Every student knows they’re supposed to take notes, but few understand why, and even fewer know how to do it well. So here’s a crash course on note-taking.
Why Take Notes?
The most obvious reason is that your notes are a resource you can use later. While this is helpful, it’s really not the point of note-taking. After all, you could just look the information up elsewhere if you needed to.
A more significant benefit of taking notes is that the action helps you focus during boring readings, lectures, and videos. If you’re just sitting there passively consuming content, it’s easy to space out.
Writing down the key ideas as you take in content helps you stay alert and attentive.
But the most important reason to take notes is that note-taking helps you form a memory of what you’re learning. Information that’s taken in passively rarely sticks. You need to take action in order to convince your brain that it’s worth remembering, and writing things down is a very effective way to do that.
So how should you take notes?
By Hand
In today’s tech-heavy world, it’s tempting to pull out your laptop and type notes rather than writing them out by hand.
Typing is faster, so you can record more information more quickly. But, it turns out, with note-taking, less is more.
Writing things out by hand has been shown to result in stronger memories than typing notes.1 Partly, this is because writing by hand is simply more work, so it sends a stronger signal to your brain that what you’re studying is important. But it’s also because writing by hand is slower. Since you can’t write as much, you’re forced to filter and think in order to decide what’s worth writing down. This requires more brainpower, resulting in a stronger memory.
Summarize And Paraphrase
Speaking of filtering, don’t just copy things word for word. Summarize and paraphrase what you’re taking in. Notes are references – reminders that jog your memory of the full concept. You’re not supposed to write down everything the teacher says, create a transcript of the video you’re watching, or rewrite the textbook. You’re supposed to record the key ideas – the stuff that really matters.
Focus On What Matters Most
But if you’re new to the material, you won’t know enough to know what matters, so start with a big-picture summary. Read the chapter summary or watch a quick YouTube video before diving into the deep end, and you’ll have an easier time sorting out the key ideas from the trivial details.
If you’re using a textbook (and textbooks are great, by the way) use the topic titles and headings as a guide. Pause at the end of each subsection and write down the main ideas. Bold words are generally critical vocab, and should be written down unless you already know them.
Vocab, by the way, is an exception to the paraphrasing rule: You probably should write the definition down word for word. Then, to ensure that you really get it, paraphrase and/or give an example.
Use Concrete Examples
Don’t just record abstract concepts, broad theories, and vocabulary. Connect them to concrete examples to make them feel more real. Sometimes examples are provided; sometimes you have to find them or think of them yourself.
Often, the example is easier to remember than the abstract notion, so the example serves as a memory anchor for the theory or vocab word (e.g., Darwin’s Galapagos finches as an example of adaptive radiation).
If you can’t find or think of an example in the moment, that’s fine. Leave space in your notes to add one later.
Organize With Structure And Space
A good page of notes should not be an unbroken wall of text. There should be structure. Use an outline format or break the notes up with headings and subheadings.
There should also be blank spaces. Skip lines. This makes it easier to read and easier to add more later if you need to. Don’t be afraid to take up space and use a lot of paper. Leave more space than you think you should.
Turn It Into A Story
Our brains are really good at remembering stories.2 Random names, dates, and facts? Not so much. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t attend lectures or read textbooks; they sat around the campfire telling one another stories. So take whatever you’re learning and turn it into a narrative.
For history, link one major event to the next in a logical sequence. In science, personify the components in order to understand how they’ll behave (e.g., atoms “want” to have eight valence electrons, and fluorine is “a bully” who will steal an electron from anybody he can).
Don’t Just Use Words
Note-taking should not be limited to words. For most subjects, it makes sense to include hand-made visuals: diagrams, pictures, timelines, mind maps, etc.
Images help you form a stronger memory,3 and they can also help make sense of the information. No one should try to memorize the steps of mitosis with words alone. The words should be attached to a series of images that show what the words describe.
Furthermore, the act of drawing has been shown to be a powerful way to increase memory.4 Quality art is not required. It’s the effort that counts.
Here’s a fun TED Talk on using drawings to improve memory (and how to draw basic things with ease).
And here’s a video explaining how to incorporate sketches into Cornell notes.
What Do You Do With Your Notes?
So now that you have your notes, what should you do with them?
Don’t just read/look over them. This is a complete waste of time. Instead, do something active with them.
Summarize the notes. Try to recreate the notes from memory. Do brain dumps. Combine all your notes on a topic (from various sources) into a new, master set of notes.
Taking notes is an endeavor to get the information into your brain. The next major task of studying is pulling the information back out. And recall is something that takes practice.
Notes Don’t Have To Be Perfect
As you go forth and take notes, please remember that your notes don’t have to be perfect. In fact, they can’t be perfect because there’s no such thing.
You can add to them later (which is one of the reasons you leave blank space in your notes). You can reorganize and rewrite them as your understanding improves.
Also keep in mind that note-taking is a skill to practice. It’s hard. But you’ll improve over time. And since the main purpose of taking notes is not to make a reference but to form a memory, the act of note-taking is beneficial even if your notes aren’t that great.
1 Hu, Charlotte. “Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning.” Scientific American. February 21, 2024.
2 Dragomir, Braden. “Wired for Story: Why we remember stories so well.” January 12, 2021.
3 Hasper, Anna. “Why Images are Powerful for Learning.” National Geographic. September 7, 2018.
4 Fernandes, M. A., Wammes, J. D., & Meade, M. E. (2018). “The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5), 302-308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418755385
The post How to Take Notes Well appeared first on Northwest Educational Services.