Effective Note Taking Strategies for Academic Success

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in this video we will explore different

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ways to take notes there are many

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different techniques that students use

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to take notes during lecture and it

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turns out that some of them have been

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shown to give you an edge let's talk

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about the different types and schools of

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thought and then you can pick the method

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that works best for you

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as you know it is best to sit up front

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and record the lecture if possible so

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you can get the most out of each class

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period i would like to add one more best

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practice which is how to take notes as

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you sit up front and record the lecture

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you'll be in a great spot to actively

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take notes there are many methods you

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can use to take notes including the

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Cornell method the split page the

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discussion columns and the team method

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just to name a few we'll start with the

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Cornell method

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the Cornell method was invented in the

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1950s by a man named Walter Pac who is a

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professor at Cornell with the Cornell

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method you're drawing a vertical line

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about 2 and 12 in from the left you draw

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a horizontal line 2 in from the bottom

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your notes will be taken in the largest

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space on the page on the right and use

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the new left margin as the question or

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recall column this is where you have key

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words or phrases that will help you to

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remember the concepts the space at the

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bottom is for you to create a summary of

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the notes above now there are many pros

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and cons with this method now some of

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the pros include that this is a great

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method for encouraging active recall the

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left column include the cues and summary

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section and this helps with self-

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testing which ultimately strengthens

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memory through retrieval practice this

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method is also very organized and

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structured you have a clear separation

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between the main points the details and

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the summaries and all of this makes

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review much more efficient students also

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say that this method is excellent for

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review the summaries reinforce key

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concepts without having to reread all of

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your notes which ultimately improves

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long-term retention now as with any

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method there are some drawbacks this

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does take some time to set up you have

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to have a structured layout and

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ultimately this could slow down

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note-taking during fast-paced lectures

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this also may not capture the complex

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ideas fully so if it's not used

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correctly summarizing might oversimplify

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information and make it harder to

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understand

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deeply a second note-taking method is

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the split page method this method

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involves dividing your page down the

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middle the left part of the line should

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take up to 20% of the page and the right

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part should take up to about 80% of the

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page the left side should involve key

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words and cues and the right should

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involve the majority of the notes just

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like the Cornell method there are

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benefits and drawbacks to using the

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split page method so let's start with

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the

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pros what's great about this method is

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that it promotes comparison and

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connections you have one column for the

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main ideas the other for explanations or

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examples and this reinforces

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deep processing you can also see that this

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is good for problem solving with certain

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subjects for example math science or

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case studies where you have to have

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justifications and steps to record

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students looking to excel in their

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courses report that this also encourages

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self- testing because you cover one side

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and recall the other this definitely

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helps with retrieval practice now as

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with any method there are some drawbacks

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to this note-taking method this is not

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ideal for a fast-paced lecture this also

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requires real time structuring which

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might be difficult when a lot of

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information is given quickly in other

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cases this may lead to superficial notes

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if you don't use this thoughtfully

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students might only write key words

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without actually

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deep processing a third note-taking

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technique is discussion columns this

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involves dividing your paper into three

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equal sections the first section is

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where your notes go the second column

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involves adding details from the lecture

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and the third would involve your

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thoughts or your summaries of the

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material now the columns method also has

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many pros this can be great for group

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learning and critical thinking this

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encourages engagement with multiple

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perspectives because you have to write

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down your questions your thoughts or

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your arguments this also promotes higher

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order

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thinking and can be really useful in

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subjects like humanities and social

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sciences where evaluating and debating

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concepts is key students and instructors

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appreciate that this facilitates

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reflection reviewing discussion points

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later enhances metacognition in other

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words thinking about one's thinking

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there are also drawbacks to this

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approach as with any other this can get

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messy if discussions are free flowing

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notes might become unstructured and hard

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to review later this is not ideal for

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memorization based subjects may not be

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as effective for courses that require

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direct recall like anatomy vocabulary

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heavy subjects or anything along those

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lines lastly there's the T method which

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involves the top three quarters of the

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page for your notes you then block off

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one quarter of the page at the bottom

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for a summary where on the left you have

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your questions and on the right you've

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got your summary there are many

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strengths to this method including for

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example it's really good for comparing

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and contrasting this is really effective

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for subjects that require where you have

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to distinguish concepts and discuss pros

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and cons cause and effect and so forth

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this even enhances dual coding which

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works really well with diagrams or

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symbols on one side and explanations on

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the other which reinforces understanding

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through multiple

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modalities this is a method that's great

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for summarization simplifies complex

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concepts into digestible chunks which

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helps in comprehension as with any

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method there are drawbacks to consider

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for example you have limited detail you

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might oversimplify complex topics if you

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don't supplement them with additional

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notes and as always this may not fit for

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every subject it tends to work best for

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comparisons but might not be useful for

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chronological or process-based subjects

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like history or

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science if you're not sure where to

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start start at the top of the list

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cornell method is a great strategy to

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try and see if it works for you as

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you're figuring out the right

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note-taking technique for you you may

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find that some of your instructors even

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give you the PowerPoints ahead of class

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you can then take notes directly on the

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electronic file and then write the notes

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later as you listen to lecture again you

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can also print the notes out and have

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them on the left side while you take

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notes with one of these methods on the

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right each of these methods has its

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pluses and its minuses and they're all

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similar of the methods we've discussed

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the most important thing is for you to

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pick what you think will work best for

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you and of course what you're the most

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comfortable with these days you can even

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purchase notebooks that are already

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divided into the suggested sections like

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the sections used in the Cornell method

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however I would argue that although this

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is nice it would be better if you divide

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the notebook yourself before class by

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doing so regularly you develop a routine

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this routine should help you get into

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the frame of mind where you know it's

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time for lecture when my students work

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in a lab I ask them to do all of their

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calculations ahead of time before they

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even walk into the lab this puts them

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into that lab mode where they calm down

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become more focused and get ready for a

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day in the lab ultimately the way you

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take notes is up to you i always suggest

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finding friends and comparing notes if

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you can't record the lectures if you can

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record them it's still helpful to

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compare notes if nothing else to review

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as you begin to learn the details that

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you will need for your future exams i

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hope you found this helpful have a

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wonderful day and happy studying

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everyone