
A lecture is a kind of conversation a kind in which only one person has a chance to
talk. In a real conversation, you would ask questions. This questioning is a
creative act that requires unceasing attention on the part of the listener. The
lecturer tries to anticipate the questions that will arise in the minds of
listeners and takes up the answers to those unspoken questions as they arise. Only
strict attention will enable the listener to be aware of questions in his or her
own mind and recognize their answers as they come. These will be important in your
notes. A LECTURE IS LIKE A BOOK A lecture has essentially the same structure as a
chapter in a book. The name of the chapter tells you the subject of the whole
chapter. The subject of a lecture will be directly given or suggested. Get it
down. Ideally, a lecturer, like a book chapter starts a new subject at the
beginning and rounds to a finish at the end. Subject matter organized in this way
is the easiest to handle, but sometimes the subject runs to more than one period.
When it does, the lecturer will start the second day by summarizing what has gone
before to get you back into the discussion. You will then continue your notes as
though they were on one long chapter. STRONG SIGNALS OF MAJOR POINTS In each
chapter there may be four, eight, or a dozen or more major subheadings in bold
type. These are the names of the important ideas essential to the explanation of
the point of the chapter. The author thinks each point is important enough to
indicate it in special type. The major points as they come up in a lecture are not
indicated by bold type, but rather are marked by strong signals from the lecturer.
What are some of the signals that indicate major points? Some are simple and
direct. For example, “Now we will consider the second problem,” They are simple
statements announcing a new point. Others may be in the form of a question, “Now
what is the cause of this difficulty?” Less obvious is the signal indicated by a
pause or a tone of voice. There is a kind of finality in the tone and delivery of
a thought that is ending a sequence of ideas. Then the speaker may pause, glance
about the audience as if to pull it together and start again. This pause may be
only to give the speaker time to collect his or her thoughts and decide how to
start again, but it is a signal of a thought completed and a shift to the new idea.
These signals indicate the need for notes. Some lecturers make it easier than
others to see the organization of their subject matter. Professors sometimes begin
first-year courses with an outline of the lecture on the blackboard. Main ideas
and subtopics arc listed, and the teacher lectures from this outline. Students can
copy it and fill in additional statements as the teacher talks. Soon the teacher
stops putting anything on the board, expecting the students to have discovered the
lecture form and method. If your instructor does not employ some such teaching
device, learn to recognize the signals for important changes in thought and the
lesser statements about each important thought. You can do it. It is a rare
lecturer who pours out a lecture of important facts, all of which must be written
down; but the more compact it is, the clearer the signals and outline are likely to
be. Key Sentences Learn to listen for key sentences. They may be introductory
sentences, transition sentences, and concluding sentences. In the introductory
sentence, the new idea is named outright for you. Here are two introductory
sentences: O://dept/LSS/Handouts/Displayrack/Lecture Notes - The Mental Process
Page 1 of 3 LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES NOTE.02 1. “Language, of course, is one of
the major problems in making films in India.” This is pretty clearly an
introduction to a discussion of that problem and how it is being solved. 2. “The
high birth rate is an important cause of death.” In this, you are alerted to find
out why; and the answer will probably follow. Listen for this kind of
announcement-making sentence. Get it in your notes. The transition sentence warns
that the author is about to present another important idea. You are led from the
idea just given to the one to be considered next. Here we two transition
sentences: 1. “This is not always true. In the early days . . .” 2. “The reason
for this success is not difficult to understand.” In each of these sentences, it
is apparent the speaker has finished one point and is leading you into the next.
In the concluding sentence, there is a kind of summarizing finality that cannot be
mistaken if you are paying attention. Here are two sentences that signal, “I am
drawing to a close. Watch for my final opinion in the matter.” 1. “All things
considered, the outlook is not unpromising.” 2. “My suggestions are . . .” Here
again you have a signal that something should go into your notes. Study a chapter
in a textbook and observe these three kinds of signal sentences. Soon you will be
able to recognize them in lectures and use them as guides to taking notes.
SUPPORTING POINTS The statement of a major point in a lecture will be followed by
a series of supporting points. These will be an important part of your notes.
Supporting ideas are usually signaled clearly in one way or another. Sometimes,
the signal is as obvious as this, “There are four reasons for believing this to be
true,” “Here are some of the causes,” “The results were…” Key Words Other
signals that can guide you in listening and taking notes are perhaps less direct
than those just mentioned but are just as simple once you realize the significance
of certain words that may appear as signals. Alert yourself to them. Some of them
are: now | then |Õ signal time relationships next | above all | least important
|Õ signal importance chief | yet Õ may signal doubt but Õ clues a change from
what has just been expressed for instance | to illustrate |Õ clue says, “What
follows shows what I mean by what I just said.” for example | moreover | in
addition | once more | thus | Õ says get ready for the end, which may be a last
argument or a generalizing conclusion finally | all in all | consequently |
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LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES NOTE.02 The first essentials to taking notes are, of
course, listening and thinking. Once you have learned to listen well, the key
sentence indicating major shifts and the signal words will act is little electric
shocks that say, “Here it is! Get ready to write!” When they do, listen to the
point and put it down in your own words as simply and briefly as possible. Outline
form is good because the form itself indicates relationship and emphasis. How much
should you write? Just enough to get the point pinned down. Enough to help recall
the complete idea later in the day. Maybe a signal word will do it; maybe you’ll
need a whole sentence. In any case, reduce the idea to the simplest terms that will
recall the point made. If the instructor wants you to use his or her words, the
instructor will slow down. If he or she puts them on the board, be sure to get
them. AFTER THE LECTURE What you do with your notes after a lecture is as
important as taking them. First, read them over within a few hours of the lecture.
Fix up the jumbled sentences and scribbled words so they will mean something to you
a week later. Fill in things you can remember and didn’t have time to write. The
sooner you do it, the more you will remember and the better the corrections and
additions will be. The longer you wait, the more you forget and the less you will
accomplish. If you don’t do anything to them and try to use them a week later, you
may find them useless. Fix them at the first opportunity. Ten or twenty minutes
will do. In the beginning, it is a good idea to get two or three classmates
together, each armed with the notes on the lecture that he or she has reviewed and
revised. You will all profit by computing your notes. You will see how someone
will say in a few words what you spent a half page on. You can pick up points you
may have missed. It would be fine if one of you should happen to be an experienced
note-taker, but three beginners can learn from each other as well. Test-wise
students study the mannerisms of the lecturer. Some lecturers decorate their
points with interesting and important background material. After one examination,
you can judge how much background material is likely to appear on a test. Some
instructors commonly include it; some don’t. Others unconsciously dwell lovingly on
points they enjoy and feel highly significant. Star these points in your notes.
They are likely to show up on tests. If the lecturer slows down for a definitional
kind of statement, get it word for word and memorize it. This pays off. If in a
discussion of a debatable issue, he or she says, “in my opinion,” or makes some
comment indicating a personal attitude or belief, underline or star that point in
your notes. In other words, study the lecturer as well as the lecture. You will
soon see his or her reaching and testing pattern. Taking notes is hard work, but it
can be learned. Success lies in listening much, writing some, and thoughtfully
reworking your notes while they are fresh. Adapted from Walter Swan, Acting
Director Reading and Study Clinic, Indiana University Rev: 7/2008
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