Study Tip - Cornell Notes

This week’s study tip is an explanation of a style of note taking called Cornell Notes. This is a method of formatting your notebook paper to separate

1. key points from the lecture (or video in an online class), 
2. notes about the key points, and
3. a summary of the lecture material. 

Basic information about Cornell Notes can be found at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_Notes, but I recommend the website http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html for a more practical explanation.

The format of your notebook paper is as follows:

This type of note taking can allow you to better pay attention to the lecturer or narrator since you will only be writing the Key Points during the lecture and not try to capture everything they say. Soon after the lecture, it is good to fill in the notes while the lecture is fresh in your mind as well as using other resources if needed. 

The summary should be written after reviewing the Key Points and Notes and really understanding the material in the lecture. I recommend that you don’t write the summary immediately after taking the notes, but to wait until the next day or at least later the same day to give the material some time to sink in. Also be sure to write the summary in YOUR OWN WORDS and not to just write the same words the lecturer just spoke. This will help ensure a higher level of understanding as writing dictation does not stimulate the learning centers of the brain like processing and creating an original summary.