Taking notes effectively

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Five simple tips to take effective notes in a lecture

1. Prepare

Read any background texts that have been suggested, re-read your notes from previous lectures or classes on this course so that you can see easily where this session fits into the overall pattern of the subject. At the very least, check with the course syllabus what topic you’ll be covering in the class and how central it is to the overall theme of the course.

Arrive in good time with all the equipment you’ll need. It sounds obvious but if you arrive late and flustered, only to find that you’ve forgotten your notepad or your pen’s run out of ink, you’re not going to be able to concentrate fully on what’s being said and you’ll miss potentially important items from your notes as well as causing a disruption to your colleagues.