Include any information that the professor writes on a board or shows in a slideshow.

Look for signals marking important information. If an instructor says something like “the three most important implications of X are…” or “there are two basic reasons why X happened,” then this is likely information that you will want to record in your notes. If you are taking notes from a lecture, listen out for points that are emphasized or repeated, as these are likely important. These tips hold true if you are reading a text and come across statements like these examples. Textbooks will often put key terms in bold type, for example, or restate important information in graphs or charts.

Rather than writing out complete sentences, use bullet points, shortcuts (like “&” instead of “and”), abbreviations, and any personal note-taking symbols you have. [3] X Research source For example, instead of writing out a full sentence, such as “In 1703, Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg and ordered its first building, the Peter and Paul Fortress,” you could write simply “1703—Peter founds St. Pete & builds Peter & Paul Fort. ” The shorter version will make it easier to keep up while still recording the essential information.

For example, if your instructor says in lecture (or a book states) that: “In constructing St. Petersburg, Peter hired engineers, architects, shipbuilders, and other workers from many European countries. The immigration of these intellectuals and skilled workers gave St. Petersburg a cosmopolitan atmosphere, accomplishing part of Peter’s goal to make the Russian city a ‘window on the West’,” don’t try to copy that word-for-word! Paraphrase the information, for example: “Peter hired engineers, architects, shipbuilders, etc. from all over Europe – his plan: St. Pete = ‘window on the West. ‘”

For example, if you were taking notes on the history of St. Petersburg, as in the examples above, you might make a note “Why couldn’t Peter the Great hire Russian engineers?”

Underlining main ideas in the right-hand column may help you identify them. You can also try highlighting or color-coding if you’re a very visual learner. Cross out unimportant information. Part of the beauty of this system is that it will teach you how to identify the crucial information and discard what is unnecessary. Practice identifying information that you are less likely to need.

For example, if in the right hand section, you have written the note “1703–Peter founds St. Pete & builds Peter & Paul Fort,” then in the left hand section, you could write the question “Why was Peter & Paul fortress 1st building in St. Pete?” You can write higher level questions that are not answered in the notes, like “Why did. . . ?” or “Predict what would happen if. . . ?” or “What were the implications of. . . ?” (e. g. , “What impact did the change in capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg have on the Russian Empire?). These can deepen your learning of the material.

Often, an instructor will begin a class session by giving an overview of that day’s material, e.
g.
“Today, we will discuss A, B, and C” Similarly, textbook sections often include introductions that summarize the main points. You can use such overviews as a guide for taking notes, and think of them as a version of the summary that you will write at the bottom of your page of notes. Include any additional details that seem important to you or that you think you need to pay special attention to when studying. Just a few sentences are usually fine for the summary of a page. Include any important formulas, equations, diagrams, etc. in the summary section, if appropriate. If you have trouble summarizing any part of the material, use your notes to identify where you should take a further look or ask your instructor for more information.

You can underline or highlight the most important parts as you review, if you prefer.

You can also ask a friend to quiz you on your notes using the left column, and you can do the same for them.