Learning from Lecture Notes - Part II - After Class

One aspect of college that many students do not consider is that they are responsible for their own learning. Particularly in a lecture class, you are gathering information during class but the actual learning happens individually after class.  So...what should you do?  How can you learn all the information you wrote down during class?

Here are some ideas:

• Read over your notes as soon as possible after class
• Make any corrections
• Be sure they are clear – if you cannot understand something now the chance of understanding later is slim
• Identify any questions
• Check in the textbook for any information you can add to your notes
• Begin to learn the information: 
• Chuck into logical topics
• Use recitation – read each section, then look away and repeat in your own words what you just read
• At least once a week, review all of the notes that will be on the next exam, again using chunking and recitation.

Next week Part III – How to extend and complete the learning process.