Take Lecture Notes in Your Economics Class

The best way to be ready for your economics exams is to take good notes of your economics lectures and your readings. This article focuses on lectures. If you follow the dos and don'ts in this article you will be well on your way to understanding the class material and having a great set of notes to study from!..

 

 

 

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Take Lecture Notes in Your Economics Class

Here's How:

1. Make your notes concise.
   • Write in point form
   • Use abbreviations and symbols
   
   
2. Put most notes in your own words.
   
3. Make lists and use bullets.
   
4. Use visual clues to help you identify important ideas
   • Underline
   • Circle words
5. Follow an outline from the instructor or textbook readings.
   
6. Listen and watch for any clues your instructor gives you. These might be:
   • Material written on the blackboard.
   • Repetition
   • Emphasis
   • Summaries given at the end of class.
   • Reviews given at the beginning of class.
   
   
7. Leave lots of white space.
   
8. Leave room for lists of key terms, abbreviations, questions, and ideas in the margins.
   
9. Date your notes.
   
10. Number the pages.
    

Tips:

1. Don'ts:
   1. Rely on other students notes.
   2. Rely on a recording of the lesson.
   3. Think that you do not need to write it down - even if you understand it you might not remember it!
   4. Do not try to be a human tape recorder! Do not write down everything. Write down the main points and ideas.
   5. Do not change short forms or abbreviations - be consistent!
   6. Have distractions around. Put away the campus newspaper, your Sudoku puzzle, your cell phone, and anything else that might distract you from the lecture.