Using The Cornell
Note-Taking Method
Cornell Note Taking Method
The Cornell method provides a systematic format for condensing and organizing notes.
It is a system for taking and reviewing notes and has been devised by Prof. Walter Pauk
of Cornell University in the 1950s.
The student divides the paper into two columns: the note-taking column (usually on the
right) is twice the size of the questions/keyword column (on the left). The student should
leave five to seven lines, or about two inches (5 cm), at the bottom of the page.
The Parts
Note Taking Area: Record lecture as fully and
as meaningfully as possible.
Cue Column: As you're taking notes, keep cue
column empty. Soon after the lecture, reduce
your notes to concise jottings as clues for
Reciting, Reviewing, and Reflecting.
Summaries: Sum up each page of your notes in
a sentence or two.
The Parts
The idea behind this is very easy. All actual
notes from the lecture go into the main note
taking column.
The smaller column on the left side is for
questions about the notes that can be
answered when reviewing and keywords or
comments that make the whole reviewing and
exam preparation process easier.
When reviewing the notes, a brief summary
of every page should be written into the section
at the bottom.
The 5 R’s of Note Taking
Record : During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts and ideas as you can.
Write legibly.
Reduce : As soon after as possible, summarize these facts and ideas concisely in the Cue Column.
Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity, and strengthens memory.
Recite : Cover the Note Taking Area, using only your jottings in the Cue Column, say over the facts and
ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in your own words. Then, verify what you
have said.
Reflect : Draw out opinions from your notes and use them as a starting point for your own reflections on
the course and how it relates to your other courses. Reflection will help prevent ideas from being inert and
soon forgotten.
Review : Spend 10 minutes every week in quick review of your notes, and you will retain most of what
you have learned.
Why should you use it?
Besides being a very efficient way of taking great notes in class, Cornell note taking is
THE perfect tip for exam preparation.
Why? The system itself encourages students to reflect on their notes by summarizing
them briefly in their own words. Often, this can already be enough to remember study
notes and to successfully pass an exam. When reviewing your notes it is useful to
reorder objects on the page, for example, to add a solution to an answer on the side
to the notes.
Other Techniques in
Taking Notes
The Outline Method
It lets you organize your notes in a
structured form, helping you save a lot of
time for further reviewing and editing.
As the name suggests, this method requires
you to structure your notes in form of an
outline by using bullet points to represent
different topics and their subtopics.
Start writing main topics on the far left of
the page and add related subtopic in bullet
points below using indents.
The Pros & Cons of Outline Method
Pros
● Highlights the key points of the lecture Cons
in a logical way
● Ease of use allows the students to focus
● Not suitable for subjects like chemistry
● Reduces the reviewing and editing time
● Gives a proper and clean structure to and math that comprise of formulas and
your notes
charts
● Doesn’t work well if the attended lecture
doesn’t follow a certain structure
The Boxing Method
All notes that are related to each other
are grouped together in a box. A
dedicated box is assigned for each
section of notes which cuts down the
time needed for reading and reviewing.
The Pros & Cons of Boxing Method
Pros
● Segregates and organizes your
Cons
notes in form of boxes
● Let’s you focus on one box at a
● May not be suitable for every lecture
time while reading
type
● Help you memorize the relation
● Doesn’t work well if no overall topics
between notes in a visual way
can be assigned to a group of notes
● Perfect for people that take notes
● Requires additional time to group the
on an iPad
notes in the end or during the lecture
The Charting Method
It is an ideal method for notes that involve a lot of
information in form of facts and statistics, that need
to be learned by heart. The information will be
organized in several columns, similar to a table or
spreadsheet. Each column represents a unique
category which makes the rows easily comparable.
Applicable when it comes to jotting down heavy
content which includes stats and other information.
It makes sense to use this method when summarising
whole lectures as a preparation for exams or during
intensive study sessions.
The Pros & Cons of Charting Method
Pros
● information is clearly structured
Cons
● fantastic for reviewing
● notes are easily comparable ● May somehow be time consuming
● a lot of information can be ● Doesn’t work for topics that cannot be
memorized rather quickly categorized
The Mind Mapping Method
When the lecture content is intense, the
mapping method works best. It helps organize
your notes by dividing them into branches,
enabling you to establish relationships between
the topics. Start with writing the main topic at
the top of the map. Keep dividing it into
subtopics on the left and right as you go down.
The Pros & Cons of Mind Mapping Method
Pros
● Visually appealing
Cons
● Can be used for noting down
detailed information but in a ● While mapping your notes, you might
concise form run out of space on a single page
● Allows easy editing of the notes ● Can be confusing if the information is
wrongly placed while taking notes
Let’s watch!
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Let’s try
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