How to take notes during lecture properly? I am struggling with note taking during lectures for a long time. I find that if I only listen to the lecture I am able to understand the concepts properly. But the downside is that I often forget some important details. On the other hand, when I concentrate on taking notes, often I just end up writing a lot of things without paying much attention to the concepts. I have been trying to improve my note taking skills by watching video lectures from OCW or YouTube. My lecture notes look more like lecture transcripts. I pause and rewind the video and end up writing a lot. I can't figure out how to improve. I would really appreciate if anyone could have any suggestion.
PS. I take notes with pen and paper and I haven't tried note taking on a computer.
I answered a similar question at CSEducators a few years ago.
I agree that taking notes with pencil/pen and paper is superior to doing it by typing into a laptop (see the reference). But to be truly effective you need to do more than just take the notes. I suggest that you re-read and annotate them as soon as possible after a lecture, adding questions as well as notes/corrections. The second pass will help firm up the ideas. This is best done immediately, but certainly within a few hours if classes are taken back to back.
Another trick is to capture, from the notes, the most important ideas given in the lecture. The instructor will possibly point them out, but most of us would go in to a lecture wanting to especially make one or two points. It is good if you capture them.
But a single pass over anything is unlikely to lead to deep learning. And utilizing the information (exercises) is even better for firming up the ideas.
As to taking transcripts of video lectures, the same can apply. When you finish such a video, re-read and annotate the notes, marking or extracting the key ideas and making sure you understand what is being presented.
For situations in which you have access to the lecturer, write out any questions you still have and try to ask them at the start of the next lecture, or using some other communication channel.

There is a joke that the &quot;purpose&quot; of a lecture is to get the teacher's notes into the student's notes without going through the mind of either. Don't let that become a reality.
I once took a &quot;course&quot; in which that was literally true. Two of us had an independent study with a professor who gave us the task of literally copying his written notes (no lectures) but gave no real opportunity for questions, exercises or feedback. It was among my worst educational experiences ever.

Also note that learning requires reinforcement. The review of the notes, with annotations, provides the start of that. See The Art of Changing the Brain by James E Zull for some of the science behind that. A search of this site for &quot;Zull&quot; will turn up some further mentions of these ideas.