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Study Skills: Note Taking

Want to improve your grades? Use these study skills guides to level up!

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How to take great notes?

From Visually.

How to Take Great Notes

  1. Come Prepared: Before you come to a class, lecture, or meeting, make sure to review your notes from the last time round. This will bring you fully up to speed and ready to pick up where you left off.
  2. Be an Active Listener: When note-taking, many people make the mistake of mindlessly taking down every word without really comprehending what is being said.
  3. Question, Answer, Evidence: This is a very effective method of taking notes, as it forces you to engage with the material as you write and allows you to describe the topic in your own words.
  4. Use Shorthand: The average student writes 1-3 word(s) per second, while the average speaker speaks at a rate of 2-3 words per second. Therefore, developing your own system of shorthand writing can help you to write more efficiently and avoid falling behind.
  5. Color-Code Your Notes: Many people find that adding a splash of color to their notes help to make the information more readable and easier to retain.
  6. Take Notes from Your Textbook: After a class or a lecture, you may want to supplement your notes with information from a textbook. Taking notes from a textbook is another skill worth mastering.
  7. Review: Look over your notes later in the day and test yourself to see what you know. 

Infographic from Visually

Note Taking Tips and Strategies slideshow


 

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