What is the best way to take notes in a lecture?

The best method is whichever one stops you transcribing. Verbatim note-taking feels productive and is close to useless, because it requires no processing: words pass through you onto the page without being understood.

This is the mechanism behind the finding that handwritten notes often outperform typed ones. Handwriting is slower, so it forces selection and paraphrasing, and it is that compression that produces learning. Typing fast enough to transcribe removes the benefit. The implication is not that laptops are bad, it is that transcription is bad, and a laptop makes it easier.

Structured formats help by building processing into the act. One widely used approach divides the page, keeping a narrow left column for questions and cues, the main area for notes during the lecture, and a strip at the bottom for a summary written afterwards. The cue column then supports retrieval practice later, since you can cover the notes and answer from the cues.

Mind maps suit material where relationships matter more than sequence. Linear outlines suit material that is genuinely sequential. Matching the structure to the content is more useful than adopting one system universally.

What matters more than the format is what happens afterwards. Notes reviewed within a day, and converted into questions, retain far more value than notes filed untouched. Most of the benefit of note-taking is realised in that second pass, which is also the step most often skipped.

If the lecture is recorded or slides are provided, transcribing is especially wasteful. Use the time to note what is not on the slides: explanations, examples, emphasis and your own questions.