Cornell Notetaking

AKA HACKAEffective note-taking for lectures and academic

readings

Nina Ginsberg

EnglishHELPEnglishHELP

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Effective note-taking for lectures and academic readings

Main Activity: Cornell Notetaking

What does Cornell Notetaking look like?

The curve of forgetting• By day 2, if you do not think about or review your notes,

you will lose 50%-80% of what you learned.

• By day 30, if you do not think about or review your notes, you remember only 2% - 3% of what you learned on day 1.

Source:CounselingServices,StudySkillsProgramattheUniversityofWaterloo

The value of Cornell Notes

• Students who take no notes or some notes retain less

than 59% of what was learned.

• Students who Cornell Notes as a study tool retain 90%-

100% of what was learned.

When should you take notes?

Some ideas raised maybe…• The speaker says to take notes• The speaker says something you don’t already know• The speaker presents using PPT – you can note key points• The speaker writes on the board• The instructor says, “This will be on the test.”• When you are reading an important text• When you want to remember something or need to refer back to it

How to start: S.T.A.R.

• Set up your paper• Take the notes• Apply your thinking to the notes• Reflect, Revise & Review your notes

Set up your paper• Put a the full reference/heading in the top right corner.

– Name/Course/time/date

– Full APA Reference details

• Save 1/3 of the left hand side of paper for questions by folding or drawing a vertical line.

• Write the topic in the form of an essential question.

Set up your paper

OrfullAPAdetailsTopicasaquestion

Take Notes

• Write notes on the right side of the page

• Abbreviate words

• Paraphrase

• Skip at least 2 lines between each main idea

• Use symbols, pictures, or diagrams

Take Notes

Example…

Apply thinking

Within 24 hours of taking notes, review your notes and write questionson the left side of the page.

Reflect on Notes

Add a summary to your notes.

1. Answer the essential question as your topic sentence.2. Turn each “chunk” into supporting sentences.

Revise Notes

Review notes with a partner and add details that you each missed.

Revise Notes

Look in your readings/research and add details and ideas to your notes.

Review Notes

Fold your notes so that the questions show, but the notes do not.

Quiz yourself (or work with a study mate to quiz each other)

Examples

Have a great week!