Cornell note taking system

The world is a place to learn. Almost everywhere you see, in every aspect of life there is something to learn. In general, we associate learning to classrooms, confined to a lecture and a notebook to take notes in.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

But the world is changing and so is the learning and in this fast-paced world, things change in the blink of an eye. The world of learning is changing. Are you ready for it?

Is writing better than typing?

Here’s a question for you. How do you usually take notes?

Did you ever think taking notes is a great skill and will help you grow in your learning process and career?

The way you are told to take notes in class is completely wrong. The teacher writes something on the board and you copy it. This is definitely not note taking and it does not help you in any manner. Nor with memorization, nor with expanding your cognitive learning(ability to think well)

On the other hand, there are a lot of students and working professionals that prefer to type notes on their computers. But research has shown that taking down notes by hand writing improves your attention span and retention of information.

Where does it help?

• At school or University while listening to a live lecture
• In meetings at work
• Any out of work presentations or seminars you attend.
• For TOEFL test takers to help you with listening skills.

When you type down notes on your computer or any digital device, you do it by passive listening. This leads to the inability to understand the concept later when you review your own notes. This also is distracting. When you open your notes to review from your computer, and then there is a notification from a gaming app, then you immediately switch tabs and start playing that game.

On the contrary, when you write down notes in a piece of paper or your notebook, you actively listen and remember better. You need to understand that writing takes a lot more effort than typing. Confused? Let us explain. 

When you write, your motor and neural memory work together. This helps you in grasping concepts better and keeping them intact in your memory. To write something down, you actually need to understand, comprehend and break down every minute detail you are listening to. This is when you are able to take notes by highlighting the important keywords from the explanation. In this way, when you go back to these notes, that one keyword will remind you of everything that was explained around that topic and this is the best way to study and take notes effectively. And obviously no distractions at all.

What Is Cornell Notes-Taking System

Usually, the way you are introduced to learning is by the teachers you study under. You are told to refer to the textbook, listen in class and take notes from what the teacher is saying. Over time you make your pattern for note-making, whatever is convenient for you.

However, that system might only be suitable for just that one teacher or a few more. In today’s world, learning isn’t confined to lectures or teachers, you can easily find everything you need online, in all formats and forms.

And with all these diverse materials and ways to learn you must figure out an effective way to make notes. If you invest more time in figuring out how to make notes, the whole purpose is defeated. So, shall we start the road to a better note-making system?

Cornell Notes-taking system comes from Cornell University from Prof. Walter Pauk in the 1950s. It is a self-sufficient system for taking, organising and reviewing notes effective for any learning platform.

The method has proven to be the best over time, accepted and applied worldwide. The system has three sections made for specific parts of the learning portions that cover everything and leave space for your understanding of the lesson. So, let’s dive into the format, shall we?

The Format

• Title & Date

This is your first rectangular column. Here is where you will write your title for discussion down along with the date next to it. So for example if you are in a geography class and you are studying about the planets, then your title will be planets and your date will be the same day you are learning this on.

• Notes

This entails everything that’s being said. Be it the points from the online article, or the YouTube teacher or the actual teacher in your class live. The written portion here has to be a need-to-know basis information. It might take time and some practice to get your writing precise and to the point, but the process will eventually be fruitful.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to write down everything word for word. For useful notes, you need to be able to capture the essence of what the lecture is about. The importance of the notes needs to be in order. Having irrelevant information only wastes time during review.

• Keywords/Cue

Now, this is the next important rectangular section to focus on. In this section, you note down the keywords, questions or main ideas, based on which you will remember the subject matter.So, when we listen to something, there are certain words that we feel act as keywords, words that are important and looking back at the same, a person is able to recollect a concept better. 

Let’s understand this with an example. Let’s say you are learning about Force. So, there are certain terms that are important when you understand the term force. Let’s consider this term to be – velocity. So, velocity becomes your keyword. Here, you can put in the main idea or a keyword in one to two words. The bigger explanation happens in the next section which we will touch up on soon. . You can use it after or during the note-taking to have a firm idea of the flow of the notes. This is more helpful when you’re learning through a textbook or online material. Confusing? 

Let’s say you are writing down the process of photosynthesis. The teacher is explaining it on the board and you’re making notes simultaneously. On the notes side, you have the labelled diagram and the process. 

On the cue side, you can use it to write down the basic questions that can be asked, like, “What is photosynthesis?”, “Why do plants need this?” or “What role do sunlight and water play in it?”. You’re writing down the questions relevant to the material. This helps you swiftly run through the notes and remember them clearly.

• The Body

This is the third rectangular section called the body. Here is where you put in all your subject matter to understand the concept better. Right from dates, details, definitions, formulas, examples or even pictures, you can pretty much take notes as you please. So, let’s understand this with an example. Now, imagine you are studying about the Mughal Empire in History. So, Your first keyword becomes Mughal Empire. Now, what do you write in the body?

You can write down the dates – what the reign of the mugham empire was. Similarly, you can also write minute details like the famous king or emperor of the mughal times and which kingdoms did he win against or lose to. These are the kinds of notes that you write in the body section. 

On the contrary, let’s consider a Math example. Let’s say you are studying about Profit & Loss. So, P&L being your keyword, you can write down the defintion, the formula and even other details that you might find important. 

• Summary

This one speaks for itself. This is the last section of the rectangular space on your page. Usually, in this section, you should go through all the notes that you took in that session and make a 4-5 liner short summary of what you learnt from the session or lecture. This is typically small and requires a few lines, which seems easy but is the hardest part. At times, you might be tempted into skipping this but resist this urge. 

The summary is the reflection of how you turned the information of the notes into knowledge for yourself. Create the summary while the lesson is fresh in your brain. You can also do it whenever you revise your notes. A summary can help in making quick connections between different lessons or lectures or classes. 

How Does This Note Taking System Help?

Now that you’ve learnt this format and note-taking method, you might be wondering what’s so wonderful about it? How does it help you any better than any notes you might make for yourself? For starters, every section of the Cornell system stimulates your brain differently and speeds up the learning process. 

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

Taking notes itself makes you attentive to everything that is being taught. Writing helps retain more information that you usually would and can be helpful when you look back at it after some time.

Personalising your notes with symbols and abbreviations for yourself makes you alert in class. Writing down questions keeps you focused and inquisitive as well. Analysing the notes for making the summary activates your learning outside of memorising. The overall effort you put in making notes pays off when you review it after a certain time. This system keeps the notes fresh in your mind and very easy to remember.

You might think that the summary and the Cue section are unnecessary and not that helpful, but in fact, these are the only things you need to pay attention to while reviewing. After revising your notes, just looking at the cue section makes you distinguish between the portions without blurring them. 

The questions, both the basic ones and the strong ones, shape up the learnt material in your mind. When you make the summary, you answer the heavier questions such as,” What does this all mean?”, “ How is it relevant to what I am learning?”, “ What facts stand out?”, “What idea does it form?”. When you make the initial answers, it might be too long for the summary. Which makes you pick and dissect until you’ve got exactly what you wanted.

“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardour and attended with diligence.” – Abigail Adams

The Cornell Note-taking system has ingrained itself into the learning process around the world. This method is utilised at such a large scale that even stationary is stylised in this format. This method encourages active learning over passive learning. 

Indeed, you won’t perfect it on the first try, but with time you’ll make something extremely useful for yourself. With this note-taking, you’ll never find yourself bored or lost with the material. 

Be it online through video or e-book, a textbook or even a lecture, this method ensures a better understanding of the topic. So, what are you waiting for? Start right now, your future immaculate notes are waiting