How to Memorize Class Notes

2.1 • Class Notes

One question that’s frequently asked of me is, “What’s the easiest way for me to memorize class notes?” The question is difficult to answer because different people learn best in different ways. It also depends on what kind of material is being memorized (history, math, physics, charts of numbers, etc.).

One strategy I’ve used in the past is to type in an entire term’s worth of hand-written notes on the comptuer.

This is long but the process causes you to think about the material again, just as if you were in class the first time taking notes. You think even more if you have a chart or graphics and have to try to figure out how to put that into the computer!

Anyway, this strategy is kind of nice because you can relax… instead of going over a page again and again and being frustrated by not knowing it perfectly or having a clear method, here you just start at the beginning of your notes and type to the end. The plan is clear and it’s something that you can do because it’s mechanical and not trial-and-error.

Other strategies include using lots of colored markers to give each page of your notes a very memorable appearance, making an outline of the notes, etc. And then of course there’s the mnemonic techniques of using associations to memorize new terms and things.