7 Effective Note -Taking Techniques that Actually Work – Times of India

7 Effective Note-Taking Techniques That Genuinely Improve Comprehension, Retention and Academic Performance (Image: Pexels)

If there is one essential skill that students should master in schools and universities, it is the art of taking good notes. Notes that are not copied and pasted from professors’ slides, not even the only the only that we scribble on a notbook and later become deficult to comprehend. The “Art of Taking Notes” That Cold Not only be undersrstood, but also also remembered and used later for learning purposes. Effective note-taking is not just recording facts or copying from textbook to note format. Most Notebooks are summaries of textbooks that are never look at, or hardly ever. The whole purpose of note taking is that it is something you will revisit and want to revisit it. So many notes are taken but never made use of.A Recent 2025 Cornel University Study Made A Comparison of Physics Courses Where Students Where Trained In Note-Taking and Motivated to use their self-love With no structured note-taking approach. The Study Highlighted How Strategic Note-Taking Boots Engagement and Learning Outomes.As gen z is a digital generation, they are more comfortable using their screens than paper. Thos old spiral notbooks and regists have been replaced by laptops, ipads and phones. Technology is good and has made life easier but the issue is that taking notes can become a mindless types and the notes are often not even revisited. The long audio recordings contain huge Amounts of Information but the question is: are students processing it?

Writing notes by hand boots retention and keeps you more engaged than typing.

According to a 2020 study, using Voice Note-Taking to Promote Learners’ Conceptual Understanding, Taking Notes Via Voice Input “Leads to a Higher Conceptual Understanding of the text and encourage And Comprehensive Notes. ” The researchers found that instead of typing, it was voice-based note-taking that prompted Deeper Processing and Richer, More Comprehensive Note Generation. This sugges that leveragging speech input can boost conceptual learning in digital environments.The reality is, it does not matter what medium students are using for taking notes. Effective Note-Taking is all about what and how one thoughts while everything. Great notes do more than capture information, they spark thinking. They spark reflection and connection. They help you undersrstand better, not just remember facts which you may be as well underline in the original text and you will likely recall better as you look at your team.Typing May Make Us Less Able to Recall the very information we are just working with later, according to a study published in psychological science. Students at Princeton University Took Notes on a ted talk where half used laptops and the other half used a pen and paper. The laptop-asing group seemed to transfer the talk instalad of ingesting it (this was found via testing of both groups late Each group was tested on what they had alarned a week later and the findings revised Here are some effective note-taking techniques by experts.

Listen First, Write Later

Don’t be in a hurry to jot down whitever you are listening to. Don’T be that kid who rushes to write everything. In an interview with toi, Dr CP Rashmi, Associate Professor (Head of the Institute) Amity School of Communication at Amity University in Bangalore, Advised, “Pause first and concentrate on lustaining. Undrstand, and then Write Down Notes in Your Own Words.

Use the cornel method

Split the page (Paper or digital screen) into three sections. Dr rashmi suggested, “Make a narrow column on the left-hand side where you can jot down questions, prompts and keywords that will help you summarise your thoughts. Notes and the bottom section is where one will write a summary of the notes that would come in handy before exams. ” This structure of written notes not only helps one review the notes but also condenses the information. This system enables the 5 r’S of note-taking: Record, Reduce, Recite, Reflect and Review while the Process Helps Transform Raw Lectant Into Clear, Retained Knowledge.

Visualise Your Learning

Visual Thinking Helps in Memorising Content Better. Dr rashmi opined, “One can start with the main topic in the center of the page and then branch out into subtopics and ideas, connecting them like flow flows or grams. available apps for the same purpose. These people made sketches help you undersrstand, learn and see the bigger picture. “

Pen and Paper: Your Brain’s Best Friend

There’s something quietly powerful about the old-shop Pen and Notebook. Dr rashmi pointed out, “Writing on paper with a pen slows you down just enough enough to think about each word, giving your brain time to absorb ideas inste of letting them slide pass.”

Sketchnoting boots focus and visual memory retention (image: pexels)

Psychologists have found that written by hand activities are linked to memory, focus and even creativity. It is meditation for the brain as it calms the mind. While research shows the anxiety that digital media can cause after hours of scrolling, writing is almost meditative, your mind feels calmer. Dr rashmi said, “The act of holding a pen and written each letter can feel grounding, almost like Telling your brain,” This matters. Pay attention ”and that mental pause is often what turns information into lasting undersrstanding.”

Use mind maps

AIDS Like Mind Maps Can Turn Scatted Ideas Ideas Ideas Ideas Ideas Ideas Ideas Ideas Idea The Visual Networks. They give Away links and patterns that straight lists often hide. Dr. Sunita Gandhi, Educator, Researcher, Innovator, Author, Author and Founder of Global Education and Training Institute (GETI) and Dignity Education Vishan International (Devi Sansthan), Extating, “Restating and Better Still Making a Diagram or a Mind Map, or a flow chart or a graphic organiser, especially what you have live alarned in your own words after a lesson, makes you actively process the content, allPs Memory, and you may end up using it for revision.,

Make task cards

The one type of notetaking that is especially used is a task card. One side is a question or a topic, on the other are bullet points, formulae, or a graphic summarising the answers or the topic. Dr. Gandhi Asserted, “It is better still that they are on the front and back side of a notbook, or even on cards, an a4 sheet in half or Quarters. You can pick it up Evening for 10 Minutes, Read the Quration or Bee Reminded of a topic, you try to recall what might be on the back side, then turn over to see if you get it right. You may even attempt a full question in your rough nobook, then review if you get it right. Once you know you have masted a lesser, put itm in a new pouch like a ziplock bag, and revisit them lessen, say on only a month, or near an exam. “

Have conversations with to yourself

According to Dr. Gandhi, The Best Notes are the Dialogues With Yourself. They Capture Your Questions, Insights and even mothers of Doubt. This gives them life and personality, raather than leaveing ​​them as dry passive records.Thought there many more techniques, the golden rule that one should always is to review the notes within 24 hours. By revisiting the notes on the same day or the next day, you reinforce the memory whose information in your brain is still fresh. This process help in retaining the information for a longer period.Dr Rashmi Shared, “In My 20 Years of Teaching, I’ve Seen Students with Average Abilites Outshine Toppers, Simply because they kenew knew knew how to take and use their notes well. Good notes aren’t just an academic tool; They’re your personal library of undersrstanding. Whether you’re tapping on a Tablet or scribbling in a Diary, Remember: Note-Taking Isn Bollywood about storing words. It’s about making the knowledge truidge truly yours. “Good notes spark curiosity. They invite you to return, review and build on them. A Note that is Never revisited is a Missed Opportunity and WORSE, as it is loads of wasted time in making those notes in the first place. The simple act of written does not take it to long term memory. RE-Reading at Intervals, The Same Day, A Week Later, Before a Test, Strengthens Memory and Understanding. What matters is that your notes serve you. They help you connect ideas and deepen undersrstanding and that you keep revisiting and keep learning alive.