Lectures - getting the most out of them | Forestry | Vancouver Island University

This should be fairly straight forward, yet it is worthy of mention.

Before coming to class ...

come to class with questions from previous lectures and reading assignments
listen carefully to lecture and class discussions - this is the prime time to learn the material (re-reading your notes afterwards, when you did not fully understand the material in the first place is NOT a good strategy)
take meaningful notes in class

do not attempt to take dictation and write everything verbatim - use point form
you are making notes to capture ideas & concepts
write down even the 'obvious points' if they are important - if they are not in your notes, then at a later date (e.g. preparing for an exam) you may not remember that they were relevant
use symbols, shorthand, arrows, abbreviations, drawings, etc. - they can be very effective
leave plenty of 'white space' - you can use this space later to fill-in gaps (e.g. supplement your initial notes with info from text, websites, insights from classmates)
Cornell note taking system - try drawing a margin on one side (left or right) of your page; write your 'regular notes' on the larger side; the margin area is where you write down key words that relate to the notes (the Cornell system uses the left side for a margin. See Cornell sheet generator to make your own paper)
your notes are not a transcription of the lecture - they are memory prompts to help you remember what was discussed

soon after the lecture (i.e. that evening or the next day) review your notes and fill-in any missing pieces that you may still remember from class
create a list of questions that require clarification (feel free to email them to your professor)
if your notes are 'a mess' consider re-writing them so they are better organized and more complete - it actually only takes a few minutes