Taking Notes

It's the second day of classes--you sit down next to a friend from WEPO and your professor takes a sip of her coffee. She hands out the syllabus and reviews it, then you realize it's time to do what you are here to do: it's time to start learning and taking notes!

After you and your classmates shuffle to look for some paper and grab a pen (and inevitably someone drops a clicker), your professor begins to review the lecture material.  It can feel overwhelming to take notes as you sit in a huge lecture hall or to take notes on a subject you might not have a lot of background in, but this blog will help to guide you through how to take great notes for your classes.

Option 1: Your professor provides you with PowerPoint slides or “skeleton” notes to fill out.

You might be familiar with this kind of note taking from high school: the professor provides a set of slides that you can take notes on or fill in as you go.  This type of lecture is most often used with courses held in the big lectures halls (Forum, Thomas 100).  My tip for this type of note taking is even though you have a lot of the notes written out for you, take notes of your own in the margins and make sure you are marking which topics/slides the professor spends the most time on (these are usually the ones that will be on your exams!).  The other tip I have is to pay attention to the way the notes are organized.  Your professor has worked hard to organize notes in a way that makes sense to go through them.  If they cover topic A, then topic B, then topic C, try to connect the dots--what did I learn in topic A that helps me answer a question in topic B?  Is that equation in topic C the same as the one in topic A plus a constant?  Looking at the overarching outline of your notes can be very helpful so that you are not just taking in the information but truly learning and understanding it.

Laptop or notebook:  I have tried taking these notes by hand (printing out slides and writing on them), by laptop (typing out my notes on the slides), and online (writing on my laptop with an electronic pen). It can be helpful to print out the notes and write on them, but you may quickly run out of printing pages in the library or lose a paper in your bag.  My tip is to print out two or more slides per page if you are going for this method. Another method is to use your laptop and annotate the notes online, however it may be more difficult to retain the information you type.  Benefit: it is super easy to search your notes and reorganize your notes after class.  Disadvantage: you have to make sure to charge your laptop for each class!  As for the final option, using OneNote (which is free for Penn State students) is the perfect way to take handwritten notes electronically.  Disadvantages include having to purchase the correct laptop and pen to do this.

Heads-up: These are often the classes you will have to do clicker questions in, so it pays off to be present and be paying attention!  A clicker question is when a professor asks a multiple choice question and you have to use your clicker to respond to the question--see the example below.

Option 2: Your professor talks a lot and does not write out equations or examples.

I have personally found that my electives (psychology, art history) have lectures where the professor presents information without equations, examples, or sometimes even without slides.  In these kinds of classes, it is the most important to take organized notes for yourself and make sure to listen to what the professor says right at the start of class: “in this lecture we will…” or “today we are going to cover…,” because then you know what lecture will cover for the day.  During class, try to create headers for each section discussed and sub-headers to separate the details.  

Laptop or notebook: For option 2, using a laptop to type up notes is a great way to make sure you are getting a lot of information written down, which is helpful if your exam is essay based and you’ll need to remember lots of details.  Another advantage to using your laptop is that you will be able to search your notes easily.  One disadvantage is that people are often more likely to remember notes they have written out rather than typed out.  You could always rewrite your notes after class to overcome this obstacle!

Option 3: Your professor writes a lot on the board, with lots of examples and equations.

This is often the case with your engineering classes where you are drawing diagrams or writing out equations.  During these classes, all of the previous rules still apply: make sure to stay organized in your notes with headers and sub-headers and handwriting may help you remember these notes better.  Pro tip: make sure your examples and equations stand out in your notes so you can review them easily!  I always leave space before and after examples so I see where they start and end.  I put boxes around my equations with colorful pens so that I can refer back to them quickly!

Laptop or notebook: It would be quite the challenge to take these notes on a laptop if you will be drawing or typing up equations.  I recommend the ole’ pen and paper or an electronic notebook and pen.

Option 4: Your professor does a lot of hands on work or discussion based classes.

It can be difficult to tell when to take notes in these kinds of classes or if you’ll need to take notes at all.  My tip would be to make sure to write down the due dates for these classes and the “deliverables.” The deliverables are anything that will be due to your professor.  For example, an engineering design course might ask the students to create a prototype that mimics something in nature in order to help humans accomplish a task, and it will be due on Tuesday.  My notes would say “Due: Tuesday, tool prototype based on nature”.  Also be sure to write down any websites or resources that will help you accomplish your deliverables.

Laptop or notebook: Anything goes for this style of class! If you’re going to be writing essays based on your class lectures, taking notes on your laptop may be helpful in starting your writing assignments.  If you write down all your deadlines in a paper planner, it might be nice to be able to keep everything in one place.  Whatever floats your boat!

You have your notes, now what?

Make sure you are reviewing your notes after class so that you can clean up any points you didn’t get to fully write down and mark what doesn’t make sense.  If you can, look through your notes before your next lecture.  If you find you have questions, try to ask your professor for clarification in office hours or right before your next lecture starts.  You could even ask your classmates if it's something simple! When I’m able to ask questions before the next lecture, I feel more confident during class and I’m not stressed about being lost during the lecture!

You can see in the photo below I write down questions I have in the margins.  You can see this in the photo of my notes below. 

Phew.  This blog has a TON of information in it, but I hope that it will be helpful as you navigate your first weeks at Penn State! If you can, take a moment to breathe and be grateful to attend a university where you can get a beautiful engineering degree! (You got this!)

Ann Lipinski

Team A Mentor