Take note!
Getting the most out of your lectures
Amanda Whitehead (Academic Skills)
& Anne-Marie Greenhill (Digital Literacies)
14/12/16
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Goals for this session
To briefly highlight the purpose of lectures:
the student’s role;
To discuss different types of note-taking;
To practice note-taking techniques in a live
lecture setting;
To consider how to store, manage and
protect your notes.
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
What are the purposes of lectures?
 Offer an overview of a
subject or topic?
 Deliver detailed
information on a subject
or topic?
 A invaluable resource!
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Before a lecture…
What can you do to maximise what you get out of a
lecture?
preparatory reading
think about what you already know about the topic
think about what you hope to get from the lecture
 consider the who?/where?/when?
(need to adjust note-taking style accordingly?)
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
During the lecture…
What should you do during a lecture?
Take notes?
Listen?
Think?
Ask questions?
What shouldn’t you do during a lecture?
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
After the lecture…
What will you do with your notes after the lecture?
 Fill in the blanks?
 Re-write your notes?
 Memorise your notes and the PowerPoints?
 Adapt/rework them according to your preferred way of
learning?
 File them away and forget about them until exam time?
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Why take notes?
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Keyword notes
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Mind-map notes
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
‘Charting’ notes
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Cornell notes
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Your task…
We are about to hear a lecture: ‘What is the purpose of
history?’ by Dr Matt Graham.
This lecture will last approximately 30 minutes.
Your job is to choose a note-taking style and take effective
notes.
You should aim to record as much factual information as
you can.
You should try to note down your own thoughts about
what you are hearing too!
We will see how effective your notes were at the end!
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Part 2
How effective were your notes…. REALLY!
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
How effective are your notes…really!
 What was the basic definition of history shown
on slide 3?
 Who was the author of the more complex
definition, shown on slide 4?
 Who said “History will be kind to me, because I
intend to write it.”
 Who said ““Who controls the past controls the
future: who controls the present controls the
past.”
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
In pairs:
Work together to write a brief summary of the lecture
(100 word max.)
MAIN THEMES
KEY CONCEPTS
YOUR FURTHER LINES OF ENQUIRY
Turn to a pair behind you (or in front) and share your
summaries.
How similar or different are your summaries?
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Notes, notes and more notes!
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
E-notes
Evernote Tutorial
https://youtu.be/4wXfiAmTV10
Basic tasks in OneNote
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Basic-tasks-in-MicrosoftOneNote-2013-DA73C095-E082-4276-ACF9-8728CA8B08AB
How to organize your files on a PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPyNGVwZ1o0
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Digital literacies
http://libguides.dundee.ac.uk/digital-literacy
https://dundee.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/digitalliteracies-reflective-survey
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016
Thank you, work hard and good luck…
…with your future studies!
CASTLE. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, 2016