Beyond note-taking, It is highly recommended to get to know your professor and/or instructor. Without properly interacting with your instructor, you are just a number. By going to their office hours, they associate your face with your name. Marking/Grading can be very personal or very cold. If you get to know your instructor, it illustrates your effort as well. ALWAYS MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION.
Although in some cases, writing everything down the instructor has written down is important, but it can also be overkill. Ultimately, it is important to listen more than you are writing down to properly distinguish what is important and not important. It is also very important that you try to put information in your own words too, for these are YOUR notes for YOUR success.
In many cases, taking notes usually means, blindly writing everything down and not listening to the lecture or discussion. It means a race for who can write the notes first. Unfortunately, notes are to help you remember the lecture or discussion, not remember who can copy the notes the fastest.
The safest STRATEGY is to focus on understanding what is being discussed. Be an active listener. If you have a question about the notes, ask. If you are too shy to ask in class, put a big question mark (?) in your notes and ask after class or during an instructor's office hours.
Don't stop if you do not understand. If you have a question or are confused during taking notes and don't want to ask during class, put a quick question mark on your notes and keep writing. You can address the question after class, during office hours, or via electronic mail.
