34 Note-Taking Strategies

Effective note-taking is an important aspect of your active involvement in and pursuit of your higher education. The types of notes and note-taking strategies that you apply will vary by class.

Why Take Notes?

First, let’s think through the ways in which note-taking supports your learning. According to Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel (2014), getting new learning into your long-term memory is a three-step process.

1. Encoding of information is required to keep information in short-term memory. Note-taking by hand allows you to encode information.
2. Consolidation reorganizes and stabilizes memory traces, gives them meaning, and makes connections to past experiences and other knowledge already stored in long-term memory. Rewriting your notes helps to consolidate your learning.
3. Retrieval updates learning and enables you to apply it when you need it; repeated use of information keeps retrieval routes strong. Reviewing your notes assists in the retrieval process.

Another benefit of note-taking is that it keeps you engaged in the class discussion.

Why Take Notes by Hand

The idea of taking notes by hand may seem strange when so many digital tools are available to us, but it turns out that there is data to support the ways in which handwriting notes helps learning—in some situations. In their 2018 Psychological Science study, Mueller and Oppenheimer assert that:

• Participants who handwrote their notes wrote significantly fewer words.
• Laptop users averaged 14.6% verbatim overlap with video content while longhand users averaged only 8.8%.
• Laptop users are more likely to take transcription-like (verbatim) notes.
• Participants with less verbatim overlap with the lecture performed better on posttests.

Thinking Through Purpose

• In some instances, you’ll just need to recall information. For example, you might need to memorize an equation for a math course, a date for your history course, or a vocabulary word for your writing class. In that case, the researchers note that when you want to recall facts, there is equal performance between handwritten and laptop-written notes.
• However, when you want to work with and apply concepts, they assert that students who handwrote their notes scored significantly better when answering conceptual and application questions. In your math course, this would be a word problem; in your history course, this would be you explaining the cause and effect; in your writing course, this would be you applying the concept to your writing.

Some Tips for Note-Taking

• Take notes when important information is being shared with you. For example, during class meeting sessions and when reviewing materials, such as reading and video assignments.
• In order to determine what’s most important, think about content that your professor refers to often, matches with materials your professor has shared with you, or will help you complete assignments.  
• Doodling does not actually mean that you are not paying attention. Drawing images that relate to the content can help you remember it. 
• Plan breaks in between watching lecture videos, reading materials, and reviewing and revising your notes.
• Use abbreviations and develop your own shorthand whenever possible, which saves time and unnecessary effort. 
• Write questions that you have or points you need clarity on to discuss with your classmates and your instructor in the next class.
• Review: after class, the following day, week, or even month, and before the next class. You may even consider rewriting your notes or using them to quiz yourself. 

How-To: Note-Taking Strategies

Review this handout from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Learning Center; it provides detailed strategies on how to take notes in various disciplines.

Adapted from materials provided by Association of College and University Educators.

References (in APA Format)

Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., III, & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press.

Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2018). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking (vol 25, pg 1159, 2014). Psychological Science, 29(9), 1565–1568.

Bain, K. (2012). What the best college students do. Belknap Press.