Listening and Note Taking

• Taking effective notes in lectures and tutorials is an essential skill for study.
• Good note-taking allows a permanent record of key information that you can integrate
with your own writing and use for revision.
• Taking reliable, accurate notes also reduces the risk of plagiarizing. It helps you
distinguish where your ideas came from and how and what you think about those ideas.

Why should we take notes while listening?

• Notes are a useful record of key information, and the sources of that information.
• Writing notes helps you remember what you heard.
• Taking notes helps you to concentrate and listen effectively.
• Selecting what to note down increases your understanding
• Notes create a resource for assessment preparation.
• Notes taken in classes often contain information that can’t be found elsewhere.

Listening v/s Taking Notes; Which is more important

• You'll get most out of lectures if you do both, but don’t focus on getting everything
down to the extent that you miss what the lecturer is saying—remember that actively
listening and thinking are what is important.
• Lecture slides are usually an outline of the lecture content. They guide your listening
and help you identify the key topics and concepts. Take note of what appears on them,
but don’t confine your note- taking to simply copying it.
• The information on slides is usually very limited compared to what the lecturer says, so
it’s more effective to listen to the lecture and take notes from that.
• Most lecturers make their slides available before class, so print them out and take
additional notes in the lecture.

Effective Note Taking:

Effective note taking technique can be discussed in three phases:

1. Before the lecture (Or any other listening activity)

2. During the lecture

3. After the lecture

1.Before the lecture: Be Prepared

• Preparation before the lecture provides the background knowledge you need to be an
effective listener and an effective student.
• Know what the lecture will be about. Check the course outline for weekly topics.
• Do any required pre-reading.
• If lecture slides are available before class download them.
• Review notes from previous lectures.
• Set up notebooks/ documents for note-taking.
• Arrive on time and sit near the front - in order to take good notes, you need to hear and
see clearly.

2. During the lecture:

1. Concentrate and pay attention

• Arrive prepared to actively listen and learn, and to think critically.

• Analysing and questioning the information helps you to focus and understand what you
hear.
• Focus on the non-verbal cues.

2. Don’t try to write down everything being said

• Be selective—you don’t have to transcribe the entire lecture.

• Effective listening note-taking involves recognizing key concepts and identifying and
selecting what is relevant.
• Listen for the overall argument and note the main, points and key information.

*How can I recognise what is important?

Distinguish between main points, elaboration, examples, ‘waffle’ and new points by listening
for:

• introductory remarks. Lectures often begin with a useful overview of the key ideas or
themes of a topic. This helps you grasp the ‘big picture’.
• verbal ‘signposts’ that indicate something important is about to be said. Lecturers often
signal key information with phrases like: “There are four main aspects”, “This is
important...” or “To sum up”.
• repetition. Important points will often be repeated, especially in introductions and
conclusions.
 • phonological cues (voice emphasis, change in volume, speed, emotion and emphasis)
often indicate important information.
• final remarks. Most lectures conclude with a summary, a restatement of the main ideas
and an indication of how the topic connects with upcoming material.

3. Look for:

• non-verbal cues (facial expressions, hand and body signals) that indicate something
important is being said.
• visual cues (note what is on the visuals, note references to names and sources)

Strategies for Note Taking:

1.Write phrases, not full sentences.

Only record the key words that you need to get the idea of the point. Skip words like “the” and
“a” that don’t add additional meaning to the lecture content. Retain key technical or discipline-
specific terms.

2. Take notes in your own words.

Paraphrase what you hear so it makes sense to you—it helps you to understand and remember
what you hear. Try to paraphrase everything except where information needs to be noted
exactly.

3. Structure your notes with headings, subheadings and number lists

Use headings to indicate topic areas or to include bibliographic details of the sources of
information. Use outline form and/or a numbering system and indenting to help you distinguish
major from

4. Code your notes

Use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis.

5. Use colour to highlight major sections, main points and diagrams.

You can also use different colours to classify and link concepts or information by topic.
However, don’t focus too much on colour coding when you're in the lecture. It requires time
and concentration, so it’s more useful to do most of the highlighting and underlining when
you're revising your notes later.
6. Underline, circle, star, etc.

to identify key information, examples, definitions, or other important materials. Devise your
own marking code to indicate each type.

7. If you miss something, write key words, skip a few spaces, and get the information later.

Leave a space on the page for your own notes and comments.

8. Symbols and abbreviations for frequently used words, phrases or names are useful for note
taking in lectures when speed is essential.

• It’s important to be consistent so you remember what they represent and can use them
easily. Keep a ‘key list’ of frequently used symbols/abbreviations and their meanings so
that you can refer to them in the future.

3. After the lecture:

• To get the most out of your notes it’s important to review and re-engage actively with
them several times.
• Review your notes while the lecture is fresh in your mind.
• Reviewing helps you remember what was said, builds up your understanding, and helps
identify gaps in your knowledge.
• Remember to Reduce, Recite and Reflect(RRR)

Reviewing Properly

• Read through your notes. Make sure they are clear and legible.
• Clean them up - fix spelling errors, expand on abbreviations, tidy up handwriting (if
necessary).
• Fill in missing words or information and add anything extra that you may have thought
of since the lecture.
• Code your notes - use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis, highlight
major sections, main points and diagrams.
• Use different colours to emphasise main points, classify different topics and link
concepts or information.
• Explain and clarify diagrams by writing a simple version of their meaning.
• Identify anything that needs further clarification.
• Label and file your notes along with any lecture handouts.

2. Re-engaging with your notes properly

• Try “chunking” similar pieces of information into categories that you can remember
more easily.
• Transcribe key concepts in your own words.
• Add your own questions to the notes to help you recall the key ideas.
• Write a brief overall summary of the notes.
• Reflect on the learning process itself—what do you find confusing?,
How did you solve problems or clarify your understanding?