Note-Taking Strategies That Actually Work

Split the page: notes on the right, cues on the left, summary at the bottom. The layout builds review into the page itself.

Hierarchical bullets. Fast in structured lectures, weak when the lecturer jumps around.

Useful for relationships between concepts: biology systems, historical causes and effects.

Diagrams and arrows over sentences. Suits processes and anything spatial.

Spend ten minutes after class rewriting your notes into questions you can answer later. That converts passive notes into retrieval practice, the habit Dunlosky et al. (2013) rated as high-utility.

Topic: Supply and demand            Date: 12 Mar
--------------------------------------------------
CUES              | NOTES
What shifts the   | Demand curve shifts with income,
demand curve?     | tastes, price of substitutes,
                  | expectations, number of buyers.
Movement vs       | Price change = movement ALONG
shift?            | the curve. Anything else = shift.
Example?          | Coffee price up -> tea demand up
                  | (substitute).
--------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Price moves you along a curve; everything
else moves the curve. Four shifters to memorize.

Cover the notes column, answer the cues from memory, then check. That is a study session, not a re-read.

Paste your notes into OwlWho to generate a flashcard deck or a set of practice questions, then test yourself instead of re-reading.

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