There are various forms of taking notes, and which one you choose depends on both your style and the instructor's approach to the material. Each can be used in a notebook, index cards, or in a digital form on your laptop. No specific type is good for all students and all situations, so we recommend that you develop your own style, but you should also be ready to modify it to fit the needs of a specific class or instructor. The following are a few recommendations to try out:

- • organized: Keep your notes and handouts separate for each class. For example, • organized: Keep your notes and handouts separate for each class. For example, you might have a different notebook and folder for each class or a large notebook with a different tab for each class. This will save you the time of trying to organize and locate your notes when studying for an exam.
- • your paper: Many students try to fit all of a day's class notes onto one page and are • your paper: Many students try to fit all of a day's class notes onto one page and are often left with many extra blank pages in their notebooks. Instead, every time your instructor changes topics, flip to a new page. This allows you to find the material easily and makes your notes much cleaner. Similarly, if you are taking notes digitally, leave space between topics. For example, if you are taking notes in MS Word, you can use the 'page break' function between topics.
- • visual cues: Try highlighting, underlining, or drawing arrows or exclamation points • visual cues: Try highlighting, underlining, or drawing arrows or exclamation points next to any main or difficult concepts. This will call attention to these sections and remind you to spend more time reviewing them.
- • together similar concepts : Grouping or 'chunking' material is a good way to • together similar concepts : Grouping or 'chunking' material is a good way to make studying and memorization easier. You can try drawing the main concept and connecting it to smaller, related concepts or making an outline of the information. Either one can serve as an effective study guide.
- • notes legible: Some people have messy handwriting. However, writing as clearly • notes legible: Some people have messy handwriting. However, writing as clearly as possible when you take notes will make it easier to review them later. It's also helpful if you're asked to share your notes with another student who missed class. If laptop use is permitted during class, you can also type your notes.

### Notetaking Styles

#### The Outline Method

The outline method allows you to prioritize the material. Key ideas are written to the left of the page, subordinate ideas are then indented, and details of the subordinate ideas can be indented further (Figure 6.1). To further organize your ideas, you can use the typical outlining numbering scheme (starting with Roman numerals for key ideas, moving to capital letters on the first subordinate level, Arabic numbers for the next level, and lowercase letters following.) At first, you may have trouble identifying when the instructor moves from one idea to another. This takes practice and experience with each instructor, so don't give up! In the early stages, you should use your syllabus to determine what key ideas the instructor plans to present. Your reading assignments before class can also give you guidance in identifying the key ideas. If you're using your laptop computer for taking notes, a basic word processing application (like Microsoft Word or Works) is very effective. Format your document by selecting the outline format from the format bullets menu. Use the increase or decrease indent buttons to navigate the level of importance you want to give each item. The software will take care of the numbering for you!