NOTE-MAKING FORM LECTURES –

THE LECTURE
Introduction

In this lecture I am going to look at active and passive learning, why

we make notes and why universities utilize lectures. I will try focusing on what to do
before, during and after a lecture.

Active versus passive learning

Passive learning is where we take no responsibility for, nor any active
part in, our own learning processes. We may neither know nor care how a programme has
been put together, what to do to gain the most from that programme, or what our own
reasons for taking the course were. We stay on the surface of the course rather than
probing beneath – and ultimately we remain un-changed by what we see, hear and do.
Active learning is where we not only make conscious our own reasons for undertaking a course,
we also attempt to determine how the course has been put together and why. When encountering
new ideas or other information we strive to understand their significance – what it means, what it
tells us and what else we will have to discover. In this process we are taking as a starting point a
definition of learning that argues that true learning must be witting and conscious and it must
bring about a permanent change in the learner.
 WHY MAKE NOTES?
We not only make notes to record key pieces of information, we make notes as part of
our own active-engagement with that information. Our notes become the arena wherein
we work to select and then understand data. Notes are our record of important
information. Notes become source material for our discussions and for our writing.
 WHY LECTURES?
The lecturing system in universities has been criticized for promoting passive learning
in students. The notes may hit the page without actually passing through the brain of
the students. Since Socrates there has been a tradition of the student engaging with the
words of the wise person.
And in Britain since mediaeval times, when manuscripts were rare and expensive
commodities and as such not available to the majority of students, there has been a
lecturing tradition. In the modern British university, the lecture is supposed to give
students access to the work of a researcher.
Make a note of key topic areas and, hence, information that you will need to
research further.
 PRACTICING IT – THE NEXT STEP
It is useful to now give students at least ten minutes revise their notes – possibly in
pairs. Move around the room and encourage students as they work. Think about giving
students a handout of a key word version of this lecture or you could draw a copy of the
notes on the board.
When you first engage with a topic everything is new and potentially disorientating.
But after a while you will start to recognize the information, and the names and dates
that are being mentioned.
 AFTER A LECTURE – DO SOMETHING!
Revise: Tony Buzan argues that unless we do something we will forget 98% of what we have
heard in just 3 weeks! Remember you do not need to panic about forgetting the significance of
these.

Tip: Use the revision cycle.

• Always treat the lecture notes as a first or rough draft.
• Spend 10 minutes doing a shorter, more dynamic version of your notes.
• Spend 2 minutes actively redrawing your notes and plugging the gaps.
• Repeat this process a week, a month and six months later. In this way you will be actively
transferring information from your short to your long-term memory.
 DISCUSS
Another simple and really effective active learning technique is to discuss the lecture with
someone else, maybe comparing your notes at the same time. Talking about your learning is the
simplest and most enjoyable way of promoting understanding and actively revising material.
Further knowing that you intend to do this can reduce the stress of a lecture. Typically the lecture
is supposed to seed student thinking and student research on the lecture topic.
 HOW TO MAKE NOTES
Before
Students should prepare by exploring the aims, learning outcomes and overall
syllabus of the programme. They should examine the assignment in detail and pause to think –
how does this lecture fit into all this? Before the lecture the student should recall the programme
as a whole and then brainstorm.

During the Lecture

After active preparation, you should remain actively in tune with the lecture. Listen
for new ideas and information. Select key points and write them down as briefly as possible.
Encourage students to move around the room and see what notes other people have made and to
see what sort of devices they would like to adopt in their on practice.
 PRACTICING IT FURTHER
• Encourage students to make key word pattern notes of television and radio
programmes or to visit lectures that are not vital to their success.
• Encourage students to make pattern notes of all your lectures.
• Prepare one-page pattern notes of your lectures which you can hand out in advance.
• Vary this by giving out your notes after rather than before the lecture.