Note-Taking: It’s in the Details
You probably developed some type of note-taking system in high school, but if your system is ad hoc, you may want to consider creating a note-taking system with a bit more intentionality. This article helps you differentiate between types of content and design a detailed key that can help you more effectively take notes you can revise with.
Content Categories
Not all content is created equal. As you read through a paper or listen in class, you encounter a lot of information. Your job as a note-taker is figuring out how each piece of content fits into these three categories:
- Critical Information
- Supplementary Information
- Examples
Critical information are the main takeaways from a reading or class session. This information is what you should remember and what you will need to include in your synthesis of the material. For example, if you are learning about a new formula in a physics class, you will need to know the purpose of the formula, what the different elements of the formula are and how it is applied. There are usually only a couple of key takeaways from anything that you read. Often Professors will spend more time defining and discussing these key pieces of content.
Supplementary information explains the critical information to help you understand it as you read. For example, suppose you are reading about a formula in a physics class. In that case, supplementary information may describe the history or derivation of that formula. This material can help you gain a more nuanced understanding of the formula. However, it’s not essential if the goal is the application of the formula. Once you use this material to understand the critical information, all you need to remember is the critical information.
Examples are applications of critical information in a specific context. Examples help you learn critical information. While you may not need to remember everything about an example, it can help you remember a critical concept and help you understand how to apply that concept to a specific context. For a formula, looking at how a specific problem is solved can help you understand how to apply that formula to other problems.
One meta example; take this article. In this section, you don’t need to remember (and therefore take notes on) everything. The critical information is the three categories of content in the list at the beginning. The supplementary information is contained in the three paragraphs following, and here I’m giving you an example by applying this information to the article you are reading!
Any time you are reading, watching a video, or having a discussion in class, try to figure out which category everything that you read, see, or hear falls into. Improving this skill is essential to getting the most out of your note-taking. Once you get good at it, it becomes second nature and doesn’t take much time.
Create a Notes Key
As you are writing different information into your notes, it can be beneficial to have a key to mark different types of information quickly. For example:
(no special marker) Key Information
— Supplementary Information
Ex. Examples
< Reflective thoughts.
The first three represent the three types of information discussed above. The last one is a way of adding your own thoughts to the notes without confusing your ideas for the author’s information. You don’t want to accidentally cite your own thought, mistaking it for something that the author said.
You can make the key in a way that works for you. Here is an example of what notes would look like using the above key:
Thesis Statements: Substantial, Precise, Arguable, Relevant, Concise, and Evidence-based.
— Use SPARCE to remember this
Ex. Aided by a principle from real physics and the story’s composed tone, Chiang uses Louise’s struggle with her daughter’s future death and the contrast between humans and Heptapods to argue that the inescapability of our emotions defines our humanity.
< This sounds a lot like the hypothesis development that we talked about in EA last week.
Be creative with your key and customize it to the way you take notes. You could use color-coding, italics, or symbols like stars and even emojis. What is important is that you develop a key that is meaningful to you and that you can consistently use across classes.
Where to Take Notes
Before we dive deep into the specific types of notes, let’s look at where you can take notes. There is no right answer to this question, so you will need to factor in your personal preferences and comfort level with each option and pick what works best for you. But some of the options include:
- Wiki-style note-taking app like Notion or Roam Research — Notion is a favorite of a lot of students because it is very customizable and easy to use. Due to its hierarchical structure, you can create nested pages of notes to organize everything, allowing you to easily refer back to your notes quickly. Some other apps include:
- Google Docs or Other Word Processor — This is also a common place to take notes, but organizing them is slightly more tedious than an app like Notion.
- Pen and Paper (or IPad) — This gives you the benefit of writing with a pen, which can help you remember things better.
- Sticky notes — Sometimes, you want notes to be temporary, especially if you will synthesize your notes soon after taking them.
Pick what works for you. You can also use a combination of these. For example, I use a combination of Notion and paper for my notes.
In an increasingly paper-free world, you may initially gravitate towards typing your notes. Before you completely reject pen and paper, note that studies show that writing out notes helps you process the information more deeply. Consider typing notes that you need to take quickly or edit later and writing out notes that you want to remember better. (1)
1. Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note-taking. Psychological science, 25(6), 1159–1168.
