How to Get The Most Out of Your Lectures in Large Classes

Students have to face various challenges, and working with a large amount of information is one of them. Are you in a lecture and the teacher is delivering information non-stop? Are you barely able to write down all the key details? Well, there are a couple of life hacks on how to manage everything and remember the material.

But before we begin, let us admit that it isn’t easy to concentrate on a lecture when you have urgent assignments waiting for you. To relieve the stress of upcoming deadlines, delegate your homework to experienced professionals. And while a skilled book report writer does everything to make your work stand out from the crowd, you can move on to no less urgent matters. For example, writing lecture notes and preparing for tests and exams.

  1. Write Fast

The easiest way to avoid missing anything is to increase the amount of material you write down. Here are effective methods to increase your writing speed:

  • Use generally accepted abbreviations: UN, IMF;
  • Write the beginning and end of a word;
  • Use mathematical symbols: “+” instead of the word “together”, “→” instead of “therefore”;
  • Use shorter and simpler words;
  • Skip vowels (but this method isn’t suitable for unfamiliar terms).

It will take time to master all these methods. But then recording lectures will be much easier.

  1. Highlight What’s Important

Taking notes word for word after the lecturer is difficult and pointless. You can skip introductory words, unnecessary listings and metaphors. But this rule is more applicable to the humanities. It doesn’t work with exact sciences, where there are a lot of formulas and terms.

By the way, if you don’t have all the notes you need to complete the homework, here’s a helpful strategy. By sending tasks to the best paper writing service, you can improve your academic performance. The authors have excellent expertise in many areas, so they use their skills to complete any task at the highest level. High grades and no anxiety sound great, right?

  1. Make Tables And Charts

Schematic images and tables not only help you write down information faster, but also structure it greatly.

You can also use the Cornell note-taking system. It is considered the most popular and effective. The sheet must be divided into 3 parts. Separate 2 inches from the bottom with a horizontal line. Divide the remaining part into 2 columns with a vertical line. The first is 2,5 inches wide, the rest goes to the second column.

In the upper left, you need to record the main points, theses and questions. In the upper right part, write down your notes concisely. The lower part is for conclusions and tasks.

  1. Rely On Various Styles

Multi-colored highlighters are indispensable assistants for students. Basically, you can navigate through the text much quicker by using different colors for highlighting. Plus, due to the change of tools, attention increases, and new words highlighted in color are remembered way better. Instead of highlighters, you can try different color pens and underlines.

Key points can be mentioned with exclamation marks. Of course, those who like to draw can make small schemes. For a lecture to be remembered well, it has to look catchy, not monotonous. The use of different styles in design helps you navigate the text better and faster.

Don’t write the entire text word for word – as a last resort, use a voice recorder for such purposes. It’s better to take notes thoughtfully, analyze the information, and write down only the main facts.

The lecturer’s speaking speed will always be higher than your writing. When taking notes, we shorten and paraphrase what we hear. Let your thoughts run free: save your ideas, questions, comments, and conclusions.

  1. Use Mnemonics

Associations are a fantastic tool for remembering even the most difficult concepts. Connect new unfamiliar terms from the lecture to something you already understand. For example, if you’re listening to a lecture on brain chemistry, try imagining dopamines as little coffee beans. Both of them keep you alert. The more vivid the images, the better complex concepts will be saved in your memory.

  1. Ask Questions

The main advantage of live lectures is the opportunity to communicate with the lecturer. Don’t hesitate to ask and note any unclear points, and be sure to write down the answers. In addition, this way, the professor will surely notice your interest in the subject.

How To Consolidate Knowledge?

Organizing your notes is half the battle. The recorded information still needs to be remembered. It’s no secret that most students put off preparing for tests and exams until the last minute. Therefore, the question is how to remember a large amount of information in a short time.

  1. Start studying in the morning. The body is well-rested and the mind isn’t filled with different thoughts and activities. Information will be remembered faster;
  2. Move from complex to simple. Or you can alternate complex and simple material;
  3. Eliminate all distractions. Turn off the sound on your phone, grab a bottle of water and make coffee in advance. Take a break of 15-30 minutes every 2 hours;
  4. Retell material out loud. In this way, different perception channels are involved, which increases the efficiency of memorization several times;
  5. Use spaced repetition. This is one of the most effective ways to remember information of any volume. Revise the parts you’ve learned in 3 approaches: 20 minutes after memorization, after 6-8 hours and a day later;
  6. Beginning and end rule. Material presented at the beginning and end of the session is remembered better than the one in the middle. Therefore, you need to highlight the most difficult or important parts in your notes and start memorizing them first or last.

To Wrap It Up

Perhaps the main secret to success when working with huge blocks of information is to eat an elephant in a series of small bites. A large topic must be divided into several blocks and repeated a little at a time.

We also can’t mention that sleep plays a big role in memorization. During sleep, the brain processes information received during the day, removes less important fragments and leaves the most crucial parts.

And the last piece of advice is to consolidate the acquired knowledge in practice. Take tests and online quizzes and organize study sessions where you and your classmates can check each other’s knowledge.

To ensure that new information isn’t forgotten after a week, consolidate it with spaced repetitions, practice and healthy sleep.