Lecture and interview notes from a recording
Good notes from a class or an interview are organised by topic, not by time. They keep the key terms, every question that was asked, and the answer that was given.
Good uses for topic notes
- Students: lectures, seminars and online classes you are allowed to record.
- Researchers: user interviews and research interviews, where every question and answer matters.
- Job seekers and hiring teams: interview practice or interviews recorded with consent.
- Anyone at a talk or training session who wants to review it later.
Always ask before you record. Many universities have rules on recording lectures, and in many places recording a conversation without consent is against the law.
Worked example: a lecture
This is an invented lecture. The speaker is made up. The economics in it is standard textbook material.
Example notes
Introduction to Behavioural Economics, week 3: loss aversion
Lecturer: Dr Alice Moreno · 50 minutes
Main ideas
1. Losses feel bigger than gains
- People feel the pain of losing 100 dollars more strongly than the pleasure of winning 100 dollars.
- In studies, a loss weighs roughly twice as much as a gain of the same size.
- This comes from prospect theory, by Kahneman and Tversky (1979).
2. The reference point decides what is a loss
- People judge outcomes as changes from where they start, not as final totals.
- A pay rise of 3% feels like a loss if you expected 5%.
3. Owning something makes it feel more valuable
- In the classic mug experiment, people who were given a mug asked about twice as much to sell it as others would pay to buy it.
- Free trials work partly because giving the product back feels like a loss.
Key terms
- Loss aversion: losses count more than gains of the same size.
- Reference point: the starting level that people compare an outcome with.
- Endowment effect: valuing something more once you own it.
- Framing: the same choice, described as a gain or as a loss, leads to different decisions.
Questions and answers
- Q (student): Does loss aversion apply to large companies too?
A: Yes, but less. Managers often avoid closing failing projects because it makes the loss real. The lecturer called this "throwing good money after bad". - Q (student): Is the "twice as much" figure exact?
A: No. It changes between studies and between people. Two is a common rough figure, not a law.
Review questions
- Why might a 3% pay rise feel like a loss?
- Explain the mug experiment in two sentences.
- Give one example of framing from your own life.
Interview notes
For a research or job interview, the questions and answers are the core. Keep every question in the order it was asked and write the answer under it, in the speaker's own words where it matters. Then group the main themes, and list any follow-up questions you still have.
Example, user interview extract
- Q: How do you plan your weekly food shopping now?
A: On paper, on the fridge. "My partner adds things, and I take a photo of it before I leave." - Q: What goes wrong most often?
A: Buying things they already have. About once a week, by their own guess.
Theme: the shared paper list works, but it is not with them in the shop.
Notes template
Copy this and fill in the parts in square brackets.
[Course or interview name], [session or date] [Speaker or interviewee], [length] MAIN IDEAS 1. [Topic] - [Point] - [Example given] 2. [Topic] - [Point] KEY TERMS - [Term]: [one-line meaning] - [Term]: [one-line meaning] QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - Q ([who asked]): [question] A: [answer given, or "not answered"] REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. [ ] 2. [ ] 3. [ ]
Study tips
- Group by topic, not by minute. Lecturers come back to the same idea several times. Put those parts together.
- Keep the examples. The example is often what you remember in an exam.
- Write key terms in your own words. One line each. If you cannot, you do not understand it yet.
- Keep questions from the room. Other students often ask what you were wondering too.
- Answer the review questions without looking, a day later and again a week later.
- Check technical words. Speech-to-text often gets names, formulas and specialist terms wrong.
Recording in Korean, notes in English
If a class is in Korean and you study in English, or the other way round, the tool can write the notes in the other language. Technical terms may not translate one to one, so check them against your course materials.
Notes from your own recording
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