For many students, note-taking is a practice that many students have learned to help them comprehend, memorize, learn, and utilize new information. Note-taking is a great practice to have because it will definitely help students be organized and successful in college and the far future.
The Cornell Method
The Cornell Method is one of the most effective yet simple note-taking methods. The formatting for the notes is on an 8.5’’ x 11’’ paper as follows:
- Create a 2.5’’ margin on the left for important cues
- Use the remaining 6’’ on the right for your main notes
- At the button of the page, leave 2’’ for summaries
- These should be brief and not more than 2-3 sentences
This note-taking method is versatile meaning that it works great for any subject and any type of lecture. When you study using these notes, use cards to cover over your main notes (notes in the margin on the right), and leave the cues on the left visible. Study by stating everything you know related to these cues, and then uncover your main notes to see if you missed out on any key details. This note-taking method is simple, organized, and systematic method
The Outlining Method
- Works great for subjects other than math and physics-related subjects
- Main points are indented far left
- With increasing detail, indent farther right
- Level of importance is indicated by position
- Very easy to study and review
- One disadvantage: doesn’t have a large diversity of details, and every single topic
- Helps you comprehend information as a lecture is happening
- If a lecture goes by too fast this note-taking method might be difficult, but if you have sharp note-taking skills, this shouldn’t be an issue
The Mapping Method
This note-taking method helps students with their concentration, critical thinking, and comprehension skills. When studying/reviewing, these notes will force your brain to think about all the details. This method provides a graphic representation of all of the information stated in a lecture and offers immediate knowledge about topics and their subpoints. This is extremely helpful in understanding relationships within the lecture. Trying to add color coding, numbers, or other helpful marks will make your notes even more organized, and make the written relationships clearer. This is an extremely useful reference to have when studying. This method is extremely helpful when lectures are content-heavy.
The Charting Method
Before a lecture actually begins, create a chart with the categories that will be covered in a lecture that day (A good time to create this chart could be during the beginning of the lesson, before the main points are discussed.) Under each designated section write the important key points that were discussed in the lecture. This note-taking method is extremely useful for memorizing and really handy when studying/reviewing. It’s a great tool for comparisons as well. This chart is a great source for an all-in-one notes sheet. You have all your main ideas on one sheet.
The Sentence Method
The sentence method is a notetaking method that involves writing a new sentence for every new idea/thought mentioned in a lecture. It’s helpful to number these notes to keep them organized. Writing sentences keeps your notes more organized than paragraph notes. When note-taking with this method you will have all of the information necessary including all the important details and minor ones too. This method is especially helpful in fast-paced lectures because you don’t know how all the content ties in and relates. The lecturer will explain in detail but not in grouping, so understanding relationships and comparisons will be hard.
Digital Notes
Digital notes have recently been used much more commonly. You can store notes electronically and you don’t need to stick to the traditional method of notebook and paper. You also would use less paper, and it’s better for the environment as well. There are many pros and cons overall to digital notes.
tl;dr
Taking notes is an extremely efficient method of remembering and learning new topics. Some of the very effective methods are The Cornell Method, The Outlining Method, The Mapping Method, The Charting Method, and The Sentence Method. Each of these methods are extremely beneficial in their own ways. Digital notes are also really common nowadays, and it is definitely a great alternative.