Things not to do:

• Listening to a lecture and taking notes should not be a mindless, automatic, rote activity.
• Notes should never be taken down as though they were a grocery list, with one fact listed right beneath another.
• You should not wait to review your notes until the day before an exam or a paper.

Things to do:

• When listening to a lecture, do not write things down immediately.
• Instead, listen carefully until you hear the main idea.
• Try to note the relevant details that should be placed under that main idea.
• Notes should be taken in outline form as much as possible, with supporting facts placed under more general ideas or principles.

Example: Compare the two examples of notes given below.

Thoughtless Note-Taking

• Search for historical Jesus
• Necessary and nonnegotiable
• Problems and dangers
• Like-minded people can be complacent
• History and faith do not need to be opposite
• We need to reflect God’s likeness
• Jesus reveals God
• Bible is not enough
• Christian imperative to truth
• Don’t be afraid
• Commitment to mission
• Early eschatology about climax not end
• Jesus answers expectations of early Jewish world

Critical Note-Taking

1. Search for the historical Jesus is a crucial activity
1. Necessary and nonnegotiable
2. Problematic and dangerous
1. Problem: we find our ideas challenged, our complacency shaken; like-minded people can be complacent
2. Danger: History can feel like the enemy of faith—doesn’t have to be that way
2. There are varied reasons for the search
1. The real Jesus reveals God
1. We need to reflect God’s likeness
2. Bible is not enough to show us God
2. Christian imperative to truth: don’t fear the truth
3. Christian commitment to mission: clearer if we understand the historical Jesus
1. Our eschatology about the end times
2. 1st-century Jewish eschatology about climax of history
3. Jesus answers expectations of Jewish world

Summary

Critical note-taking is a mental activity. You must be able to wait and think before writing. You must distinguish main idea from supporting detail. Sometimes a professor (or book) mentions the main idea after the details. You may need to either delay writing until you hear the main idea or insert the main idea where it belongs.

1. Always take notes in outline form, putting supporting details underneath the general ideas or principles with which they belong. Sometimes these general ideas or principles are mentioned in the lecture (or book); sometimes you will need to provide them on your own. You will need to recognize that certain facts all form a group and that all the items in the group fall under one specific idea label.
2. Review your notes before the next class and on an occasional basis. It is important to review your notes before the next class, while the material is still fresh in your mind. You may be able to fill in some details and clarify some points which a month later you would have forgotten.
• Periodic review of notes gives you an ongoing context for the course material that will allow you to be more effective and efficient in your analysis of the lecture material as you continue to take notes.
3. Remember: Good note taking is a mental activity. You are organizing and sorting through material. In other words, you are already studying, even though you are just sitting in class. Every bit of effort you make to take critical notes represents study time saved!