Free template
Lecture notes template
Study notes by topic, the key concepts, the definitions, the examples used, the deadlines and the questions to review, in the order you revise from.
Free, no sign-up. The Markdown file also imports into Notion.
When to use it
Use it for a lecture, a seminar, a class or a training session you will need to revise from later. Write the study notes during the session, then spend five minutes after it filling in the concepts, definitions and review questions while the lecture is still fresh. That second pass is where most of the learning happens.
What goes in each section
- Overview. Two or three sentences: what the lecture covered and how it fits the course. Write it last.
- Study notes. One row per topic, in the order it was taught, with the time in the recording so you can go back and listen to the explanation again.
- Key concepts. The ideas the rest of the lecture depends on, each in one sentence you could say out loud in an exam.
- Definitions and terms. Every term the lecturer defined, in plain words. Copy a definition exactly only when the course expects the exact wording.
- Examples. The examples, cases or worked problems used to explain an idea. They are often what makes a concept stick.
- Assignments and deadlines. Only what the lecturer actually set, with the deadline in the words they used. Check it against the course page.
- Questions to review. Questions left unanswered, points the lecturer said would come later, and anything you were told to read up on or practise.
A filled example
An invented lecture, to show the level of detail that works.
Lecture notes
- Course
- Introduction to Cell Biology (example)
- Lecture
- Lecture 7: How substances cross the cell membrane
- Date
- Tuesday 16 September
- Lecturer
- Amara
- Recording
- 52 min, with the lecturer's permission
Overview
How the cell membrane controls what enters and leaves the cell. The lecture moved from the structure of the phospholipid bilayer to passive transport, osmosis, active transport with the sodium-potassium pump, and a short look at bulk transport, ending with the problem set and the reading for Thursday.
Study notes
| Time | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 02:10 | The membrane as a selective barrier | A phospholipid bilayer: hydrophilic heads face the water on both sides, hydrophobic tails face each other inside. Small non-polar molecules such as oxygen and carbon dioxide cross it freely; ions and larger polar molecules such as glucose do not. |
| 11:45 | Passive transport | Movement down a concentration gradient, from high to low, with no energy spent by the cell. Facilitated diffusion uses channel and carrier proteins for what cannot cross the bilayer alone; still passive. |
| 22:30 | Osmosis and tonicity | Water moves across the membrane towards the side with the higher solute concentration. Hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic describe a solution relative to the inside of the cell. |
| 34:05 | Active transport | Moves substances against their gradient and needs energy, usually from ATP. The sodium-potassium pump moves 3 sodium ions out and 2 potassium ions in for each ATP used. |
| 44:20 | Bulk transport | Endocytosis brings large particles in by folding the membrane around them; exocytosis releases them the other way. |
Key concepts
- Passive transport follows the concentration gradient and costs the cell no energy; active transport works against it and does.
- Membrane proteins decide what gets through beyond the few molecules that diffuse freely.
- Osmosis is diffusion of water, so tonicity predicts whether a cell swells or shrinks.
Definitions and terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Selectively permeable | Lets some substances cross and not others. |
| Diffusion | Net movement of particles from higher to lower concentration. |
| Facilitated diffusion | Diffusion through a channel or carrier protein. |
| Osmosis | Diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane. |
| Active transport | Movement against a concentration gradient, using energy. |
Examples
- A red blood cell in pure water swells and can burst; in very salty water it shrinks.
- Oxygen diffusing from the air in the lungs into the blood.
- Nerve cells relying on the sodium-potassium pump to stay ready to fire.
Assignments and deadlines
| What | Due, as stated |
|---|---|
| Problem set 3, questions 1 to 8 | Next Friday, before the 9 o’clock lecture |
| Read section 7.3 on bulk transport | Before Thursday’s lab |
Questions to review
- A student asked why the pump moves three sodium ions for every two potassium; the lecturer said it comes back in the nerve signalling lecture.
- Why a plant cell does not burst in a hypotonic solution: to be covered in Thursday’s lab.
- Practise predicting what happens to a cell in each type of solution, as suggested at the end.
Use it in Word, Google Docs or Notion
The Word file opens in Microsoft Word, Pages and Google Docs, with the section headings set as real headings, so they appear in the document outline. To use the template in Notion, download the Markdown file, choose Import in Notion’s sidebar, pick Text & Markdown and select the file.
Let the recording fill it in
Record the lecture with EchoPilot and, when it recognises a lecture, it writes these sections for you: the overview, study notes with the moment each topic was taught, key concepts, definitions and terms, examples, assignments and deadlines when the lecturer sets any, and questions to review. Each assignment becomes a study task you approve into your task app, with a reminder when a due date was given.
See how it works for lectures and classes, or ask a lecture a question and hear the moment the answer came from.
More templates
- Meeting minutes templates: Board, project, one-on-one, client, standup and informal meetings, each with a filled example.
Your next meeting can end with the work already drafted.
Install EchoPilot on the phone or the computer you already work on, record the next conversation you would otherwise try to remember, and read the minutes, the transcript and the drafted actions it gives you back.
Questions? support@echopilotapp.com