In my first year of university, I was a bit clueless. High school had been an incredibly straightforward experience where I had had everything handed to me. In particular, I never needed to take notes because I always knew that whatever was taught in class would either be provided for me in a revision guide or in a handout at the end of the lesson. At first I thought I would give college the same approach- using the lecture slides as notes for revision afterward. Luckily for me a good friend of mine interfered before I got the chance to practice my no-notes system and made a suggestion which I wish I had followed through with until the end of the year.
My friend was a very successful student and offered the idea that I print out my lecture slides before the lecture, take them to the lecture, and make notes on them during the lecture. When I did this, I found that I was given more time to relax and listen to the lecture. While my classmates were taking vigorous notes trying to copy down what was on the slides, I was allowed to chill out and just write what was being said in conjunction with the lecture slides.
Although this method does take up a lot of ink and paper, it’s worth giving it a go. I guarantee that it will allow you a more relaxed lecture, giving you more time to concentrate on what your lecturer is saying. I’m definitely going to apply it for the rest of the year. If you think it could work for you then I highly suggest that you try it too.
Photo by Markus Rödder
