Take effective notes during class. Actively listen to lectures and write notes down, making sure to emphasize anything the instructor says is important. Jot down questions that come to mind during the lecture that relate to the material.
Attend the test review if there is one and take notes. Review these notes and decide what information you think will be on the exam. If your instructor provides a study guide, use the study guide as guidance for what to include on the notecard.
Read over your notes and try to identify what the key points or common themes are. Properly written exams should test students on specific learning objectives that were in the curriculum. Try to decipher what the objectives of the lectures or sections might be and what questions you should expect to test these objectives.
Write in small but legible print. Consider using abbreviations for common words you know, as long as you are familiar with the abbreviated word. You can even type the information on a computer and shrink the font, print it out and glue it to a notecard (unless your instructor has specified the notecard be handwritten).
Copy equations, formulas or other numerical information onto your notecard. These data are often on exams and can be difficult to recall from memory, and even more difficult to guess correctly. Often instructors expect that you have these on your notecard, and will include questions on the exam where you will have to apply the equation or formula to a situation or data set.
Write vocabulary and definitions on the notecard. Textbooks often put vocabulary in bold and these definitions will likely be on tests. You can also check the chapter summary section and look for key terms and write these on your notecard as well.
Write down any theories, important people, important events, dates or other important information on your notecard. Record names of people and what they did, or the theories they coined. Link events with their dates and places.
Organize the information on your notecard for easy reference. Consider using different color highlighters to color-code information. You can organize information by chapter or assign different colors to easily decipher vocabulary from theories, for example.