Prepare, take notes and follow up on courses

When preparing for exams, many students realize that they are "actually" doing things that would have been easier during the lecture period: Having to deal with the material from the third session a few weeks or months later then often feels like "starting from scratch". Therefore: It saves time and nerves to do preparation and follow-up work during the lectures.

Preparations

Depending on how lecturers have designed their course, some of the preparation may be predetermined: readings to be read, assignments or self-learning materials as part of inverted classroom. Here we look at the preparations that are particularly useful if this pre-structuring is not in place, but can also be helpful for other course models.

One aspect that applies to almost every course, regardless of subject area and design: Make a note of what you don't understand. Try to focus as precisely as possible on where you "lose the thread", “where you get stuck". This should enable you to ask specific follow-up questions.

It may sound trivial, but it is advisable to think about the means by which you want to take notes in the respective session:

• Handwritten or digital? Which format? (It makes sense to stick to one format.)
• Loose sheets/individual files are easier to edit/reorganize afterwards
• How can the sheet/space be prepared in advance?

Designing notes

One of the most popular methods for creating a usable transcript is the cornell method, which provides a possible answer to the last question of page layout:

In principle, the idea is to divide the page in such a way that it is as easy as possible to rework, so a free area is left to the left or right of the basic elements and at the bottom. In this way, outlines or key points can be added later, as well as further thoughts or questions. In the above illustration of the information sheet, the principle is the content of the note. Of course, you can vary this simple basis to suit your own needs.

Follow up

Good lecture notes are only one half of the work. If you have worked with the Cornell method or similar, the space (in the margins) now comes into play:

Here you should try to bring a structure to the notes with keywords/possible headings, to work out the "common thread". Furthermore, open questions should be recorded, as well as any tasks (e.g. "look up term XY"); if you want to work with colored markers, you should also do this. The aim is to deal with the material once again, a first learning step is made, the prerequisites for further steps or in-depth learning are created. In any case, the aim should be to make the main topic and relevant subtopics visible at first glance.

No matter which version of the event notes you choose: If you work your thoughts and questions in (and out) directly during the follow-up, you will have an excellent basis for exam preparation.

To read on or watch:

• The Cornell University note-taking course is freely accessible!
• Collection on note-taking from Cornell University with further tips and methods
• Furtwangen University has created a short video on the Cornell method (german).
• Leaflet on note-taking (german) from the advisory colleagues at the University of Kassel