Taking “good” notes- Writing down information in class to help you study later
As a college student, you are expected to be able to capture the important information discussed in lectures. Taking notes in class is essential for remembering information later on —it’s also one of the most complicated tasks a student needs to be able to do.
Unless you’re a transcriptionist or an exceptionally fast writer, you probably won’t be able to write down every word that your professors say. Even if you could, you might not want to, as you’d have to sift through everything to find the key information. Trying to write down every word might leave you with large gaps and unable to really pay attention to the instructor’s meaning.
The better alternative is to make use of material provided by the professor (e.g. PowerPoint slides), add other information that is covered, and highlight important points. These note-taking strategies can help you take notes that will help you study and work on assignments. These note-taking strategies can help you take notes that will help you study and work on assignments.
PowerPoint Slides
If your professor provides their PowerPoint slides before the class, you may be able to use these slides to take notes. The PowerPoint slides can serve as an outline, and you can add additional information in your own notes. You can also use this to indicate when information is especially important. The video below provides a basic demonstration. It also shows how you can take notes within the PowerPoint application.
Click on the video How to Take Notes Using PowerPoint to learn more, or watch it below.
PowerPoint Slides in OneNote
If you prefer taking notes on your computer, you can still take advantage of the PowerPoint slides provided by the professor. One way to do this is by importing the PowerPoint slide into OneNote. You have access to both of these Microsoft applications through your student live@AC email.
To add your PowerPoint notes to your OneNote:
- Open your PowerPoint presentation.
- Create a PDF version. If you are in the web version of PowerPoint, click File > Print > Print full page slides, set the destination to Save as PDF, and click Save.
- Open OneNote in your browser and navigate to the page where you want to add the PowerPoint slides.
- Click Insert>File>Insert File Printout and select the PDF file you made of your slides.
Click on the video demonstration Embed PowerPoint in OneNote to learn more, or watch it below.
Want to learn more strategies? Check out our other study skills tips.
