Note-Taking Ideas – The Best Effective Strategies Now

This is the top guide and blog for effective notes and note-taking ideas. Here are the best ways to improve your grades with good notes now!

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There is a big difference between “effective notes” and general “notes”.

Let me explain …

General notes are simply a list of points to remember such as bullet points.

• Perhaps they are structured as the main topic and the main ideas as the main points below.
• Perhaps you utilize the famous Cornell method.
• Perhaps you have seen my other blog posts on different note-taking methods such as:
  • Outline Method
  • Mind Maps (mapping method)
  • Concept Map
  • Charting Method

Those are all well and good for your in-class notes…

For this article, I want to discuss note-taking ideas for your out-of-class notes. Essentially, your notes for when you are actually studying/learning.

I’ve discussed in the past the differences between your in-class notes and out-of-class notes.

Let’s discuss how you can create your “Out-Of-Class Notes” …

Note-Taking Ideas – For Your Study Notes

There is no “best note-taking method”.

It depends on the subject, the individual, the preferred learning style, the class, and more.

However, for your study notes, I have compiled a list of ideas of different strategies to actually REMEMBER & UNDERSTAND your notes.

What is this specifically called?

“Critical Thinking Skills”.

We are going to utilize this framework for note-taking.

The first step of the framework is typically called a number of things such as “design”, “create”, and “knowledge”.

For our notes, this step is where we are going to gather all of our resources information, and class material.

Therefore, gather or make a plan to save all information for the unit you are being tested on — whether it be for an exam, quiz, project, presentation, etc. (the framework is the same).

For the second step of the framework, people call something like “evaluate”, “understanding”, or “comprehension”.

This is essentially, “Creating A Framework” for what the main topic/points are to guide us in our studying to stay organized.

In this step, we are going to try to put things together to better understand them.

For example, try to evaluate the central idea, key ideas, key concepts, and main concepts, and try to get the major points of what you are learning.

There are many different ways of doing this.

Here are some handy note-taking techniques for doing this:

• Write it out in complete sentences, in your own words what you think the key points are.
  • This is known as the “sentence method”.

• Make note of all key terms – aka keywords for any key information and why they are important details.
  • Perhaps set them aside in the left column of a Cornell notes section.

• You can also color code, meaning highlight key words in different colors if you enjoy visual learning.

When writing out your notes you can write them either on paper or on digital devices. You can type them too, such as in Google Docs, but I have found it is easier to remember topics if you write them down, and there is scientific support for writing out your own notes is really effective for learning.

Plus if you make them aesthetically pleasing, such as using nice handwriting, color, diagrams, etc. it can make it even easier to learn if you enjoy being a visual learner.

The next step is typically called something like “analyze”.

In this portion now we are going to really push here in evaluating these topics.

This is essentially “Active Learning” because we are challenging and trying to really understand what this topic is about.

• When you write out a key point, add a question mark to the end and try to quiz yourself on why you think this is (this is a great way to uncover additional information).

• Write out, playing devil’s advocate, what are some various ways someone could argue otherwise.
  • Try to focus on the most important points in short phrases rather than every single detail.

• Try to come up with your own questions and your own ideas for how this could be improved.

• You can even spend a short amount of time looking up different points and new information to make note of if you find the topic interesting and want to learn more outside of class lectures.

• You can utilize tools such as Venn Diagrams and T-charts to compare and contrast certain points.

The next step is typically called “applying”, “application”, etc.

In this step, we are going to actually understand how this topic can apply to us.

Why?

This is because finding ways to make this topic applicable to us and our own lives is actually a memory tool.

This is a great method for memory because when we make something relatable to us, rather than a foreign or vague or hypothetical concept it is easier to recall it later on.

Here are some ideas for effective note-taking methods for applying the topic to our own lives:

• You can come up with ideas for how it is applicable to you in the future
  • For example, let’s say you are taking a marketing research course in college. Maybe you have no plans to pursue a career in marketing. However, you can still apply a chapter on market research to you by asking yourself how you would survey others more effectively to improve your data results.

• When testing yourself you can leave blank spaces where there are individuals or groups in quiz questions and fill them in with your name instead and try to understand how you or someone you know would react in that situation.

• When writing out notes such as a sequential listing of ideas or points from the entire lecture (or just a portion) add some doodles to act as visual cues to yourself to remember the topic such as a smiley face if you agree with something or an exclamation point if you think something is cool or crazy.

The next step is typically called “explain”, “understand”, or “synthesis”.

Being able to re-explain something, later on, is an important part of academic success because it is proof of your knowledge/understanding of a topic.

Therefore, we’ll call this step “Practice Summarizing” as one of our next note-taking skills.

It also acts as a great checkpoint to evaluate what you think you know from what you actually know.

Here are some ways to practice:

• Practice how you would explain this topic to someone else if you were in a field like academic coaching or teaching.

• Cover up certain portions of your notes and quiz yourself on the secondary parts of it.
• Ask yourself to explain a topic like you’re explaining it to a child if you’re struggling with a conceptually difficult topic.

The next step is typically called “remembering” and “evaluation”. 

For this step, we are going to be working on recalling and ensuring that you actually remember these topics later on so you can remember and utilize them later.

Simply, “Retaining” the information.

Here are some great ways to retain the key facts and information to utilize later:

• You can practice your retention by coming up with a system of remembering and recalling the information later such as going back to old flashcards, re-reading old notes, referencing important pages in a textbook, rewatching helpful videos, scanning old diagrams, etc.

• You can come up with memory devices such as mnemonic devices, rhyming, or different techniques for memory.

I hope these note-taking ideas are helpful to you.

There are many types of note-taking styles so you may have to learn what works best for you through tedious trial and error.

I hope these note-taking ideas tips and tools are helpful to you whether you’re in school, looking to expand your knowledge, or looking to share this with your students.