2.

Before the Lecture

1. Purpose of Note Taking •Read or skim text
•Aids comprehension and retention •General overview
•Outline of important points •New items and concepts
•Clarification of ideas •Unclear material
•Source for review •Gaps in information

Effective Note Taking

4. After the Lecture

•Immediate review
3. During the Lecture •Completion
•Structure and organization •Retention
•Content •Rewrite notes
•Outlining
•Mapping
 The Cornell method provides a systematic format
for condensing and organizing notes without
laborious recopying. After writing the notes in
the main space, use the left-hand space to label
each idea and detail with a key word or "cue."
 Rule your paper with a 2 ½ inch margin on the left leaving a
six-inch area on the right in which to make notes. During
class, take down information in the six-inch area. When the
instructor moves to a new point, skip a few lines. After class,
complete phrases and sentences as much as possible. For
every significant bit of information, write a cue in the left
margin. To review, cover your notes with a card, leaving the
cues exposed. Say the cue out loud; say as much as you can
of the material underneath the card. When you have said as
much as you can, move the card and see if what you said
matches what is written. If you can say it, you know it.
 2.5” 6”

2”

During the lecture class the student writes notes in the wide
(6’’) column. To study from the notes, the student writes
either cue words or questions in the narrow column and a
summary in the space at the bottom of the note sheet.
 To help you better understand and remember the
content of lectures, record a speaker’s ideas while
they are being presented. Several methods are
used to take good notes.
 Use a large loose-leaf notebook. Use only one side
of the paper, making sure that you label, number and
date each sheet in topical or chronological order. Fit
the note-filled sheets into the binder after each class.
Draw a vertical line 2 1/2 inches from the left side of
your 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. (Cornell
System)
 Record your notes in simple paragraph form.
Don’t bother to make elaborate outlines. Strive
to capture general ideas. Skip lines to show the
end of thoughts and/or ideas. Use abbreviations
or symbols to give yourself extra time. Write
legibly. Your object should be to make your
notes complete enough so they will have
meaning for you weeks and months later.
 Read and consolidate your notes right after class
or sometime that evening and make them more
legible. Using the recall column on the left side
of the page, jot down key words or ideas from the
lecture. Overlap your notes showing only recall
columns and you have your review.
Step 1: Record
(During Lecture)
 write down facts and ideas in phrases Step 4: Reflect
 use abbreviations when possible
(After Lecture)
 Thinking about and applying the facts
 read through your notes and ideas that you have learned
 fill in blanks and make scribbles more  You reflect by asking questions
legible
Step 2: Reduce or Question Step 5: Review
(After Lecture)  review your notes periodically by reciting
 write key words, phrases or questions
that serve as cues for notes taken in class  think about what you have learned
 cue phrases and questions should be in Step 6: Recapitulation
your own words
Step 3: Recite (After Lecture)
 with classroom notes covered, read each
key word or question  summarize each main idea
 recite the fact or idea brought to mind by  use complete sentences    
key word or question
1. Record
 Simply record as many facts and ideas as you can in the six-inch column.
 Do not be concerned with getting every word down that the lecturer says or with
writing your notes grammatically correctly.
 Learn to write telegraphic sentences or a streamlined version of the main points
of the lecture by leaving out unnecessary words and using only key words.
 To ensure that your notes make sense weeks later, after the lecture is over, fill in
blanks or make incomplete sentences complete.
 (During Lecture) write down facts and ideas in phrases, use abbreviations when
possible.
 (After Lecture) read through your notes, fill in blanks and make scribbles more
legible
2. Reduce or question
 After you read through your notes, your next step is to
reduce important facts and ideas to key words or phrases, or
to formulate questions based on the facts and ideas.
 Key words, phrases, and questions are written in the narrow
column left of the six-inch column.
 The words and phrases act as memory cues so that when you
review them, you will recall the ideas or facts.
 The questions help to clarify the meanings of the facts and
ideas.
3. Recite
 Recitation is a very powerful process in the retention of information.
 Reciting is different from rereading in that you state out loud and in your
own words the facts and ideas you are trying to learn.
 It is an effective way to learn because hearing your thoughts helps you to
sharpen your thinking process; and stating ideas and facts in your own
words challenges you to think about the meaning of the information.
 When reciting, cover up your notes in the six-inch column, while leaving
the cue words and questions uncovered and readily accessible.
 Next, read each key word or question, then recite and state aloud, in your
own words, the information.
 If your answer is correct, continue on through the lecture by reciting
aloud.
4.Reflect
 Reflection is pondering or thinking about the
information you have learned. Reflecting is a step
beyond learning note content. It reinforces deeper
learning by the relating of facts and ideas to other
learning and knowledge.
 Questions like the following enhance reflecting:
How do these facts and ideas fit into what I already
know? How can I apply them? How is knowing this
important? What is the significance of these facts
and ideas?
5. Review
The way to prevent forgetting is to review and recite
your notes frequently. A good guideline to follow is
to review your notes nightly or several times during
the week by reciting, not rereading.
 Brief review sessions planned throughout the
semester, perhaps weekly, will aid more complete
comprehension and retention of information than
will cramming the day before a test. It will cut on
stress too!
6. Recapitulate
 The recapitulation or summary of your notes goes at the bottom of the
note page in the two-inch block column.
 Taking a few minutes after you have reduced, recited, and reflected to
summarize the facts and ideas in your notes will help you integrate your
information.
 The summary should not be a word-for-word rewriting of your notes.
 It should be in your own words and reflect the main points you want to
remember from your notes.
 Reading through your summary (ies) in preparation for an exam is a good
way to review. There are three ways to go about summarizing:
1. Summarize each page of notes at the bottom of each page.
2. Summarize the whole lecture on the last page.
3. Do both 1 and 2, in combination
Symbols are helpful to students to take notes faster.
You should use only the abbreviations that fit your
needs and that you will easily remember.
On the next slides are some abbreviations and some
rules about abbreviations. You should use only those
that fit your needs and that you will remember easily.
A good idea is to introduce only a few abbreviations
into your note taking at a time. Overuse may leave
you with a set of notes that are difficult to read. Here
are some examples
 ≠ Does not estmt Estimate F Frequency
equal
cf compare contd Continued eg For example
NYC New York City coops Cooperatives pol Politics
lib Library ckg Checking cap Capitalism
cons Conservative & And tot Total
assoc Association vs Against ach Achievement
info Information $ Money Intro Introduction
conc Concentration @ At rep Repetition
bkgd Background eg Example ppd Prepared
gvt Government dept Department chaps Chapter
edu Educational dem Democracy dcrg Decreasing
/s Ratios Subj Subject expt Experiment
estg Establishing Ind Individual w/o Without
w/ With biol Biology ) More
( Less chem Chemistry % Percent
= Equal rxn Reaction
intro Introduction prblm Problem
∆ Change am’t Amount
I often get sleepy in class; do you have any
advice on how I can stay awake?
When you become sleepy in class it may be due to lack of oxygen.
There is a four step, 30 second exercise you can do if this occurs.
Step 1. Straighten your spine. Put both feel on the floor, uncross your
arms and legs, sit up straight and hold your head up straight.
Step 2. Take a deep breath and hold it. While you hold it, tense the
muscles in your body. Begin with the muscles in your feet, then legs,
thighs, and so forth, steadily moving up your body, ending with the arms
and hands. Hold these muscles tense for the count of five and then relax
and exhale.
Step 3. Breathe deeply three times. Inhale slowly and deeply, breathing
into your belly as well as your chest. Pause momentarily at the top of the
breath and then exhale completely. When you have exhaled as much as
you can, force out more air by contracting your muscles. Do this
breathing exercise three times.
Step 4. Repeat the steps mentioned in Step 2. You have now
successfully activated all of your muscles and filled your body with
oxygen. With practice you can do this exercise in class without your
classmates or professor noticing
I take notes in class, but cannot read my own
writing. Can you help?
 Get to the root of the problem. The problem is not
bad handwriting, but the impact, you cannot read your
notes and have difficulty studying the lecture
materials.
 Set goals for improvement. Setting short term goals
to improve your handwriting is a good step. Make
sure you are specific about the results you intend on
achieving.
 Use creative visualizations. Find a quiet spot during a
time of the day when you are typically relaxed. Close
your eyes and relax your entire body. Visualize
yourself taking notes in class and writing legibly.
Practice this daily and the results will come soon
enough.
 Cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. The time you
spend dotting and crossing will eliminate the time
spent scratching your head trying to figure out what
you have written!
 Change your pen to change your handwriting. Perhaps
use two or three different types of pens and/or pencils to
write your notes. Pens come with different ball points.
Some are fine, others are medium. See which one is the
better fit for you. If neither works, there is also a pen.
 Use your laptop. Some students have laptop computers.
While you will be able to read your notes if you type
them during lecture, one must also be able to type fairly
quickly. Also this may disrupt others in the classroom or
your professor. Ask your professor’s permission before
choosing this as an option.
 When all else fails, PRINT! Printing is one way
students can write lecture notes and limit the amount of
misunderstanding that comes with illegible handwriting.
Printed notes can also be read faster when it comes time
to review for midterms and final exams.
 Photocopy notes. Ask one of your classmates if you can
photocopy their notes.
My professor talks too fast, is what can I do?

 Take more time to prepare for class. If you are familiar with
the subject, you are more likely to pick out key points during
the lecture. A thorough preview of the class reading should be
conducted before you attend class. This will set the stage for
your understanding of the material and the lecture.
 Be willing to make choices. You can be consumed with the
fact that the professor talks to fast or you can focus you
attention on the key points of the actual lecture. Choose what
you think is important, and revise your notes immediately
after the class is over.
 Exchange photo copies of notes with your fellow classmates.
There may be people in your class who are good at taking
notes and following the lecture, though the professor talks
fast. Ask one or two people in the class if you can photocopy
their notes to ensure you have not missed any of the main
points from the lecture. This exchange could prove very
valuable to all parties involved, because you are helping one
another.
 Leave large empty spaces in your notes. You want plenty of
room to fill in any information you may have missed during the
lecture. Use abbreviations and symbols (some of which are
listed in this booklet on page 10) and when you are rewriting
your notes after class, write the full meanings of these items.
 See the instructor after class. Some professors are willing to
help you with your note taking. Share your notes with the
professor and ask if you have written the correct information.
This is also an opportunity to ask questions that you were
unable to during the class lecture.
 Use a tape recorder. Using a tape recorder is a good way to
ensure you get all of the notes from the class lecture. These
devices are pretty inexpensive for students to purchase. You are
able to listen to the lecture whenever you choose to. Another
benefit of tape recorders is that they enable you to slow the
professor’s speech to a speed comfortable for you. All students
should seek permission from the instructor before tape
recording their lecture.
 Attend another section of the professor’s lecture. Many
professors have more than one section. Get permission to
attend a different section of the class and that provides you with
the opportunity to hear the lecture again. Perhaps you can use
this second time to fill in any missing notes from your normally
scheduled lecture class.