The Problem With Notes
You attend the lecture, write pages of notes, and then close the file until exam week. When you open it again, everything looks familiar, but you cannot remember it. The notes became a record, not a tool.
The fix is simple: turn notes into things you can test yourself on. This takes about 30 minutes per lecture. Do it within a day or two of the class and you will already have done a lot of revision.
The 30-Minute Method at a Glance
Here is each step in detail.
Step 1: Mark the Key Points (10 Minutes)
Read your notes once with a pen, not a highlighter. Your job is to mark five types of content:
- Definitions. Terms the lecturer defined.
- Lists and steps. For example, "four causes of inflation" or "stages of the process".
- Formulas and rules. With what each symbol means.
- Comparisons. Differences between two ideas, such as simple versus compound interest.
- Examples the lecturer stressed. If it was repeated or written on the board, it matters.
Put a question mark next to anything unclear. Those are the points to ask about, or check in the handout or textbook.
Step 2: Write Questions From the Notes (15 Minutes)
For each marked point, write a question. Use different question types so you are not only recalling definitions:
- What is...? for definitions.
- List the... for steps and categories.
- Differentiate between... and... for comparisons.
- Why...? and How...? for processes and reasons.
- Calculate... for formulas, with a number you made up.
- Pull out the definition: what is demand?
- Pull out the rule: what does the law of demand state?
- Create an application question: if the price of garri rises and other things stay equal, what happens to quantity demanded?
Notice how one short note produced three questions that test definition, rule and application. Do this across your whole lecture and you will have 8 to 15 questions.
Write them on flashcards, or on one side of a page with the answers hidden on the other. If you prefer to use an app, you can upload notes to a study tool such as EliteScholars and generate questions from them, then edit what it produces so that it matches your lecturer's wording.
Step 3: Build a One-Page Summary (5 Minutes)
Create one page with the lecture's skeleton: the title, three to five main headings, the key definitions in short form, and any formulas. This is your quick-review sheet.
A good summary page has:
- A heading for each main idea.
- Short phrases, not sentences.
- A small box for formulas.
- A list of the questions you got wrong most often. This will grow as you test yourself.
Step 4: Test Yourself the Next Day
The pack is only useful when you use it. The next day, answer your questions without looking. Put an X next to any you miss. Re-test the missed ones two days later, and again a week later.
- Same dayMake the pack
- Next dayTest all questions
- 3 days laterTest missed questions only
- 1 week laterTest again and add new lectures
- Before examsMix all lecture packs together for full-course practice
By exam week you will have tested yourself on each topic several times, which is far more effective than reading everything once more.
Handling Messy Notes and Missed Lectures
- Messy notes: Rewrite only the confusing parts, not the whole page. Then write questions from those parts.
- Missed lectures: Borrow notes from a serious coursemate, then do the same method. Mark anything you cannot follow and ask.
- Slides and handouts: Do not treat them as notes. They are material for questions, so mark the key slides and write questions from them.
- Calculation courses: Make question cards with a problem on the front and the worked solution on the back. Try to solve the problem from scratch before flipping.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Making questions so long that they cannot be answered quickly.
- Copying the note text word for word onto the card. Put the answer in your own short words.
- Doing it all in one night before the exam. The method works best when spread over weeks.
- Ignoring what your lecturer emphasised. Check past questions to see how that lecturer asks.
What to Do Today
- Pick one lecture's notes from this week
- Mark definitions and lists with a pen
- Write at least eight questions from them
- Create a one-page summary
- Put a reminder to test yourself tomorrow