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Attend all lectures, even if attendance is not mandatory. Using someone else’s notes can help, but it is no substitute for attending the lecture. When you hear the information, process it, and write it in your notes, you are already beginning to learn the information. Reinforcement of the information through revision of your notes completes the learning process.
A student spends about 25 hours per week, in coaching and school, attending classes of Physics, Chemistry and mathematics.
Taking Notes From Lectures
Taking notes during a lecture can be a frustrating, almost overwhelming, job.
What should your notebook look like after a lecture?
In general, it should look a little like an outline with clear main ideas and some sub-points with a moderate amount of details and examples. There should probably be some white space so that you add notes from your text or from the next day’s lecture.
- Sit near the front and center of the class. You will have the most direct communication with your professor, and you will less likely be distracted.
- Read the chapter from the textbook before the lecture. It makes a tremendous difference to the understanding of the lecture. This way, a student can focus on the difficult parts of the chapter and ask questions.
- Learn to identify main points. Professors often give cues to what’s important by repeating information, changing their voices or rate of delivery, listing items in order of importance, and, of course, by writing on the chalkboard. What key point is the professor making?
- Maintain eye contact with the instructor. Of course you will need to look at your notebook to write your notes, but eye contact keeps you focused on the job at hand and keeps you involved in the lecture.
- Stay active by asking questions. Active listening keeps you on your toes. Whenever you have a doubt, immediately ask for clarification. Get very specific in the question that you ask.
- Try to anticipate what the professor is going to say. It keeps the mind involved and active in the learning process. Your mind does have the capacity to listen, think, write and ponder at the same time, but it does take practice. You can think faster than the lecturer can talk.
- If the classroom is too hot or too cold, wear appropriate clothes to deal with it.
An essential skill for good note taking is good listening.
Hearing vs. Listening
Is there a difference between hearing and listening?
Yes, there is! Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If you are not hearing-impaired, hearing simply happens.
Listening, however, is something you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences. Listening leads to learning. Most people tend to be “hard of listening” rather than “hard of hearing.”