Taking Notes
At the end of the semester, you should have several notebooks full of notes. In addition to attending all of your classes, taking notes will help ensure your success in college.
You should begin taking notes on the first day of classes and continue until the last day of classes. These notes will improve your memory; it is much easier to recall something you have written down than something you have merely heard or read, which will improve your performance on quizzes and exams. These notes will provide a framework for written assignments, such as papers, which your professors expect to incorporate all course materials. Finally, these notes will often help you in your other classes. If you are a history major, your notes from your first history class will be just as important in your later classes. Your biology notes may help you with a nursing class. Your College Composition notes will help you to write papers throughout your college career.
Take note of announcements, even if they are on the syllabus, to help you remember upcoming assignments, important dates, and exams.
Take careful, detailed notes on lectures. Unlike your high school experience, you will be responsible for lectures and readings on exams and assignments. Most professors do not lecture from the book, which the student is responsible for reading and understanding independently. Most professors generally do not use class time to “review” as your high school teachers may have, so you will probably only have one opportunity to write down what they say on a particular topic. Lectures will supplement the textbook and often cover subjects entirely absent from the book (another reason you should attend all of your classes). Be sure to take notes on media presentations as well, such as videos, slides, or Power Point presentations. Many students make the mistake of zoning out during media and are unpleasantly surprised to discover that they are responsible for that information on exams and assignments. If your professor uses Power Point, which is becoming more common, write down additional information offered by the professor instead of copying only what is on the slide.
You should take copious notes not only on the lecture but also on any contributions that your classmates make, part of class discussion that students often ignore, to their detriment. When professors plan lessons, they frequently ask questions that students volunteer to answer. If a student answers correctly, the professor is unlikely to repeat the information.
Finally, you should take notes on all of your reading assignments. These notes will help you not only to remember your readings but to make sense of them as well. Refer to those notes when reviewing for class discussion, studying for exams, or writing papers.