How to take lecture notes
Most lecture notes are never opened again, because they were written to keep up rather than to be revised from. A few rules during the hour, and ten minutes after it, change that.
STOP TRANSCRIBING
Typing every sentence keeps your hands busy and your head empty. Aim to write roughly a quarter of what is said: definitions, the steps of a method, worked examples, and anything the lecturer repeats, slows down for, or writes on the board. Slides you can download later are not worth copying.
A PAGE STRUCTURE THAT SURVIVES THE WEEK
- Date and topic at the top, so the page can be found later.
- One idea per block, with a blank line between blocks.
- A margin for your own questions and confusions, marked with a "?".
- A star next to anything flagged as exam-relevant.
- Three lines at the bottom left empty for the summary you write afterwards.
That is the Cornell layout in its lightest form, and it is enough.
THE TEN MINUTES AFTERWARDS
Before the day ends, reread the page once, fill the summary lines from memory, and turn every starred block into a question. Ten minutes here saves an hour in revision week, because you are fixing gaps while the lecture is still reconstructable.
HANDWRITING VERSUS LAPTOP
Handwriting is slower, which forces the summarising that makes notes useful; a laptop wins when the material is dense, code-heavy, or diagram-light. Whichever you use, the rule is the same: write fewer words than you hear.
FROM NOTES TO QUESTIONS
Notes become revision material the moment they become questions you answer from memory. Paste the page into notes to flashcards and review the deck on a schedule, and keep good card rules in mind: one fact per card, your own words.