Transcript Cornell Note Taking System

Cornell Note
Taking System
Monday, August 23, 2004
First Step - PREPARATION
Use a large, loose-leaf notebook. Use only one side
of the paper. (you then can lay your notes out to see
the direction of a lecture.)
Draw a vertical line 2 1/2 inches from the left side
of you paper. This is the recall column. Notes will be
taken to the right of this margin. Later key words or
phrases can be written in the recall column.
Second Step - DURING THE
LECTURE
Record notes in paragraph form. Capture
general ideas, not illustrative ideas.
Skip lines to show end of ideas or thoughts.
Using abbreviations will save time.
Write legibly.
Third Step - AFTER THE LECTURE
Read through your notes and make it more legible if
necessary. Now use the column. Jot down ideas or key words
which give you the idea of the lecture. (REDUCE)
You will have to reread the lecturer's ideas and reflect in your
own words.
Cover up the right-hand portion of your notes and recite the
general ideas and concepts of the lecture. Overlap your notes
showing only recall columns and you have your review.
------2 1/2”----6”-------Reduce ideas and facts
to concise jottings and
summaries as cues for
Reciting, Reviewing,
and Reflecting.
Record the lecture as
fully and as
meaningfully as
possible.
5 R's of note-taking are:
• 1. Record. During the lecture, record in the main column as
many meaningful facts and ideas as you can. Write legibly.
• 2. Reduce. As soon after as possible, summarize these ideas
and facts concisely in the Recall Column. Summarizing
clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity,
and strengthens memory. Also, it is a way of preparing for
examinations gradually and well ahead of time.
• 3. Recite. Now cover the column, using only your jottings in
the Recall Column as cues or "flags" to help you recall, say
over facts and ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not
mechanically, but in your own words and with as much
appreciation of the meaning as you can. Then, uncovering
your notes, verify what you have said. This procedure helps
to transfer the facts and ideas of your long term memory.
• 4. Reflect. Reflective students distill their opinions from
their notes. They make such opinions the starting point for
their own musings upon the subjects they are studying. Such
musings aid them in making sense out of their courses and
academic experiences by finding relationships among them.
• Reflective students continually label and index their
experiences and ideas, put them into structures, outlines,
summaries, and frames of reference. They rearrange and file
them.
• Best of all, they have an eye for the vital-for the essential.
Unless ideas are placed in categories, unless they are taken
up from time to time for re-examination, they will become
inert and soon forgotten.
• 5. Review. If you will spend 10 minutes every
week or so in a quick review of these notes,
you will retain most of what you have
learned, and you will be able to use your
knowledge currently to greater and greater
effectiveness.
Format:
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Record the date, place, topic/title and presenter.
Number your pages.
Use dark ink and write on one side of the page.
Use a double entry note taking system (see "Cornell Note taking System"
handout)
Write neatly. Make notes complete and clear enough to understand when
you come back to them.
Use abbreviations. Feel free to develop your own set of abbreviations, but
please put a key at the top of the page so your notes can be understood.
Highlight important items with asterisks(*) or draw circles or boxes
around critical info. Mark important ideas, terms, concepts with different
colors, underlines, or asterisks. Indentation, underscoring and starring are
also effective for indicating relative importance of items. Show
uncertainty with a circled question mark.
Leave plenty of white space for later additions. Skip lines. Leave space
between main ideas.
What to write
• Definitely copy:
• Anything written on the board or presented on an overhead.
• Any info that is repeated or emphasized. Ways to emphasize include: tone
or gesture, repetition, illustration on board, reference to text, and use of
cue words such as: finally, remember, most important, another cause, etc.
• All numbered or listed items.
• All terms and definitions.
• Examples.
• New words and ideas.
• If the instructor refers to the text, mark the page number in notes to refer.
• When you cannot keep up with the speaker, jot down key nouns and verbs
so that you can return to the latter and ask questions/fill in gaps. Leave
blanks for words, phrases or ideas you miss. Ask a classmate to fill in the
gaps.
• Include comments the class makes that the professor agrees with.
Listening:
• Listen carefully to what is being said.
• Pay attention to qualifying words (sometimes,
usually, rarely, etc.)
• Notice signals indicating that a change of direction
is coming (but, however, on the other hand)
• Look for meaning and implications; be an active
listener.
Additionally:
• Ask questions if permitted; if not, jot down
questions in your notebook.
• Soon after the presentation, review your
notes, rewrite skimpy or incomplete parts,
and fill in gaps you remember but didn't
record.
How to Study:
• Study in chunks: 20-50 minute time periods followed by a
brief break (5-10 minutes) is the most effective way to study
• Use daylight hours: an hour of studying during the day is
worth two at night! Do the work that requires the most
concentration (typically reading) earliest in the day.
• Rank your six classes and be sure to spend time on your most
challenging class everyday and early in the day.
• Study actively: ask yourself questions, review your notes
regularly, discuss key concepts with peers and your teacher.
Create a Study Environment
• 1. Find a place to study and keep it for study only.
• 2. Tool-up the environment with all study needs.
• 3. Control noise level and the visual environment to
acceptable levels.
• 4. Avoid relaxing while working; create a work
atmosphere.
When to Study
• 1. Best during the day and early evening; you'll
remember better.
• 2. Best when there are the fewest competing
activities in progress.
• 3. Best when adequate rest periods are provided.
• 4. Stop studying when fatigue or lack of attention
occurs.
NINE WAYS TO AID YOUR MEMORY
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Be flexible. Experiment with many learning procedures.
Be willing to abandon outmoded and faulty learning
procedures so you will be free to acquire new and more
efficient methods.
Over learn. In order to retain anything learned, you must
practice and reorganize it into your current ongoing
activity. One way to do this is to incorporate the learned
material as part of your present habit system. Use it in
speaking and writing. Act out the material as a rehearsal of
a part in a play-a process known as role-playing. This is
especially helpful in learning a foreign language.
• Schedule. Schedule your study time so that the time
at which something is learned or relearned is close
to the time at which it will be used.
• Rephrase and explain. Try a little role-playing.
Take the point of view of the teacher, for a change.
Rephrase and explain the material, in your own
words, to a classmate.
• Allow your classmate to criticize your presentation.
Then let the classmate be the teacher, while you
criticize. If you can't explain something, you don't
really know it.
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Eliminate accidental and unrelated
associations. Leave the television off and remove
yourself from phone ringing distractions.
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Eliminate previous mistakes. Take note of all
previous mistakes and make every effort to
eliminate them from future practice. It has been
shown experimentally that consciously reviewing
mistakes, making note of exactly why they were
incorrect, helps to reinforce the correct response.
• Decide on an order of importance. Some things are more important
than others. In a particular study unit, decide what these are and organize
the important material into an outline or framework. "Over-learn" that
part of the lesson.
• Become emotionally involved. Assume the attitude that you fully
believe the viewpoint of the author. Strive for perfection. You may never
achieve it, but you will most certainly improve your performance. Learn
to discuss your current beliefs calmly with people holding different
attitudes. Cite authorities to back up your position.
• Use mechanical memory aids. When material is complicated, it may be
necessary to use mechanical memory aids. For example, to learn the
cardinal directions, north, east south and west, you can create the
acronym “never eat soggy worms”.
ACTIVE STUDY
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Learning takes time. Very few people have photographic memories.
Learning requires repetition- meaningful repetition. This is why active
study techniques are so vitally important.
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The "recording disk" of the brain accepts new material much faster if it
"hears," "sees," "feels," "tastes," and detects motion (kinetic energy)
during input or recording time.
Then too, the more times around the learning circuit, the longer lasting
the impression. If you are able to place abstract ideas into
diagrammatic form, you will remember the concept.
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Mnemonics
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Material that is difficult to master can be organized by finding the key words in each point,
noting the first letter, and arranging the letters into a sense or nonsense word (the sillier, the
better). Examples:
What are the qualities of a scientist? (mnemonic answer: PIPOC)
P erserverance
I ntelligence
P atience
O riginality
C uriosity
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Why did the U.S. enter World War I? (mnemonic answer: SPRENCZ)
S ubmarines, Germans lifted restrictions on use of
P ropaganda, British control of
R ussians overthrew the tsar
E conomic ties of U.S. with Britain and France
N eutrality, German violations of U.S.
C ultural ties with Britain
Z immerman telegram
Note:
• In example 2, the student has devised a mnemonic based on
key words. If you have a basic understanding of each point,
you ought to be able to write a complete essay from the
mnemonic SPRENCZ.
• Example 1, however, represents the type of mnemonic a
student could use to learn a short list of items for an objective
test. If you need to memorize a long list of items such as the
states in the union, alphabetize and learn in small "chunks."
• You can always depend on the alphabet. Break down a list,
rearrange, put on a study card and master. In the example of
learning the states in the union, it is easier to remember that
there are four states whose names begin with "A," no "Bs,"
one "D," etc., then to try to memorize the list.
Study Cards
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In printing study cards, you are using kinetic energy
(energy in motion), thus making the impression stronger on
the brain, and you will be able to use the cards for over
learning.
Another reason for making study cards is that they are
convenient to carry and flip through for mastery. Reading
the cards silently, however, is too passive. Go over the
cards orally. You will not master the cards by passively
reading them.
Learning requires the expenditure of energy. You must be
actively engaged in producing the sounds, using muscles
and burning energy to make the sound.
Memory
General points to consider
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focus attention on whatever needs to be remembered. If you intend to
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remember something, you probably will.
You must understand that this subject is worth knowing and why.
Classify and associate information in groups of seven or fewer at a
time.
Overlearn through repetition.
Association is a key to memory:
You remember approximately 10 percent of what you read.
You remember approximately 20 percent of what you hear.
You remember approximately 30 percent of what you see.
You remember approximately 50 percent of what you hear and see
together.
You remember approximately 70 percent of what you say (if you think
as you are saying it).
You remember approximately 90 percent of what you do.
A WEEKLY FLOW CHART FOR STUDYING
PRE-READ TEXT
GO TO CLASS
TAKE NOTES
ASK QUESTIONS
OF INSTRUCTOR
REVIEW & EDIT NOTES SAME DAY AS LECTURE
ASK YOURSELF
QUESTIONS
OUTLINE
MAJOR TOPICS
READ TEXT
SELECTIVELY
DO HOMEWORK
REVIEW & INTEGRATE
ASK QUESTIONS OF INSTRUCTOR