Note-Taking Formats

You can make class time more productive by using your listening skills to take effective lecture notes, but first you have to decide on a system. Any system can work as long as you use it consistently.

YOUR TURN

Write and Reflect

In the next week, use each of the four note-taking methods (Cornell, outline, paragraph, list) in your other classes. In a journal entry explain which system works best for you and why.

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Cornell Format. Using the Cornell format, one of the best-known methods for organizing notes, you create a “recall” column on each page of your notebook by drawing a vertical line about two to three inches from the left border (see Figure 7.1). As you take notes during a lecture—whether writing down ideas, making lists, or using an outline or paragraph format—write only in the wider column on the right; leave the recall column on the left blank. (If you have large handwriting and this method seems unwieldy, consider using the back of the previous notebook page for your recall column.) The recall column is the place where you write down the main ideas and important details for tests and examinations as you sift through your notes as soon after class as is feasible, preferably within an hour or two. Many students have found the recall column to be a critical part of effective note taking, one that becomes an important study device for tests and exams.

FIGURE 7.1 Note Taking in the Cornell Format
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Outline Format. Some students find that an outline is the best way for them to organize their notes (see Figure 7.2). You may know what a formal outline looks like, with key ideas represented by Roman numerals and other ideas relating to each key idea represented in order by uppercase letters, then numbers, and then lowercase letters. If you use this approach, try to determine the instructor’s outline and re-create it in your notes. Add details, definitions, examples, applications, and explanations. You can combine the outline and Cornell formats (see Figure 7.5).

FIGURE 7.2 Note Taking in the Outline Format
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Paragraph Format. You might decide to write summary paragraphs when you are taking notes on what you are reading (see Figure 7.3). This method might not work as well for class notes, however, because it’s difficult to summarize a topic until your instructor has covered it completely. By the end of the lecture, you might have forgotten critical information.

FIGURE 7.3 Note Taking in the Paragraph Format
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List Format. The list format can be effective in taking notes on lists of terms and definitions, facts, or sequences, such as the body’s pulmonary system (see Figure 7.4). It is easy to use lists in combination with the Cornell format, with key terms on the left and their definitions and explanations on the right.

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Once you have decided on a format for taking notes, you might also want to develop your own system of abbreviations. For example, you might write “inst” instead of “institution” or “eval” instead of “evaluation.” Just make sure that you will be able to understand your abbreviations when it’s time to review.

FIGURE 7.4 Note Taking in the List Format
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FIGURE 7.5 Cornell Format Combined with the Outline Format
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