Evaluating Your Note-taking Skills:

Now that you have read the material for this section, you can judge for yourself how well you are taking notes. Examine some notes that you recently took in one of your classes. Determine what you are doing well and in what ways you need to improve.

Use the following criteria as a guide for evaluation.

Is there identifying information at the top of the page? (date, class, subject/title)

Do your notes clearly state the focus of the lecture? The main ideas? Important details?

Are your notes arranged so that the relationship between the ideas is apparent? (main ideas and supporting details; cause and effect; sequence or list, etc.)

Are you using decipherable abbreviations?

Did you note additional information, resources, or references provided by your instructor?

Did you note homework, due dates or any other information that your instructor gave you about future assignments?

Practice and Feedback:

After evaluating your notes, you probably realized you need to improve your note-taking skills. The best way to do that is to connect with someone in one of your classes and practice together. Each of you should take notes during a lecture and then share your results. Use the criteria above to assess your progress, but also make sure you agree on and include all the important points of the lecture or reading. If you're not sure about a point, ask the teacher.

Finally, study your notes before a test. Good notes usually lead to better test grades. If your test grades improve, then you know you are taking better notes!

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