Effective Notetaking

Before the Lecture

It is helpful to prepare by taking a little time in advance of the lecture to orientate yourself:

• Look back at the module overview to check how does this lecture link to others?
• Revisit your notes from previous lectures to refresh your memory. (Creating quick summaries after each lecture can speed up this process).
• Prepare any notetaking templates to use in the lecture (on paper or laptop) - If you have access to PowerPoint slides before the lecture, highlight key topics and create a list of subheadings that shows how the lecture moves from A to B. In your template, create subheadings, grids or mind-maps with key topics and subheadings to create a template for notetaking in the lecture.
• Spend 30 minutes reading (independent research) around the topic of the next lecture to get a general overview of the content. The reading list in the module guide is a good starting point.
• It can also be useful to make a list of questions that you want the lecture to answer, and to follow up with the lecturer or seminar tutor if these are not answered in the lecture.