Using the Cornell Note-Taking System

Author/Creation: Paige Ruschhaupt, June 2010. Summary: Describes the Cornell note-taking system. Learning Objectives: To name the advantages of the Cornell note-taking system. To describe the sections of the Cornell note page. To describe how a student would use a Cornell-style note page during a lecture.

Asyouattendyourfirstfewcollegeclasses,youmaybeintimidatedbythekindandnatureofthenotes thatyouneedtotake,andnotetakingmayevenbedifficultforyoubecauseitisgenerallynottaughtin highschool.Whenitcomestonotetaking,therearemanydifferentkindsofsystemsoroptions,and eachsystemhasitsbenefitsanddrawbacks.Oneofthemoreeffectiveandefficientoptionsisthe Cornellnotetakingsystem.Thissystemallowsyoutokeepyournotesorganized,summarizethemain pointsofalecturequickly,andreviewfortestsmoreefficiently.Thishandoutdiscusseswhentouse Cornellnotes,whattheadvantagesaretousingtheCornellsystem,andhowtostructureanduse Cornellnotes. When to Use the Cornell Note-Taking Method Inthe1950s,aprofessorofeducationatCornellUniversity,WalterPauk,wantedtofindamore effectivewayforhisstudentstotakenotes.HedevelopedtheCornellnotetakingmethodasasolution. Thegreatthingabouthissystemisthatyoucanuseitfor anyclassorsubject. Cornellnotesarearrangedinawaythatallowsyouto organizeyournotes,soyoullfindimportantinformation moreeasily.Youcanusethemduringalecture,andwhile youreadtheassignedchaptersinyourtextbooks,you canwritedownthemainpoints(likevocabularywords andimportantdates)usingCornellnotes. Advantages of Cornell Note Taking TherearemanyadvantagesofusingtheCornellnotetakingsystembecauseitissetupsoyouseethe mainpointsofthelecturevocabularywords,importantdatesandpeople,theories,stepstomath problems,processes,etc.ThefollowingareadvantagestousingtheCornellnotetakingmethod: Keepsyournotesorganized,soyoucanreviseandreviewthemlater. Allowsyoutofindimportantinformationeasier. Focusesonimportantconceptslikevocabularywords,datesandpeople,theories,processes, etc. Providesanefficientmethodoftakingnotesduringanykindoflecture.

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 Allowsforaneasierwaytostudythatcanleadtohighergradesincollege. Allowsyoutoreviewfortestsinanorganizedway. How to Structure and Use Cornell Notes ThereisaspecificwaythattheCornellnotepageshouldlook.Youcaneitherdownloadsheetsfrom www.englishcompanion.comormakeyourownsheetswithnotebookpaper. IfyouareconvertingasheetofnotebookpaperintotheCornellnotepage,thenyoullneedtodrawa fewsections: 1. First,measurea2inchmarginontheleftsideofthepageanddrawaverticallinefromthe topofthepagetoaboutthefourthlinefromthebottom.Youmightwanttogooverthelines withablackmarkerjustsothelinesaremorevisible. 2. Thendrawahorizontallineacrossthepageonthefourthlinefromthebottom.Hereisasmall versionofwhatthenotepageshouldlooklike,butyoucandownloaditfromtheinternettosee therealsizeofthedocument.

Cuecolumn

Notetakingcolumn

Summarysection Nowthatyouhavethestructureofthenotepage,letsdiscussthepurposeofeachsection. Therightsideofthepageiscalledthenotetakingcolumn,which(asyoucantellfromthenameofthe column)isfortakingnotes.Theleftmarginiscalledthecuecolumnorconnectionscolumnwhichwill containinformationthatsignalswhattheinformationinthenotetakingcolumnis.Andthebottom sectioniswherethesummaryofthenotesgoes. Instructions on How to Use the Cornell Note-Taking Method NowthatyouvecreatedaCornellnotespage(ordownloadedone),letstalkabouthowyoumightuse thepagesyouvecreatedduringthelecture(orwhenyourereadingtheassignedchapters),afterthe lecture,andwhenreviewingforatest. DuringtheLecture Duringthelecture(orwhenyourereadingchaptersthatyouvebeenassigned),youllwanttofollow thesedirections: 1) Startbylabelingthetopofthepagewithyourname,date,topic,andclassorsubject.Ifyouare writingnotesforachapter,youcanwritethechapternumberanditstitleasthetopic.Inalecture, thetopiccouldbethemainpointofthelecture.(Checkyoursyllabusoftenthemaintopicis there.)

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2) Takenotesinthenotetakingcolumnduringanylectureorwhilereadingyourtextbook.Thereare severalwaysyoucantakethesenotes,butyoushouldalwayspickouttheimportantinformation. Forexample,youmaywanttorecordinformationlikevocabularywords,dates,concepts,theories, andimportantpeopleandtheirsignificance.Whenitcomestomathclasses,thestepstosolvinga problemwouldbethekindofinformationyouwouldwanttoinclude. AftertheLecture Immediatelyafterthelectureorafteryouvefinishedreadingthechapter,followthesesteps. 3) Afterclasshasendedoryouhavefinishedreadingthechapter(makesurethatitisassoonasyou havetimeafterclass),rereadyournotesandrevisethemasneeded.Forexample,ifsomething doesnotmakesensetoyou,thenreviseitsoitdoes,lookupwordsyoudontknow,orreview concepts.Remembertheseareyournotes,soyouhavetoabletogettheinformationyouneedout ofthem. 4) Inthecuecolumn,writecuesinordertomakeyournoteseasiertoread.Sowhatisacue?A cuecanbemanythings,buttheycommonlyfallintooneofthesecategories: a) Questions:Questionshelpyoumemorizethemainpointsofthelectureandstudyforthetest later.Youcanalsousequestionstoremindyourselftoresearchanissuefurtherortoremind yourselftoaskaquestioninthenextclasssession. b) Categories:Ifthereisinformationthatisgroupedtogetherinthenotes,youmightwanttoput whatthecategoryisinthiscolumn.Forexample,ifyouarediscussingthedifferentpartsof speech,youcouldlabeltheminthecuecolumn. c) Vocabulary:Anyvocabularywordcouldbewritteninthiscolumnsoitwillbeeasiertofind whenyouarestudying. d) Notifications:Ifsomethingspecificisgoingtobeonthetest,thenyoucouldusethisspaceto identifythelocationofthosethingsinthenotes. 5) Onceyouhavefinishedthecuecolumn,writeashortsummaryofthelectureorthechapteratthe bottomofthepage.Ifyoudontthinkasummarywouldhelpyou,youcouldincludethefivemain pointsofthenotesoranyquestionsthatyoustilldonotknowtheanswerto.Thesequestionscould thenbeaskedatthenextlecture.Youshouldstartwritingyoursummaryassoonasyouhavethe time.Youhavetwooptionsofwhenyoucanwritethesummary:youcanwritethesummary immediatelyafterthelecturewhenitisfreshonyourmind,oryoucouldwaitafewhourstogive yourselftimeforthelecturetosinkinalittlemore. WhenReviewingfortheTest Finally,whenitstimetotakeyourtest,completethefollowingstep: 6) Thenwhenyouarereadytostudyforthetest,coverthenotetakingsectionwithablanksheetof paper.Bylookingatthecuesintheleftcolumn,youshouldbeabletoanswerthequestions,name theinformationinthecategories,definethevocabularywords,andrecitethespecificinformation yourprofessorsaidwasgoingtobeonthetest. Seethefinalpageofthishandoutforthewayonestudentorganizedhisnotesaboutthebeginningof WorldWarII. Tip:Startstudyingearly.Justbecauseatestisamonthawaydoesnotmeanyoushouldntworryabout ituntilthedaybefore.Ifyoutake30minutesaday(ormore)toreviewyournotes,youwillbemore preparedforthetest.

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Tips to Writing Notes and Studying TheCornellnotetakingmethodmightbeoneofthemosteffectivemethods,butyoustillhavetoknow howtowritenotesandhowtostudy.Thefollowinglistincludessometipsthatmighthelpyoutake notesandstudyinordertobesuccessfulincollege: Useanoutlineformforyournotesbecauseitiseasiertoseehowitemscorrelatewitheach otherandtoseethemainpointsofthenotes. Usearecordertorecordthelecture,butonlyifyourprofessorallowsyouto(alwaysaskfor permissionfirst).Thiswayyoucanrecordandtakenotes,butthengobackandlistentothe lecturetogetthepointsthatyoumighthavemissed.Donotrelysolelyonyourrecording.You shouldtakenotesduringclassevenifyoureallowedtorecordthelecture. Writedownanykindofchartsorfiguresthattheinstructordrawsordisplays.Visuallearners tendtorememberinformationbetteriftherearechartsinvolved. Highlightanykeywordsorphrases,importantpeople,specificsteps,etc.inyournotessothey willbeeasytospotwhenyouarestudying. Usesymbolsandabbreviationsinyournotesthatmakesensetoyou. Usetelegraphicsentences,whichisastraightforwardsentencethatexcludesunnecessary words.(Ex.Germ.invadePol.9/39.) Whenitcomestonotetaking,theCornellnotetakingsystemisnottheonlyoption,butitisaneffective andefficientwaytotakenotes.And,theCornellnotetakingmethodisagoodwaytostructureyour notessoyouseethemainconceptseasier.Thismethodplaysahugeroleinmakingstudyingfortests successful.Themoreorganizedyournotesare,theeasieritwillbeforyoutostudyfortestsefficiently andeffectively. OtherAcademicCenterresourcesyoumayfindusefulincludethefollowing: ImprovingConcentrationWhenStudying OvercomingTestAnxiety

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Name:JohnSmith Date:June2,2010 CueColumn WhattriggeredWWII? Why? AxisofPower: WhydidJapanandItaly supportGermany? GrandAlliance: WhatwasLendLease? WhatwasHitlersplan? Differentkindsofcamps Otherprisoners: U.S.enterswar: HowdidU.S.support BritainandFrancebefore enteringthewar?

Class:USHistory Topic:WWII Notes GermanyinvadedPolandin9/1939. SaidGermanyneededlebenraumlivingspace(territory) Germany Japan Italy SovietUnion(alliedw/Germanyfrom19396/22/41 JapanwantedtotakeovereastAsia.Italywantedtotake overtheMediterraneanandtheBalkansbytaking advantageofGermanyssuccess. U.S. SovietUnion(after9/41andLendLeaseagreement) GreatBritain AllowedtheU.S.tosell,transfer,exchange,lendequipment totheAllies. FinalSolutionplantoexecuteallJewsinEurope. ExtendGermanterritory. Laboropenwhenhardlaborwasneeded Exterminationeliminatesundesirables Concentrationworktodeath(starvation/disease) TransitandCollectionGermanefficiencyrouting Homosexuals,Gypsies,Communists,andJehovahs witnesses U.S.enterswar12/41 EnteredbecauseoftheattackonPearlHarborbyJapan. Gavemachinery,weapon,andammunition.

Summary:WWIIbegan9/1939whenHitlerinvadedPoland.Germany,Italy,and Japan=axisofpower;theU.S.,Gr.Britain,andtheSovietUnion=grandallianceafter 1941.Hitlersmaingoalwastogetmoreterritory/securityandexecutetheJews(theFinal Solution).Americaenteredwarin1941whenJapanattackedPearlHarbor.

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