Note-taking is one of the fundamental skills to master to do well in college. All levels of higher education, from undergrad to grad, will require some form of note-taking. Typically, it takes trial and error to find a note-taking format that is efficient, maximizes retention, and is easy to review. I have tried out numerous different note-taking formats through the years. I've even used different formats depending on the class. Here are the 3 main methods used for note-taking in college. Perhaps, after reading this you may be able to decide on a format to adapt.
Hand Written Notes - This is the most classic and traditional way of taking notes. It's particularly useful for classes that require numerical computations, graphing or charting, diagrams, and so on. Handwritten notes have recently surged in popularity thanks to the studyblr and studygram communities on social media. Neat and colorful notes are popping up all over student social media accounts and social media networks like pinterest and instagram. Your notes do not have to be meticulously neat. They just have to be legible, organized, concise, and color-coded if it helps. The most effective way to take notes is to keep them minimal and clean with organized sections, labeled by subtitles, and color coded with a few colors. Handwritten notes may not be efficient for classes with heavy and lengthy writing as they may become very time-consuming.
Ipad/Digitally Written Notes - The same criterion applies to notes written on a tablet. You can apply the minimal note taking style with organized sections and color coding in digitally written notes as well. There are few extra pros to digital note taking. You can erase mistakes easily. On paper a mistake can at times ruin the whole sheet of notes. You will not have to lug around heavy notebooks or binders. All of your notes will be accessible digitally anywhere. Your notes will take up less space. Digital note taking also provides a myriad of customization options, colors, pen styles, and so on. On the flip side, there are cons here as well. It can be difficult writing on a glassy screen even with a matte screen protector, long-time use can strain the eyes, you can get caught up in all the fancy frills of digital note-taking and lose focus on the material at hand. Digital note-taking tablets and pens are often expensive, Also, losing the charge can affect work time. Keep these factors in mind before you decide to pursue the paperless route.
Typed Notes - This is also a classic note-taking method. College students have been using their laptops to type up notes for quite some time now. Gone are the days when Microsoft Word was the only option. Now students are using various different applications such as Google Docs and Notion. These newer applications are far more accessible and intuitive than Word. My personal favorite is Notion. It links to your Gmail. Notion has a clean and minimal user interface. It has 3 crisp and clean fonts. It has color coding, highlighting, bolding, underlining, and italicizing options. There are also simple options to include graphs, tables, images, galleries, toggles, bullets, websites, pdfs, links, videos, and so on. Notion is also a downloadable app, so you can review your notes on your phone. It also has a calendar, to do lists, and quick memo options. You can make sections and an endless number of pages. It has truly been a game changer for me in college, especially for my note heavy classes.
While typed notes are convenient. The drawback is that they induce an auto-pilot state for the mind, making it a poor method for retention and memorization. Thoroughly reviewing notes after they are typed should help combat this. This format of note-taking is a lifesaver in content heavy classes. However, it is cumbersome to include diagrams, graphs, and illustrations.
You can adopt all of these note-taking styles if you wish to do so. That way you can use the most efficient format depending on the type of class. Written formats will be most useful for classes that have lots of diagrams, graphs, charts, illustrations, or mathematical computations. The typed format is best for classes that have lots of notes, long readings, long lectures, detailed processes, lots of key terms, and so on. Start off with a format that you can commit do and easily accomplish, build up and improve from there. Let me know what your favorite note-taking method is in the comments!
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