Lecturer’s Style Review

Learn your lecturer’s style and pay Review your notes regularly and counselling & disability services
attention to the instructor’s cues that cumulatively, looking for developing
indicate structure in the lecture, the course themes, and relationships
relationships among ideas, and the between the ideas of successive
relative importance of ideas. These lectures. Looking for relationships
cues include transitional phrases and can assist you in "seeing the big
words, body language, voice tone and picture" which is important to your
pace, repetition of ideas, and the time overall comprehension and recall of
spent on certain subjects. Some the course material. Your review of
lecturers speak slowly, some use notes should bring together lecture
outlines and overheads, some notes with any notes you have taken
summarize their lectures, some repeat from the course readings. Reviewing
or highlight important points…and your notes will allow you to address Learning Skills
some don’t. Some may increase or any concerns you had with the
decrease the volume at which they are material or add thoughts you had Services
speaking, write something on the board about the lecture while it is still fresh
or an overhead, or, they may even in your mind, and will make MAKING LECTURE
simply state “This will be on your reviewing for your exam a much less NOTES AT
exam”. By listening for the cues your onerous task. UNIVERSITY
instructor gives, you will be able to
identify crucial material.

Learning Skills Services

For further information
N110 Bennett Centre for Student Services
Contact: Learning Skills Services 4700 Keele Street Toronto,
Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
Phone: 416-736-5297 416-736-5297
E-mail: [email protected] lss.info.yorku.ca
Online at: lss.info.yorku.ca
Why Is It Important To Take Notes?
they overlap. Focus on information that reflects Cornell Notes
the main themes of the course, keywords from
Notes serve as the basis for continued
overheads or chalkboards, information that is
study of your course concepts and provide
a sort of paper-based memory for the
repeated or is confusing, and details that build on Quest - Your regular lecture
course readings, and previous lectures. Prepare ions notes go here.
lecture. Not only does the activity of
for the lecture by reviewing the course outline, by
making notes in lecture help to keep you
reviewing previous notes, or by reading the
involved in the class, but notes are a Key Leave space to fill
assigned chapter or articles.
starting place for you to relate ideas within
the course and to highlight any questions Terms in information at a
you may have. Notes become your source Less Is More
later date, or to
for review, critical thinking and exam
preparation, and for creating arguments for It is helpful to develop and employ abbreviations Links add information
essays. when making notes. Come up with short forms of
frequently used long words (e.g., b/c for because) to other from course.
Active Listening and use these short forms when recording notes readings
information. Point form phrases, abbreviations
Taking notes from a lecture is a thinking and symbols should probably be used in place of
full sentences in most situations. Obvious
activity. Effective listening involves
exceptions would be when there's a definition or To create mapping notes, identify a main
avoiding premature judgment of the
information presented that you don't understand. topic or concept and write it in the middle of a
speaker, paying attention, and developing
Symbols (such as “*”or “!” or “?”) are useful for blank page. As you discover related ideas,
an interest for listening to the lecture. As a signifying importance, or can be used to point out add them to the page and connect them with
lecture proceeds, pay particular attention to areas which require further explanation. Using lines to the main topic or concept. If they
the beginnings and endings of the lecture point-form or abbreviations can help you write relate to one another, indicate the
to gain a better sense of its outline and less and listen more as you try to capture the relationships with additional lines. Finally,
main points, then summarize and essence of the lecture. record important details about each idea and
anticipate the direction of the lecture. connect these together with the rest of your
Evaluate the ideas you hear, select idea map.
important information to record, and ask Note-Taking Formats
questions about what you hear. Avoid the
passive listener approach of trying to "get it Take notes so that the organization and relative
importance of ideas are reflected in the notes.
Mind Map - Bears
all"; instead, listen for main ideas, key
details, and transitional phrases which Maybe leave a little open space to add
information later. Consider a format that Habitat
point to the structure and focus of the
promotes review and can be used to test your Food
lecture.
understanding of the material. Cornell notes and
Be Selective Mind Maps (mapping notes) are ideal for this Types
purpose. For Cornell style notes, divide the page Bear
s
It is your job to determine what is into two columns such that the left column is
about 1/3 of the page wide; the other column Life Cycle
important. When taking notes in class, you
will likely find it difficult to write down every occupies the remainder of the page. Take point- Predators
detail. You do not need to take down all the form notes from class in the right hand column
information in lectures, or from a text, and fill in the left column with key concepts,
especially when questions, and ideas when reviewing your notes.
Details…
Details…