'Dr. K. Ganesh, my kindred spirit, stands testimony to this lovely practice...'

15 July 1996 | ‘Notes’ Book ✍

On Taking Down ‘Lecture Notes!’ 

#memoriesfromdiaries 💙

Today went to classes.

My friend Aravind took my ‘notes’ book along with him, after our classes got over.

Letter writing was yet another pastime, apart from Diary writing that we cultivated back then – in an age when the internet was not much in vogue.

I had to cycle all the way to the Head Post Office, to get my home-bound letter registered for Rupees 8/-, back in an age and clime when snail mail was the most preferred form of mail!

Quite interestingly, it was exactly on this very same month and year, (04 July 1996) that, Hotmail, founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, offered the first free web-based email service to users from across the world.

Launched quite ‘symbolically’ on 4th July 1996, the Independence Day of the USA, the launch symbolised the ‘freedom’ that Hotmail offered - the ability to access your inbox from literally anywhere in the world!

Something that was a real surprise and a revelation of sorts, back in those days!

Hotmail and its 85 lakh subscribers were sold to Microsoft in December 1997, and the company announced their refurbished email service as Windows Live Mail.

In February 2013, Microsoft officially shut down their Hotmail services, and ‘upgraded’ all its users to its Outlook platform.

Coming back,

Apollo Water Cans were quite popular back then! They were of a different size and mould altogether – those fifteen-litre water dispensers, white in colour, with narrow neck!

Expenses for 15 July 1996!

Lunch – Rs. 20/-

Tea & Biscuits – Rs. 4/-

Regn for Stamps – Rs. 8/-

Water Can – Rs. 16/-

Total expenses for the day – Rs. 48/-

Now, for some cues and clues for my dear students, on how to take down effective Lecture Notes!

Well, as we all know, taking notes helps you to pay attention - more especially to the key sign-post words and key sentences of the lecture.

That way, it’s also a beautiful way of avoiding distractions of any sort, ain’t it?

So now for the nuances of taking lecture notes –

Well, in the whole wide world, and in the world wide web, with an ever-present flow of information, that keeps increasing at such a rapid pace every other day, how on earth could a person possibly get knowledge and understanding in a coherent, graded manner?

The answer is - 

Yes... You've guessed it right!

Only by means of Lectures!

The Cambridge dictionary defines a Lecture as,

a formal talk on a serious subject given to a group of people, especially students.

Indeed, a lecturer prepares for hours and hours before classifying, analysing, evaluating and interpreting the content that they are going to present!

Furthermore, they also grade them in such a neat, balanced coherent order for presentation!

That’s one reason why it takes hours and hours of careful, intense preparation for a lecturer, before they deliver their ‘subject matter’ to their students!

And that's again the reason why the lecture that a lecturer delivers is usually so neatly structured, and graded in itself.

Something that we cannot possibly get anywhere from across the world wide web, which, at the most could give us information only in bits and pieces!

That’s the unique power contained within a good lecture, ain’t it!? 😍

College life is all about gaining information through such series of lectures over a series of semesters!

One reason why, we were taught to always carry a book and a pen in hand, whenever we sit for a lecture, be it on offline or online mode!

Would love to quote one particular example for all of us –

Dr. K. Ganesh, my kindred spirit, colleague and Professor of English, [Retd] stands testimony to this lovely practice. 

In the past two decades that I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him listen to a lecture, without a pen and book in hand!

The person giving the lecture might be junior to him by many years, but still, he will be there taking down notes - Copious notes! With such enthusiasm on him! 

[For a candid shot of one such passionate note-taking by Dr. K. Ganesh, you may want to look up a cute snapshot on this, our past post HERE!]

A principle that I’ve always admired in my kindred spirit!

A principle that I too vouch for! root for! stand for!

If every lecture is a new awakening for the mind, how on earth do we retain the information from a lecture for long?

Walter and Ross, in their book titled, How to Study in College have some beautiful nuggets for us –

Say they –

You can’t possibly hold on to a semester’s worth of information in the working memory of your brain.

Not even close.

What’s more, the things you keep in working memory evaporate, fast.

If you can’t quickly find a place to store them, they’ll be gone in a matter of minutes.

Perhaps forever.

Your primary storage areas will be your long-term memory and your notes!

Yes!

Your Notes...!

This not only helps you to stay focused throughout the lecture, but also helps you gear up with all excitement for the next lecture in the series!

With all humility, let me also confess that,

Back during my student days in College, if at all I was in a class, listening to a lecture, my pen would automatically, by default, hit the notebook, and quite fast-o-fast I would take down all the valuable information that the lecturer gives us.

On an added note, let me also add with some pride that, after I had finished on my college studies, and joined as a lecturer, one fine day, my past Professor (and guide) called me up to ask for my college Note Book, in which I had taken down all his lecture notes with us.

[Well, you see, I had so carefully preserved all my lecture notes during all his classes with us].

I quite faithfully and happily handed it over to my dear Sir. 

He is none other than my friend and guide, Dr. SF! 😍

So yes!

Your lecture notes are indeed such a great way of ‘storing a semester’s worth of information in the working memory of your brain’, ain’t it? 💛

Taken from Walter & Ross’s How to Study in College

Here goes - 👇

You can zero in on the upcoming lecture by marshaling the available information to provide a context for what the speaker will talk about.

Of course, lectures aren’t like textbook chapters; unless they’ve been written down or recorded already, you can’t survey them in advance.

Look Over the Syllabus

Assuming that your instructor is sticking to the syllabus, you should be able to read the list of lecture topics to get a big-picture sense of where this latest lecture will fi t in.

Pay especially close attention to the title and description of the previous lecture, the upcoming lecture, and the one that will follow.

Why is it helpful to prepare for an upcoming lecture by reviewing your notes from the previous lecture?

Review Your Notes from the Previous Lecture

Each lecture will normally build on the concepts from the lectures that came before it. 

Most instructors will assume that you attended, understood, and can remember the previous lecture. 

After all, time will rarely permit a rehash of ideas that have already been fully explained. Although the upcoming lecture will often have some ties to all the lectures that came before it, the bond will usually be strongest with the most recent one.

How do reading assignments relate to the upcoming lecture?

Do the Assigned Reading

Some instructors will assign readings as background for an upcoming lecture.

Others will give you readings designed to follow up on what you’ve just heard and learned in a lecture. 

In either case, surveying these readings can help provide advance organizers that will make it easier to understand and remember an upcoming lecture.

What is the Cornell System?

All of the methodical preparation you’ve done will be wasted if you just wing it when you start to take notes. Instead of taking a chance on a haphazard, seat of-the-pants method of taking notes, you need a proven note-taking system.

The Cornell System, which was developed at Cornell University almost fifty years ago, has been embraced by countless colleges and universities in the United States and throughout the world.

It can be used for taking separate notes, for marking your textbook, and even for annotating electronic texts.

The system is flexible and far-reaching, but its secret is simple:

Wide margins on the outside and the bottom of the text area are the key.

In what sense are notes more valuable than a textbook?

The notes you jot down can become a handwritten textbook.

In fact, in many instances they are more practical, meaningful, and up-to-date than a textbook.

If you keep your notes neat, complete, and well organized, they will serve you splendidly.

What are the principal components of Cornell-style note paper?

Although Cornell-style paper can sometimes be difficult to find at school or office supply stores, you can easily use a pen and ruler to adapt standard loose-leaf paper to the task.

First, draw a vertical line down the left side of each page two-and-one-half inches from the edge of the paper; end the line two inches from the bottom of the sheet.

This creates the cue column.

Next, draw a horizontal line two inches from the bottom of the page.

This is the border for your summary area.

The large space to the right of the cue column and above the summary area is where you write your notes. The illustration here on this post, shows a Cornell note sheet.

What are the cue column and summary area used for?

As you’re taking notes, the cue column should remain empty, as should the summary  area. 

But when the time comes to review and recite what you’ve jotted down, you’ll use the cue column for questions to help clarify meanings, reveal relationships, establish continuity, and strengthen memory.

The summary area will be used to distill a page’s worth of notes down to a sentence or two.

Sentences.  Take key ideas from a lecture or reading and jot them down in your own words. 

Write telegraphically, leaving out articles such as a, an, and the, and abbreviating words you use often.

And here’s wishing you the best on your note-taking for your Lectures! 🤝🏻

Image and Cornell Note Sheet courtesy: How to Study in College, by Walter Pauk & Ross Owens, Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 2011, Tenth Edition.

Now for the Lecture Notes Challenge – 🏆

And this is only for past students: 😍

If you have taken down notes from (any of) your Professor’s Lectures in College, in a sequenced form, (a minimum of 15 lectures from the same lecturer) in your College Note Books, for an entire semester’s duration, you need to just present them to me, and get awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- right away! 💰🎁