Three ways to take class notes, says experts

This archived article was written by: Michael Powell

There are three ways to take notes that can be used in class when your professor is lecturing, reports Kelli Shaw, academic adviser, who uses the information in her student success workshops.
The first is called outlining. Outlining places the main idea at the top of a page. After the main idea, on sepereate lines, comes supporting theories or facts. These are denoted by indentations. Ultimately an outline should look like an upside down pryamid.
There are two ways in which to produce an outline. The first being a formal outline. Roman numerals and capital letters are used at the beginning of each line to differentiate between important ideas.
The second way is called informal outline this way differs because dashes are used.
The second type of note taking is called the Cornell method. Start by drawing a line one third of the way from the left and one third from the bottom. This leaves a large space in the right corner to take notes in. On the left important quotes or key words. The bottom is then used to summarize your notes. The third form is called mapping. This is done by placing the main idea in the middle of your page and branching off with key points. From those key points you can further branch off and elaborate on what it is being said. This type of note taking greatly benefits those people that are more visual learning oriented.
Note taking should not be something that is feared by students but rather seen as a tool to help those individuals who struggle to understand what is being said.