Easy Notetaking with the Cornell Method

Taking notes is a huge part of college. Long lectures lead to pages of unorganized notes. This mess of scrambled, unkept notes can not only be frustrating, but unproductive as well. The Cornell Method helps to organize your notes and make them easier to review. The idea behind the Cornell Method is to break your notes into three sections: (1) A note taking section, (2) Cue column, and (3) Summary section. Here is a diagram to better illustrate how a paper is broken down.

The Cornell Method is one of the best ways to organize your notes. It follows a simple concept and forces you to look through your notes at least three times (This is a good thing – more repetition equals better results). Another benefit of using the Cornell Method is that it really makes you look deeper into your notes to pull out main ideas, clues, questions, etc. Once you get the hang of it, you will become much more efficient at note taking and reviewing.

See also:  Tips for Dealing with the Fear of Going Away to College

While The Cornell Method is mostly seen on paper and in spiral notebooks, it can still be used by those of you who are a little more 2.0 and prefer typing your notes instead. There are tutorials on how to create Cornell Method templates in Microsoft Word all over the internet. You can follow one of them and put your own spin on it, or download the template I made last night below.

Download Cornell Method Template (.zip file 21 Kb)

The template is easy to use when typing notes. Just remember to hit the down arrow when you reach the end of a row, so you can seamlessly jump to the next line and continue typing. Printing the template is also an option if you want to take it with you to class.  Whatever you decide to do, you should at least give the Cornell Method a chance. Who knows, maybe it will become your new favorite method of taking notes during those long, boring lectures.

See also:  Summer Term: Worthless or Worth it?

If you have used the Cornell Method, how do you like it? Does it make you more efficient?