When we learn from a lecture, a book, or a video, there is an illusion of grasping the material. At the moment of reading, watching, or conversing, the learner may feel everything is connected and hence understood. However, this is an illusion because the short-term memory is elusive and limited.
When learning content that is challenging, the short-term memory can store about 4 items for up to 30 seconds. During these 30 seconds, the mind may connect the new material to past material already learned. Without reinforcement, however, there may not be much retention of the new material and its connection to past material.
Notetaking can help in two ways.
First, the process of taking notes improves the ability of the mind to retain and convert short-term memory into longer-term memory. This is accomplished by presenting the learned material in written form, therefore exercising additional neural pathways that are different from the pathways of listening, reading, or watching.
Second and more importantly, the outcome of taking notes is a more permanent form of the material that can be reviewed at a later point.
The medium of notes can vary. However, the most basic paper and pencil work exceptionally well. Consider using a template instead of just lined binder paper.
The linked template has a few sections.
The term “lecture” can be replaced by any learning experience that is in real-time and cannot be conveniently paused. Let’s examine what to do with each section.
The pre-lecture part is optional, but filling it in is recommended. This section captures the following items:
There is no rule of when this section should be filled.
This section is the bulk of notetaking. This section has several purposes:
Because the in-lecture section has to serve multiple purposes and record material from different sources (the presentation and the thoughts of the notetaker), it is bound to be messy! This is why we need the post-lecture section.
This section is also optional, but it is very important.
As mentioned earlier the in-lecture section is likely to be a mess. It is entirely possible that the bulk of it may not be very valuable. If the notes will serve a purpose later, it is helpful to clean up and organize the messy in-lecture section.
The post-lecture section should be filled not too long after a lecture. This is especially true for college students taking a few classes. A lecture often has the effect of “flushing out” a previous lecture in the learner’s mind.
In the process of writing post-lecture notes, the pre-lecture and in-lecture sections can be reviewed. Are all the questions answered? If not, act on these unanswered questions!
Are there important definitions or terms introduced? If so, copy them to the post-lecture section.
Expand on the short notes on Eureka~ moments. While an epiphany is, by itself, important, the intuitive connection can often benefit from deliberate, analytical, logical, and deeper processing.
Even on paper, some fields help organize notes. The organization is important because it improves the effectiveness of information retrieval.