1. Effective Note Taking

Note Taking was an area going back to college that I was worried about considerably. Doing a PLC course prior to college helped me as a mature student to settle into finding what worked for me regards to note taking. At the start I tried to write word for word which did not work because I was not fully listening then to the lecture. Then I would try to write faster key points and my page would end up looking as confused as I was.


What seems to be working for me right now since September is trying to find the balance between listening to key point areas that are important and just take them down as briefly as I could. My page would still look confused but what I would do next is when I went home I would re-write my notes out again neatly and fill in the missing gaps as I went along. This way I could take my time and have the lecturer’s notes in front of me on the computer in a more relaxed environment. At the end of a topic which could go on for a few lectures I then produce a mind map also to help narrow down all the information in the notes to just key words that would trigger of the information that was learned. 

The following website has a considerable amount of information on how to produce a mind map. Also if you’re worried about your creative side the following website has trial software you can use to create mind maps.

The Youtube video below explains the basics of mind maps to get you going on effective note taking