You'll be required to take your own notes in class - professors will give away handouts from time to time but this does not give you an open pass to avoid taking notes. It can seem insurmountable since he speaks for over an hour per class. Use these tips to help you take good notes in class so that you'll have helpful notes from which to study.

Maintain your notes in an organized way. Every time you have a class where you're expected to take notes, immediately put the date and the class name at the top of your page. This is the key to keeping your class notes in order once you're back in your room.

Put a heading at the top different section or theme. You will be introduced to new knowledge in both themes and topics by the professor. This will greatly assist your note taking efforts. Try using a red marker to record the title of each new topic, setting it out from the rest of your notes. This way you will be able to find each new theme or title in your class notes.

Write briefly and in short words, as in point format. You should attempt to only write down the most important part of what the teacher is saying. For example: Instead of writing the entire sentence "Factories contribute to pollution in the environment" try "Factories = environmental pollution".

The bullet is how you begin a point-format note. Also a dash serves the same purpose. Just write the most important words needed to keep your professor's ideas understandable. Some words like "the, is, and" can be omitted for the purpose of taking notes in class. Don't spend too long recording the idea and missing other important things that your professor has gone on to say.

Make use of the diagrams. If your professor uses an illustration to explain a concept, you should capture it in your notes. It can be less difficult to capture an idea in a picture than to articulate it in words. This is bound to save you some time. Sometimes a chart can be helpful for taking notes in class. Use a 'T' chart by drawing a line down the middle of your page and titling each side 'PROs' and 'CONs'. Having information presented to you in this unique way instead of using point-form notes, will increase your retention of the materials. Other pictorial diagrams like arrows or charts to show different concepts are also great techniques to use.

Tiffany Provost writes about marketing and other business tips for www.HowToDoThings.com.