Attending lectures and making effective notes are key to your success at university. Missing the odd lecture is not going to mean failure but regularly missing them will mean that you cannot participate in tutorials, seminars or practicals as effectively and this would be hugely detrimental to your learning. Many academics also use the lecture as an opportunity to give hints and tips about upcoming assessments.

This small resource also includes a page on effective note taking.

The purpose of a lecture

The purpose of a lecture is not to give you all the information you need to pass your module. Lectures are starting points for your own reading unless you want low marks. Lectures are used for a variety of reasons:

To give an overview of a subject, in which case you will need to use your reading to fill in the detail.
To cover an important detail, in which case you will need to use your reading to put it into context and get the bigger picture.
To cover a conceptual idea and give one or two examples of it in practice - you will need to use your reading to find more examples to ensure you have grasped the concept fully.

Whatever the purpose, you will need to be able to make effective notes.

Before the lecture

Sometimes a lecturer will give you reading to undertake before a lecture - check eBridge or your university email beforehand to make sure you are not missing out on important groundwork.

Most lecturers also put their PowerPoint slides on Canvas before the lecture - it is worth looking through them beforehand to familiarise yourself with the general concepts and see how it fits in with the module as a whole. This is particularly useful if you are an overseas student as it will give you a chance to familiarise yourself with any specialist vocabulary. Some students like to print these as handouts to take into the lecture so that they can annotate them with their own notes. (See Annotated PowerPoint printouts below.)

Even if you have not done the preparation, please still attend the lecture - by not attending you will miss out on two opportunities to learn rather than just one.

During the lecture

See the next page on effective note taking.

Asking questions

At the end of most lectures (and often during) the lecturer will ask if anyone has a question or if further clarification is needed.

Please do not hesitate to use this opportunity to ask a question about anything you did not understand - however dumb you feel. It is a cliché, but true, that the only dumb questions are the ones you didn't ask. You will be amazed how often there is a collective sigh of relief when someone asks the question that everyone was too afraid to ask!

Your lecturers are not scary and they are not judgemental, they are (usually) nice, friendly people! It is important that you develop a good relationship with them. Asking questions is a way to show you are genuinely interested in their subject and they will be happy to answer them.

If you are really too scared, make sure you at least ask other students or email the lecturer instead. If PASS is being used to support the module - make a note to ask about it at your next PASS session.

After the lecture

If you want to significantly increase the amount of lecture content that you remember, it is essential that you review your notes in some way within 24-48 hours of the lecture.

Ways that you can review notes are:

Summarise the information (see the section on the Cornell method above) into a single paragraph of text.
Create a 'best copy' of your notes, filling in any blanks and answering your own queries by referring to text books or web sources or going back over any audio recordings.
Creating mind-maps or concept-maps that show how the ideas relate to each other (some students find this is easier done after the lecture).

For the very best recall and understanding, you should revisit material about a week later too (immediately before the next lecture for instance). If you are lucky enough to have PASS in your department then make sure you attend your PASS session to deepen and cement your learning.

Seminars, tutorials, practicals and field work all give you opportunities to review the material too.

Finally, do something with your notes. Don't just leave them in the notepad, lurking on your laptop or clogging up your device memory. File paper notes into appropriate folders, print out notes from your computer and file them (or at least make sure they are in well labelled electronic folders) and send information from your devices to more permanent storage. Don't just neglect the notes and only think to look back at them when you are panicking about your revision.

Top Tips Printable Skills Guide

Single page printable guide on Lecture Notes - top tips for taking notes in lectures.

Click on the image to download the PDF.

Other resources

How to make better notes - video by Sandra Sinfield, co-author of Essential Study Skills.
Effective notemaking - comprehensive workbook by the University of Bradford, School of Management.
Learning Strategies - from Palgrave Study Skills
A periodic table of visualization: check out different visual ways to represent information.

Related books and eBooks in our university libraries:

The study skills handbook 4th edition by Stella Cottrell (lots of copies of the earlier edition also available).
Study Skills for Dummies - eBook by Doreen du Boulay
Has chapters on 'Learning Actively in Lectures, Seminars and Tutorials' and 'Taking Notes During Lectures' (also available as a standard book)