The art of note-taking and how to excel academically

Note-taking is a way for students to learn and memorize what their professors are teaching them, but there is always room for improvement.

“My number one tip is to take notes by hand because you’re activating more of your brain. This helps get all of your neurons firing and engage the material more,” said Teresa Harrison, the academic coaching program coordinator in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Center for Academic Support and Advisement (CASA). “When you’re taking notes by hand, it’s almost impossible to write verbatim what the instructor is saying. It forces you to paraphrase and put it in your own words, which engages your mind.

“My second tip is to make sure that it’s an ongoing practice and not something that you do just haphazardly. It’s a practice just like anything else. You get better the more you do it, and also by doing it in multiple ways.”

Along with Harrison, the CASA instructors can help students through tutoring, supplemental instruction and academic coaching, and provide additional programs and services to promote student success.

“When you force yourself to use both tip methods, you’re going to retain the information better. It’s a sign that you’re actually learning the material,” Harrison explained. “Most studies say that you lose 50 to 80% of the material that you don’t revisit within 24 hours. So going back over your notes from a class that evening is ideal.

“One of my favorite techniques is called the retrieval method. After a lecture, a few hours later, you sit down and write out everything you remember off the top of your head and then go back and review those notes to fill in the blanks.”

To learn more about CASA, students can set up appointments to discuss the many services they offer. The center can be found in UTC Library Room 335.

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