How to take good notes: The science behind note taking

by Angelos Georgakis

“Why would I need a book on how to take notes? Notes are just notes; they’re not a big deal”. “At the end of the day, everyone has their own way to take notes.” “Anyway, no one taught me how to take notes in school or in college.” “It comes naturally.” “I feel like I always knew how to take notes! It’s just notes. It’s not rocket science!” “Notes are just notes.” FALSE. Scientists have found that note taking can be as mentally demanding as playing chess can be for an expert. While you take notes, you listen carefully to the lecturer, you process the new material, you organize it in your working memory, and you finally write down what you think is most important. All this happens while someone is talking at an average speed of three words per second and someone is writing down at an average speed of one-third of a word per second. It doesn’t sound easy now, does it? Notes are an important tool for learning. We don’t take notes just to record a few facts so we can review them later. Learning happens as we take notes. Taking notes the right way leads to good study practices, better performance on exams, and long-term retention of information. “It comes naturally.” FALSE. Taking smart notes is not obvious or intuitive. Research has shown that students fail to capture 40% of the main points in a typical lecture. First-year students capture only 11%. In some studies, even the best note takers seem to record less than 75% of the important information. People think they take good notes until they’re told they don’t. Few of us have consciously thought about how we take notes (let alone how to improve the quality of them). We often reproduce the lecturer’s phrases verbatim. We don’t save time by systematic use of abbreviations. We fail to become a “good psychologist” of our lecturer. We fail to pick up his enthusiasm. We fail to interpret the tone of his voice. We fail to read his body language. And the result is that we fail to take good notes. “Anyway, no one taught me how to take notes in school or in college.” TRUE. Educators believe that students are able to assess the quality of their notes and follow good practices. However, studies have shown the exact opposite. The fact that there isn’t a course in college dedicated to the art of taking notes (or learning in general) makes students believe that this is a natural skill that they can perfect with practice over the course of their studies. “At the end of the day, everyone has their own way to take notes.” TRUE. In this book, you may be surprised to learn that I don’t make any references to different types of note-taking systems like those that other books do. The reason is that it’s the practices behind the note taking that matter most. For example, you should not copy the lecturer’s phrases word for word, but generate the main points in your own words. And you should leave space on your notes for adding comments and testing yourself later. I encourage students to use the Cornell note-taking system because it utilizes most of the principles of effective note taking. No matter which note-taking system you decide to follow, the cognitive effort you will have to expend is equally high. Note taking may not be rocket science, but it’s definitely science—cognitive science. And cognitive science has produced a lot of useful insights that we can use now to take better notes. This book presents these insights in simple words, so you can make the most of your notes and use them to study effectively.

Genres: Personal Development, Self Help, Education

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2015

About the author

My passion is learning. Learning about languages, psychology, creativity, mathematics, international affairs, economy, history. But also, learning about learning. How does our memory work? How can we remember more and forget less? I write because I learn from my readers. We all learn from each other. There is no point in learning for ourselves. You will find me at livediversified.com. Write to me. Share your experiences. And read. And learn. And grow.

Are you learning Russian? Check my new website http://explorerussian.com and download the FREE resources now!

Reviews

[Floyd Cryer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect For College Students!

After reading "How to learn 10X Faster" I needed a way to take notes better while staying focused during lectures when I came across this book.

I will go out on a limb here and say that I have up'd my College grade good enough to talk to my financial aid worker about scholarship financing next semester...

Awesome book! One you can't put down!!! Loaded with all the information you need!...

[J Tiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's thankful 50 pages outlines core note-taking skills for the uninitiated. There was something I highlighted on most pages though, so it's worth a perusal. I did appreciate the note summaries after each chapter.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay. Very light on the "how to" part of the title, and the literature review comes across as selective in service of the author's preferred note-taking method (the Zettelkasten). The focus on the notable performance of one user reminds me a little of business books which focus on what one successful company did while providing no information about any other companies that may have adopted the same strategy but weren't so successful.

[John Li · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basic book on various methods of approaching the mechanics of note taking. Disappointingly, not much on how to really distil information into it's bare bones. Might be a good primer on the Cornell method.

[Jerry T Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple tips to try

This is a quick, simple read that includes elements from learning research to promote better note taking. I look forward to being a better note taker.

[David Birse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct and to the point

I liked this guide on note taking as there is no faff. It just gets straight to the point. Well worth buying.

[Ana M. Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed having a guide to make my students realize the importance of note taking. Explaining and showing them and have them practising note taking became simpler and more engaging.

[Eddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent primer

This book hits the major spots. It isn't in depth, but the references allow one to do additional follow up and research.

[Keith Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic book. Good insight on note taking and record keeping.