The Cornell note-taking system is a highly effective approach to helping students take comprehensive notes, improve information retention, and use those notes to improve their academic performance. An education professor at Cornell University by the name of Walter Pauk created the Cornell note-taking system in the 1950’s. Pauk helped popularize the Cornell method in his book, How to Study in College, which has led to the Cornell method being used in nationally implemented programs such as AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). I use this approach extensively in my own classroom and have found that this is an effective and organized way for students to gather and synthesize important information.
Below is a step-by-step description of how to use Cornell notes.
Setting Up Cornell Notes
A. The first step in creating notes using the Cornell note-taking approach is to divide the paper into sections.
B. To create the first section, draw a dark vertical line from the top of the page to the bottom about 2 inches from the left extreme edge of the paper.
C. Next you will draw two horizontal lines (left to right) from the left extreme of the paper to the right extreme.
D. The first horizontal line should begin approximately one inch from the top of the page, with the second horizontal line being drawn approximately two inches from the bottom of the page.
E. When finished, there should be a left hand column, a right hand column, a section at the top of the page and one at the bottom section and the page.
F. The large column on the right is for writing notes and the smaller left column is for your main idea/cue. The summary will be recorded in the bottom and the course title, date, and your name should be in the top section.
Using Cornell Notes
Record Your Cornell Notes: During the teacher’s presentation, students record notes into the right-hand column (note taking column) of the page. In the left column students should record one main idea or cue for each set of notes. When taking Cornell notes, I encourage students to avoid using complete sentences. They should instead use abbreviations or shorthand when possible.
Create Questions: Once students have finished taking notes, they should create leveled questions that are based on their notes. When students create questions it helps them to define terms and concepts, establish connections, and strengthen memory. Also, creating questions sets up an effective strategy for exam studying, as the questions can be used to prepare for future tests and quizzes.
Quiz Yourself: An important strategy that will help students learn the information is using Cornell notes to self-quiz. To do this, students should cover the notes column with a sheet of paper. Then, looking at the questions or cue-words in the question and cue column only, say aloud, in your own words, the answers to the questions, facts, or ideas indicated by the cue-words.
Reflect on Your Cornell Notes: Students can reflect on the material using their Cornell notes linking current notes with prior knowledge, categorizing information, evaluating ideas, and linking the material to real life applications and other subject areas.
Review Your Cornell Notes: Students should spend some time every week reviewing, re-organizing, and updating their Cornell notes. As quiz time approaches, it is wise for students to spend 20-30 minutes every night reviewing relevent notes and self-quizzing. This approach will help students to retain the information taught and to effectively prepare for tests and exams.
Create a Summary
After you have completed taking notes for the day, use the space at the bottom of each page to summarize the notes on that page. A summary should be no longer than 3-4 sentences and should be a general overview of some of the key points that were covered in class. This can be used to organize the notebook around themes or strands of knowledge.
SOURCES
Bucks County College
CMS.K12.com
Century.Adams.com
Wikipedia
Ocoee High School
