How to Take Engineering Notes
One of the main reasons students don’t do well on engineering exams is they are terrible at taking notes. We are not English majors, writing is typically not our thing. This means many STEM students struggle with that part of taking courses.
There are some basic things you can do though to create neat, organized notes that you can actually learn from!
Lose the Devices
First and foremost, turn off the devices! Phones and apps will distract you for sure. This is especially true if you have a monotone lecturer. Focus on writing, not scrolling. Trust me on this. If it’s impossible for you to quit looking at the phone, try out an app like Freedom that will help you stay off the phone.
Engineering Paper
For classes that need drawings/sketches always use engineering or graph paper. But that’s expensive you say. Well, yeah, but it’s cheaper than retaking the course, right?
Why engineering paper? Because it helps keep your drawings neat and it helps you to draw a more accurate sketch like the one presented during the lecture. Accuracy is key especially when you’re working problems with dimensions and lots of little details.
Pencils are Best
Use pencil when you’re in class. Otherwise you’ll have notes that look like a 4-year-old contributed to them.
You know it’s bound to happen. The instructor will write out an entire problem, get to the end, discover a mistake and have to start over. If the instructor starts over you have to start over too.
It’s going to be way less messy to just erase what needs to be corrected than to scribble out what’s wrong. If you don’t like pencil, get erasable pens and use those instead. If you really like using pens, here are the ones I like to use when lecturing.
Pay Attention to Order
Write from top to bottom on the paper and go in the same order as the instructor’s lecture. This may seem like common sense but I have seen so many students’ notes that have stuff all over the place. The pages are covered with arrows and there just isn’t any flow to it.
If your notes jump from topic to topic as you look at them it’s very hard for your brain to stay organized and focused.
Typically (I know this isn’t always the case because some profs are just terrible at lecturing), lectures are given in the order of equation derivation and then examples. Your notes should follow this pattern.
It makes sense to have your all the theorems covered in the beginning and then the applications follow. Going out of this order will only confuse you later because you won’t be 100% sure of what examples went with what theorems.
Don’t Write Everything
We all have had the profs that go off on brutally painful tangents that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. You definitely don’t want to include this stuff in your notes. You only want to include the material that is pertinent to material you need to learn.
This takes us to the point that you don’t have to write down everything said. If you do that, you’ll be writing the entire time but not really paying attention. I write down all the stuff I want students to know on the board. Most other instructors do the same.
So, if it’s on the board, you should write it down. Even if it seems useless to you at the time. Profs know the material coming up in the next few lectures. So if something doesn’t seem that useful at the time it might be needed later on. Write it down.
Examples in Your Engineering Notes are Key
Example problems are the key to survival in engineering courses!
Pay very close attention to all the examples done in class and make sure you write all the steps needed to solve the problem. Write down any assumptions made. If you don’t make note of the assumptions you’ll be lost when you review the notes later.
Get Clarification
Now invariably there will be times when you have absolutely no clue what the instructor is talking about. That’s ok though. We’ve all been there so you’re not alone in this struggle, believe me!
What you need to do in this case is just keep taking notes but write a question mark by the areas you’re clueless about. Then, after class, you can ask for more clarification or if you’re not shy, ask during the class to help out the other confused souls in the room. If you’ve got a question, I guarantee you at least 10-15% of the class has the exact same question. If the instructor rushes out after every class, then pay them a visit during office hours.
Rewrite Your Engineering Notes
You’ve finished class for the day so that’s all you need to do, right? Oh no, definitely not! Now is the perfect time to rewrite your notes and work back through all the examples and derivations covered. I know you think you’ll remember it all in a couple days but I promise you won’t. Do it the same day so you don’t forget the material. This repetition will help your memory retain the info.
This will also give you a neat, organized set of notes and it will help you figure out exactly where you need more clarification. Make sure you fill in all the details you may have missed during class by talking to other students or asking the prof for more info.
Overall…
Taking notes in engineering isn’t too bad. The key is to take them consistently and make sure they’re organized. If you leave class with an organized outline of notes then you’ll be set. You can clean them up later that night and create the perfect study material for your next exam. Plus, becoming a great note taker will help you become an engaged learner.
What suggestions do you have for taking great notes?
