Note Taking: Determining What Is Important

In this case, importance is measured by what you are expected to know when you take a test or are asked a question by your instructor in class.  When taking notes from text,  what features of the text provide clues as to what the most important ideas are?  When listening to a lecture in class,  what clues are available that you can use to determine importance?

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Sometimes assigned reading can be from texts ( for example, stories or narrative text) in which finding what is important can be challenging.  Textbooks, on the other hand, have features that indicate what is important.  These include using bold text for key terms,  and headings and subheadings.  For a good discussion of how to take notes from textbooks, look here.

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When listening to a lecture,  move your eyes between your notes and the person lecturing.  Look for clues from the speaker about what is important to remember and write the important points down.  

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Cues that instructors use,  sometimes unconsciously, include:

*pausing, giving examples, repeating what has been said, or what was in the textbook,  writing on the whiteboard, or directly stating what is important.  For example. the instuctor might say, "It is important to remember that...."

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Other clues include changing the volume or pitch of voice and body language clues like facial expressions, gestures or posture.  More information about how to listen during a lecture is provided here and here.

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You might want to include a page in the front of your notebook to remind yourself to look for specific kinds of cues that might be used by the instructor.

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