The slide already has the text. Your notes should capture what it leaves out. During class, add only the lecturer's explanations, examples, corrections, and connections. After class, make those quick marks clear enough to study from.
That choice matters beyond one lecture. It keeps you listening now and leaves you with notes that show how the ideas connect, not another copy of the screen. University guidance from Monash on annotating lecture slides and UNSW on effective note-taking follows the same prepare, capture, and review rhythm.
Prepare the PDF and choose five marks
If you receive the slides before class, make the file easy to use:
- Rename it with the course, topic, and date.
- Check that the pages are in the right order.
- Skim the headings, diagrams, and learning objectives.
- Mark unfamiliar terms lightly; do not try to learn the lecture in advance.
- Check that you can write in the margin or add a note page when a slide is crowded.
Choose a small annotation key before the lecture starts. Five marks are enough to begin:
L:— something the lecturer addedME:— your interpretation or connection?— something you still need to checkEX:— an example used in class→— a relationship, consequence, or next step
Use labels even if you also use colour. L: and ME: still make sense if you print the slides in grayscale or forget what a colour meant.
Capture what changes during class
Do not rewrite a sentence that is already visible. Listen for information that changes, explains, or extends it:
- a clearer definition
- the reason a process works
- a correction or qualification
- a worked example
- a comparison with an earlier topic
- an explanation of a diagram
- a source, author, or reading mentioned aloud
- a point the lecturer identifies as important
The aim is selective listening, not transcription. The UNSW note-taking guide recommends listening for main points, examples, verbal signposts, repetition, and visual cues instead of trying to record everything.
Keep each addition short. Write L: enzyme lowers activation barrier; it does not add energy instead of chasing the lecturer's full sentence.
Leave a useful gap when you miss something
When you miss a step, mark it and continue listening. Trying to reconstruct it immediately can make you miss the next point too.
Add ? and the smallest prompt that will help you return to the problem:
? why does pressure fall here? check sign in step 3? term sounded like “allosteric”? link to week 4
Leave space beside the prompt. Add the slide number and a keyword. If you are allowed to use a recording, add a timestamp instead.
Keep the lecturer's ideas separate from yours
Your future self should be able to distinguish three things:
- what the slide already said
- what the lecturer added
- what you inferred or connected yourself
For example:
L: this model assumes a closed systemME: similar assumption in last week's supply model? does the assumption still hold in an open economy
This distinction protects the quality of later work. It stops your interpretation from becoming a claim you accidentally attribute to the lecturer, and it shows which ideas still need an original source before you use them in an assignment.
Put diagram notes beside the exact feature
Label the arrow, stage, axis, or region that the explanation concerns. A nearby note is easier to understand later than a paragraph floating over the image.
You might add:
- a short label beside an unfamiliar component
- numbers showing the order of a process
- an arrow showing cause and effect
- a note explaining what changes between two panels
- a question attached to the step you do not understand
If the explanation will not fit, write ME: explain on next page and finish it after class.
Make the rough notes useful afterward
Quick notes are allowed to be incomplete. The important part is returning while you still remember the lecture.
Review adds value because it gives you a second chance to clarify, connect, and question what you captured. A meta-analysis of note-taking and note review found an overall positive effect for combining the two, although results varied across interventions. That supports reviewing your notes; it does not promise that one checklist will improve every student's grades.
Work through the PDF in order:
- Expand unclear shorthand. Turn
L: closed sysintoL: the model assumes a closed system, so outside inputs are excluded. - Resolve each question. Check the slide, assigned reading, or an official course resource. Keep
? unresolvedwhen you cannot verify an answer. - Add a short summary. State the main idea, what you should be able to explain, and what still needs work.
- Write two or three recall questions. Make yourself retrieve the idea without looking at the slide.
- Check ownership and source details. Record whether a point came from the slide, lecturer, assigned source, or your interpretation.
This cleanup has a wider payoff: it turns a record of the lecture into a map for revision. Your questions show what to revisit, while your labels show which explanations are evidence and which are your own working ideas.
Highlight only what you need to find again
Do not highlight whole paragraphs. When most of the slide is marked, colour stops showing what matters.
The Open University guide to highlighting and annotating recommends finding the main point first and warns that excessive highlighting can become distracting.
A simple system could be:
- Yellow: a term or definition already on the slide
- Orange: a lecturer clarification or correction
- Blue: a question or connection to another topic
Treat colour as an organising tool, not a memory formula. Before highlighting, ask: What will this help me find or do later? If you do not have an answer, leave the text unmarked.
See the method in a constructed example
Choose the input method that fits the material
Type, write with a stylus, or combine both:
- Type short explanations and text you may need to search.
- Write freehand arrows, labels, equations, and diagram changes.
- Use a text box for a clear note that you may need to move.
- Use a blank page when the slide cannot hold the explanation.
No single input method is best for every student or lecture. A systematic review and meta-analysis of note-taking methods found no performance difference between longhand and digital note-taking under controlled conditions. Choose the method that lets you listen, record the right information, and review it with little friction.
Your slides do not need to look finished when class ends. They need to preserve what changed, what mattered, and what remains unclear. Capture it during class; make it useful afterward.