What would be a good workflow for taking notes when I'm taking a lecture?
Remembering the posts here about (collection, processing and writing) I think it might be a good approach to taking lecture notes.
My workflow at the moment is horrible and all over the place. So I'm starting with some organization first because normally at the end of the day I end up with so many things, that I can't even process the notes I took during my lecture.
At the moment the only thing I do is writing key ideas, connections that I find during the lecture, and I try to write in my own words what is being said. However of course, it isn't always possible and I need to find time later to process what I wrote without any extra process. After I process the notes I plan on making individual zettles enriching my Zettelkasten (I use The Archive).
What workflow would you suggest?
Thanks.
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Back at Uni, I liked the Cornell Method for maths very much because I would have space to write what the prof said and wrote and next to it have some reserved space for questions, pointers, short remarks (like "huh?!")
I apparently didn't scan these and worked with the paper notes as paper notes. Here's a good illustration: https://dylankyang.com/top-5-apps-get-your-study-on/cornell-method/ -- only I put the smaller "notes" column on the right. I hold my pencil with the right hand, and drawing a straight line is actually pretty easy when you "lock" your pencil hand at the appropriate distance, and then move the hand down the edge of the note pad, using your pinky as a guide. Be careful not to paper-cut your fingers!
For the less hectic lectures, I actually switched over to A4 blank pages in landscape format, and then more or less did what's now called "sketchnotes". The loose connections of things in sociology or philosophy seminars, the associations of Big Ideas,™️ made a more dream-like sketch a better fit all by itself.
Both approaches focus on capturing. Processing happens at home, or after the seminar/lecture. The Cornell Method leaves room at the bottom for summaries during review. Of course I was too lazy to do it immediately after the lecture most of the time and then would have to expend far more energy and brain power to understand and summarize days later ... ... ... Either way, some things are just engagement notes, good for review before a test or as a reference when working through problems, but some things actually were processed into Zettel.
Author at Zettelkasten.de • https://christiantietze.de/
Thank you @ctietze, I will try both approaches. I have more experience using sketch notes, the thing is that because of the arrows and connections sometimes I ended up not knowing what was the relationship between ideas, that’s why I guess it’s important to process them early.
I found that this is often a problem of the material.
When you take copious notes during math lectures, you end up writing your own text-book on mathematics, in a didactic way, starting at the axioms and getting to more and more complicated stuff. It's a well-structured process and thus can be replicated every semester.
Philosophy? Not so much beyond formal logic. Many loose associations. And when the prof says "... this is just like Rawls's core argument, by the way." -- that's a pointer, but it points to a HUGE body of knowledge that you don't yet have when you hear it, so you'd have to dig up the details, and then you end up spending months filling out everything you could ever want to know about Rawls, just because of a remark that took all of 5 seconds to utter.
My point is: in some studies, the things you can take note of are just associations of big black boxes that you have to pry open yourself, or ultimately discard, lest their being placeholders but not real knowledge weigh you down over time. "X is like Rawls's argument" sounds like an atomic thing to take note of, but it's not useful on it's own. It's a prompt for more research, and to look out for similarities between two topics (for selective reading, say).
Author at Zettelkasten.de • https://christiantietze.de/
Thank you for clarifying further.
I second what @ctietze said.
Cornell Notes changed the way I think about taking notes. The system is a workflow not a page layout.
I like that there is a focus on three categories of notes because it provides structure and discipline.
During a lecture I have time only to capture facts and some questions. A later review or two, is required for me to add more questions and finally provide a summary. No matter how many revisions these are still fleeting notes for me.
The divided paper was useful at first, now I have returned to blank pages. A blank page makes it easier to use more space when needed for sketches, code, equations, etc.
https://bytesizedworkbench.com
I've found that I'm really bad at figuring out connections (beyond the obvious or what is presented as part of the provided information) while listening to an explanation. So I stopped doing that and now just take flat one-liners and enjoy the show
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Once I'm out of the lecture (or presentation, or podcast, or book, or whatever) I'll process the oneliners into notes for my Zettelkasten. I'll usually start out with one big note containing the oneliners and split out new ideas and link existing ideas. From there it's part discipline in writing and creativity in linking.
This keeps working with new things fun for me, but of course it could be very different for you. YMMV.
@r1tger
As a survivor of 10 years of university, I support the comments about using the Cornell method of note-taking completely. @ctietze hit the nail on the head!
Even though it's been 40 years since I spent any time in a university class, I still use the Cornell method regularly - take notes that way, then later that day highlight some ideas, write questions and follow-up stuff in the margin, and then one or two ideas for zettels at the bottom of the page. Takes a bit of work, but well worth it.
Thank you! I will try to implement them with org-mode, see what happens!
Thank you! I'll try it! Do you have a link on how to use it?
@Jvet
I can only suggest a few from a Google or Duck Duck Go search:
Here's one that explains the sections and how to use them:
https://www.thoughtco.com/notes-with-the-cornell-note-system-4109052
or
https://medium.goodnotes.com/study-with-ease-the-best-way-to-take-notes-2749a3e8297b
This one from Cornell University talks about a course, but there are a couple of informative, short videos:
https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/taking-notes/cornell-note-taking-system/
Similarly to the advice you will get on starting up a Zettelkasten, I'd suggest just trying it out. The concept is simple but quite powerful.
Thanks
Looking at the link that @ctietze posted, I already sort of do this. My oneliners go in Notes, then later on the Summary are (kinda) the titles of the notes I create. I like the Que part, I'll sometimes add questions like that to my notes but I think it's valuable to make that more explicit. Thank you for pointing that out!