Just on the notes: as a student, I found that reading the text ahead of class to be amazingly effective. Just skimming for 15 minutes.
You already know the obvious stuff; you have a framework to slot the lecture content into; and are primed to be interested in the parts that you didn't get.
* Sometimes you'll read the material... and then the lecture will be a regurgitation of the material. For me, this means doodling in notebooks or falling asleep
* Other times you'll read the material... and it will be wildly different from what the Professor decides to cover. So now you've read something and you're just thinking about what the hell you're talking about
* Some teachers don't actually provide material
* Sometimes lecture is just about going over homework problems (this was mainly in intro courses, but it was SEVERELY lame if you got most of the answers right).
I think it's best when there's material to be covered and the teacher has extra insight to add or confusing elements that they can somehow explain better.
I find it impossible to to follow along in class, so I just read the text. But it would be amazingly effective and instructors usually expect you to read the chapter ahead anyways, which might be why it's so much more difficult to understand if you haven't read it.
My favorite teacher sometimes lets us discover stuff for ourself just by repeatedly asking us questions about it, so it spoils the surprise to read ahead.
You already know the obvious stuff; you have a framework to slot the lecture content into; and are primed to be interested in the parts that you didn't get.