# How to Review Lecture Notes After Class > Review lecture notes after class with a clear routine: check gaps against course sources, recall the main ideas, and choose what to practice next. - Canonical page: https://brainden.app/blog/how-to-review-lecture-notes-after-class - Published: 2026-10-13 - Author: BrainDen Team - Category: Lecture Notes - Reading time: 9 min read To review lecture notes after class, first check that your notes represent the lecture accurately. Then hide them and explain the main ideas from memory. Compare your answer with the notes, correct the exact gaps, and choose a small practice task for the next session. Keep the original slides, readings, or recording available when you need to verify a detail. This is a review routine, not a request to rewrite the whole lecture. A useful first pass can be short. Its purpose is to turn a record of class into questions you can answer and sources you can find again. ## What should an after-class review accomplish? Lecture notes often contain incomplete phrases, copied diagrams, examples without labels, and questions you meant to ask. Those are normal traces of listening and writing at the same time. Review gives each trace a job. By the end of one session, you should know: - which ideas the lecture tried to teach - which details you checked against a course source - what you can explain without looking - which question or problem still needs work - where you will return for the next review The [University of Toronto Scarborough's guidance on reviewing after a lecture](https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/learningstrategies/reviewing-after-lecture) recommends consolidating notes with readings and using active methods. It lists summaries in your own words, examples, questions, diagrams, and connections across lectures. That is a better goal than producing a prettier copy of the same pages. ## When should you review lecture notes? Review while the lecture is still familiar enough to identify what your shorthand meant. Toronto suggests reviewing within one or two days. [Rutgers Learning Centers](https://learningcenters.rutgers.edu/resources/using-class-notes-effectively) describes revisiting notes after a pause of an hour to a day. These are useful guides, not a deadline that makes a later review worthless. If you have only five minutes today, identify the central idea and mark uncertain details. Finish the recall and source checks when you have more time. If several lectures have passed, start with the most recent one and work backward by topic. Do not spend the entire session copying old notes into a new format. ## A practical way to review lecture notes after class ### 1. Name the lecture's learning target Look at the lecture title, the syllabus, and any stated learning objectives. Write one sentence that says what you should be able to do. Use an action you can test, such as explain, compare, solve, or apply. For example, `Understand market structures` is too broad for one review. `Compare how two market structures affect a firm's choices` gives you a task. If the lecturer did not state an objective, write your best provisional version and check it against the course materials later. This step stops a long note from becoming one undifferentiated block. It also gives you a way to decide which details deserve attention. ### 2. Scan once and mark only real gaps Read the note from start to finish without polishing each sentence. Mark places where missing information would change your understanding: - an abbreviation you cannot expand - a formula without units or conditions - a diagram with an unlabeled arrow - a claim that conflicts with an assigned reading - an example without the rule it illustrates - a question that the lecturer left open Use a simple marker such as `CHECK`, `ASK`, or `EXAMPLE`. Avoid highlighting whole paragraphs. A mark should tell you what action to take when you return. Separate a messy sentence from a missing concept. You can tidy the sentence quickly. A missing concept needs a source check or a question for a tutor or lecturer. Guessing at the answer makes the note look complete while the gap remains. ### 3. Repair the note with the original source Use the lecturer's slides, assigned reading, worked example, or permitted recording to resolve each important mark. Add the missing information beside the original point and identify its source. You do not need formal references for every line. A short locator often works: ```text CHECK: condition on this formula, slide 18 EXAMPLE: tutorial 4, question 2 ASK: why does this exception apply here? ``` Keep your own lecture note and the source distinct. The note records your understanding. The source lets you verify it. When they disagree, write down the disagreement rather than silently replacing one with the other. If you used an automatic transcript or summary, check technical terms, names, numbers, formulas, and causal claims. An orderly summary can still contain an error. Our guide to [recording lectures and turning them into study notes](/blog/how-to-record-lectures-and-turn-them-into-study-notes) covers the capture and verification stage in more detail. This article starts after the note exists. ### 4. Close the note and retrieve the main ideas Now cover the page or close the file. Answer the learning target without looking. Speak the explanation, draw a process, write a short outline, or solve a problem. Choose the form that resembles the work your course requires. Start with two or three prompts: 1. What was the main claim or process? 2. How does the key example show it? 3. What would change in a new case? Do not expect a perfect answer on the first attempt. The attempt shows you which parts are available from memory. Research on retrieval practice, summarized by [Roediger and Karpicke](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26151629/), supports testing memory as a learning activity. Your aim here is to find a specific gap and correct it. ### 5. Compare your answer and label the gap Open the note and compare it with your attempt. Mark the smallest difference that matters. `I forgot step three` is more useful than `I need to study everything`. Use three labels if they help: - **Missing:** You did not recall an important idea. - **Unclear:** You recalled words but could not explain the relationship. - **Incorrect:** Your answer conflicts with the checked source. Correct the attempt in your own words. Then try the same question again without looking. If the answer still fails, reduce the task. Explain one step before you try the whole process. ### 6. Make one practice task from the gap Match the practice to the problem. A term you forgot may need a flashcard. A process you cannot explain may need a blank diagram. A concept you can define but cannot use may need an unfamiliar example or practice problem. Do not turn every line into a card. A few useful questions can expose gaps that copied definitions hide. [Rutgers Learning Centers](https://learningcenters.rutgers.edu/resources/using-class-notes-effectively) suggests making practice problems or scenarios from class notes, rather than relying on repeated reading. For a small set of questions, keep each answer traceable to the checked note. If an automatically generated question seems wrong or outside the course scope, edit or remove it before studying. ### 7. Connect this lecture to the course Ask what this lecture builds on. It might define a term used last week, challenge an earlier model, or prepare a method for the next lab. Add one specific connection: ```text This week's model uses the assumption from Week 2. Compare the exception with the case in Tutorial 3. This diagram explains the result from the previous lecture. ``` A link should state the relationship, not merely point to another file. BrainDen's [linked notes and backlinks feature](/features/linked-notes) supports connections between related notes. Use links when a future review would benefit from moving between those ideas. Keep the original course folder structure clear, so a link adds context rather than becoming your only way to find a note. ### 8. Leave a clear next action End with a short instruction for your next session. For example, `Redo the graph without looking`, `Ask about the missing condition`, or `Compare Week 3 and Week 5 examples`. Put the note back in its course location and keep the source locator. The next review should begin with the question, not another full reread. If you answer it correctly, try an application or return to it later. If you cannot, check the source and narrow the gap again. ## Worked example: a history lecture with incomplete notes Imagine a lecture about how a historian uses a source to support an argument. Your notes say: ```text Main claim: a source can support several readings Example: local newspaper article Problem: who wrote it? audience? Compare with last week's document ``` These fragments are useful, but they are not yet a review task. First, write a provisional learning target: `Explain how an author's purpose and audience affect the use of a historical source.` Check that wording against the lecture objectives. Next, mark what needs evidence. Which newspaper article did the lecturer show? Where does the course reading discuss the source's audience? Add a page or slide locator. Do not invent the author or audience from memory. Then hide the note and answer this question: `What would I need to know before using this article as evidence?` Compare your answer with the checked course material. Perhaps you remember the author and date but overlook the intended audience. Label that gap `Unclear: audience changes interpretation`. Your next practice task could be one unfamiliar source description. Write two possible interpretations and one question you would ask before choosing between them. Link this lecture to last week's document only when you can state the useful comparison. The session ends with a concrete task rather than a polished transcript. ## What if you have many lectures to review? Do not create one giant replacement note. Group lectures by course topic, keep each original note, and choose a learning target that spans two or three sessions. Review the connected ideas together, then test a question that needs more than one lecture. BrainDen's [read multiple notes feature](/features/read-multiple-notes) lets you read selected notes in one continuous view while retaining the separate originals. The guide to [combining lecture notes for exam revision](/blog/how-to-combine-lecture-notes-for-exam-revision) explains a broader exam review workflow. Use that when the task shifts from reviewing today's class to preparing a whole unit. If the backlog feels large, prioritize lectures with upcoming assignments, unresolved questions, or topics that support later classes. One checked note with a clear practice question is more useful than several reformatted notes that you have not tested. ## A short checklist for the next lecture Use this checklist after class: 1. State one learning target. 2. Mark missing or uncertain details. 3. Check important details against the course source. 4. Close the note and answer two or three questions. 5. Correct the exact gaps. 6. Make one useful practice task. 7. Connect one related lecture and leave a next action. You can do the first three steps quickly and finish the rest later. What matters is that the note becomes something you can explain, check, and use again. If you want to test a checked lecture note, try BrainDen's [lecture notes to quiz tool](/tools/lecture-notes-to-quiz). Review each question against your course source, then use the results to choose your next study task. ## Use BrainDen Apply this workflow to your own material in the [BrainDen web app](https://learn.brainden.app), or install BrainDen for [iPhone and iPad](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/brainden-ai-study-companion/id6757434859) or [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brainden.app).