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Class Lectures

The document provides guidance on effectively attending and participating in class lectures. It recommends that students actively listen during lectures by asking questions, taking notes, and reviewing notes after class. Specific tips are given for taking clear and organized notes, including using abbreviations, recording key terms and facts verbatim, and leaving space for adding details later. The document also describes different note-taking styles like outlining and the Cornell method.

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BABI KMOM
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48 views2 pages

Class Lectures

The document provides guidance on effectively attending and participating in class lectures. It recommends that students actively listen during lectures by asking questions, taking notes, and reviewing notes after class. Specific tips are given for taking clear and organized notes, including using abbreviations, recording key terms and facts verbatim, and leaving space for adding details later. The document also describes different note-taking styles like outlining and the Cornell method.

Uploaded by

BABI KMOM
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CLASS LECTURES

BASICS

1. Attend class!
• Waste of time and money to not attend.
• You’ll miss something that will be important in the class.

2. Sit in the front (unless you need to leave class frequently/early).


• Less distracting
• Easier to see and hear
• The instructor will get to know you

3. Listen actively.
• Are you really taking in and considering what the instructor is saying?
• Ask questions.
• As you get to know the instructor, by actively listening you can become an information
filter, focusing on what is important and less on minor details of the lecture.
• Taking notes will also help you be an active listener

4. Take notes
• In addition to helping you pay attention, notes also...
• Are useful when reviewing
• The writing down of important points helps you to remember them before you have
studied the material formally.

5. Review your notes


• Shortly after each class, go back and rework (not redo) your notes by adding extra points
and spelling out unclear items. This step can be as important as going to the class itself.
Imagine waiting to check your notes a month after a given class period and finding that
they don’t make sense. That is what you want to avoid!
• Review your notes regularly. Some students find it helpful to use the 15 minutes before a
class reviewing the previous 3 lectures. This not only helps you learn past material but
also primes your brain for understanding the upcoming material.
• More tips on reviewing your notes can be found in the study skills handout.

MORE DETAILS

1. Information filtering.
Instructors usually give clues to what is important to take down. Some common clues are:
• Writing on the board.
• Repetition
• Emphasis
o Emphasis can be judged by tone of voice and gesture.
o Emphasis can be judged by the amount of time the instructor spends on points and
the number of examples he or she uses.
• Word signals (e.g. "There are two points of view on . . . " "The third reason is . . . " " In
conclusion . . . ")
• Summaries given at the end of class.
• Reviews given at the beginning of class.

2. Tips for note-taking


• Have a notebook or part of one dedicated to each class.
• Date your notes from each class period. Perhaps number the pages.
• Try to record to some extent all of the information given in the lecture. You still want to
learn to information filter so that you can emphasize the most important points, but you
might not know during a given class what information you will need later.
• Make your notes relatively brief so that you can keep up with the pace of the class. For
example, don’t use a sentence if you can use an intelligible phrase.
• Use abbreviations and symbols, but be consistent. Some common ones include:
o three dots in a triangle = therefore
o plus sign = and
o a horizontal arrow = leads to or causes
o a vertical arrow pointing up or down = increase or decrease
o equal sign, greater than, less than
• Put most notes in your own words, but the following should be noted exactly:
o Formulas
o Definitions
o Specific facts
• If you miss a statement, write key words, skip a few spaces, and get the information later
from the instructor, another student or your book.
• Take good notes the first time. Don’t plan to just jot down key terms and look them up
later. This wastes time and you might miss some details.
• Don’t rely on a recording of the lecture, from which you will make notes later. This
doubles the amount of time you spend on a given lecture, and then you aren’t being
active during class. When you go back to take notes you won’t have the instructor’s body
language, what they wrote on the board, etc.

Specific note-taking styles


• Use outline form and/or a numbering system. The use of indention, for example, can help
you distinguish sections or major from minor points. Leave space for adding diagrams
and additional notes.
• The Cornell note-taking method is very helpful for reviewing purposes. With this
method, you use the right 6 inches of your page for note-taking and leave a 2.5 inch
margin on the left, the recall column. After a class period you can go back and write short
summary statements or questions in the recall column. For example, next to notes on the
4 biological macromolecules you could write “What are the 4 macromolecules? What is
the function, monomer and example of each?” Then when you are reviewing the notes,
you can cover up the column with notes and use the recall column to quiz yourself.

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Prepared by Elise Ferree, Keck Science Department

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