Al Chemist

Great suggestions,all. Evidently folks employ what note taking techniques have worked best for them. Just consider your own skills and how best you can use your time. Computerization is fantastic, and you will appreciate having computerized notes for the rest of your life, your personal Kindle files, if you will. Recorders are great, but take way too much time to transcribe. Laptops in class, for me, have proven tedious. I'm old school, I write class notes, then type more coherent conceptual notes that night. I may "write" notes on a tablet in future, just to save rewriting time later, (if Santa reads this post.) In any case, I suggest that you prepare for all classroom presentations beforehand. Pre-read (skim) new material in your texts or power points; chapter contents, highlights, topic outlines, pics. Someone far more learned has already outlined the material for you... take advantage. Don't try to master it during preview, but don't just breeze by and not focus. This is preparation, after all. Never go to class cold and blank. You will at best, only affirm how ignorant you are of the material, and increase your stress. Prep should raise questions you should get resolved at the first presentation of the material. Also, EVERYDAY you MUST redo your notes, whatever technique you have used. This gives you 3 exposures to the material: preview, lecture, reorganization. By now you should be at least be able to make a "B" score on the material. (Employers will not give you 3 chances to "learn" or get things right at work. Better develop this skill now). Now you should have an easy time reviewing your own organized conceptualization of the material daily until the test, and of course, you will have great compilations of material for lifetime referral, especially if computerized. (I still refer to some of my nursing school notes, Epocrates, ACLS charts, calculation apps, etc. on my iPhone at work. Had I spent more time learning the material, rather than creating lovely files, I would have fewer files to have to carry around.) Only if you prepare before class are you free to listen and concentrate on the material presented, rather than bustling to write, type, or record every word. You understand things when you think about them, not when you write words and intend to figure it out later. Use class time to comprehend the previewed material presented, and get your preview questions answered. Never leave a class with any unanswered questions or misconceptions. Finalize these clearer thoughts when you compile that day's revisions that night. This maximizes your actual learning effort and teacher resources and will save you hours of stress after class. Study (focus on and comprehend) material in class, and then homework becomes revise and review. Quick rereads of your own thoughts will give you extremely easy references forever. Notes are essential, but they are just tools to assist learning, which is the intent. Start with serious preview. Learn in class. Organize and review at home. Skim your notes occasionally, until the material never dims. Eventually you can become an encyclopedia.

Sensible advice, everyone. And very inspirational.