Academic SupportA Division of the Office of Undergraduate Studies

Note Taking

The 80% Rules

• Students spend 80% of class time listening to lectures

• 80% of what is not noted is forgotten after two weeks

Listen; Don’t Just Write

• You have to be able to listen as well as record notes

• Listen for understanding, not just to take notes

General Note-Taking Tips• Separate out reading notes, lecture

notes, and homework in your notebook• Draw pictures when helpful• Record enough so you can remember

what was being said• Don’t assume you will remember

information without writing it down

Abbreviations

• Develop your own personal abbreviations

• They can be different for each class• Three types

• Common• Discipline Specific• Personal

Abbreviations• Common

• @• &

• Discipline Specific• e-

• P• Personal

• Anything (make yourself a key as you develop your own abbreviations)

Methods of Note-taking

How do you take notes?

Cornell Method

Cornell Setup

• Set your notes page up like this for the Cornell method

• It seems like a lot of paper, but the blank spaces will be filled later on

The Six “R”s of the Cornell Method

• Record• Reduce• Recite• Reflect• Review• Recapitulate

Name

The First Three “R”s

• Record the notes in paragraph form in the note-taking area

• Reduce the paragraphs to key words/key phrases in the cue column area

• Recite the information from the paragraph notes looking only at the key words/phrases

The Last Three “R”s

• Reflect on the information to come up with your own ideas

• Review the notes about once a week• Recapitulate (summarize) the entire

page in a few lines in the summaries area

The Charting Method

Charting

• Similar to the Cornell Method • Fill in all columns at the same time

The Outlining Method

Outlining

• Start with the more general information on the far left

• Indent as the information is more specific• The relationships between the different parts

is carried out through indenting. • No numbers, letters, or Roman numerals are

needed, but can be used

Outlining

• Best for science classes• Have to think about what you are

writing and make it make sense• Make sure that there is enough time to

think about the points in the lecture

The Sentence Method

Sentence Method

• Write every new point on a different line• Number the lines• Use when the professor teaches in points

without grouping those points• Most likely going to have to rewrite notes

to be able to understand them much later

The Sentence Method Example

The Mapping Method

Mapping Method

• Easy to see relationships• As things get broken down, they make

new levels of the map

When to use which method

• Cornell• Any class

• Charting• History• Science

• Mapping• Any class

• Sentence• Any class

• Outlining • Chemistry• Social Sciences

Note-Taking from the Book

Taking Notes from a Textbook

• Read the entire section first then take notes on that section

• Put the notes in your own words• Write only enough detail to understand

Notes from the Book

• When reading use the divisions already present in the book • Read one section then take notes on it

• When marking in the book don’t highlight too much• If an entire paragraph is important, put

brackets around it

SQ3R

SQ3R

• SQ3R – technique to help you grasp ideas quickly, remember and review effectively• S – Survey• Q – Question• R – Read• R – Recite• R – Review

• Particularly helpful for studying textbooks• Helps you be an active reader

Survey

• Read the Chapter title and headings• Read the questions at the end• Read the bold terms

Question

• Turn the headings into questions that you can answer later

• Write these questions down

Read

• Mark the text after you have read the material

• Highlight only key terms and concepts• Read the figures and tables• Avoid over-marking• Write notes in the margins of the book• Highlighting does not equal learning

Recite

• Answer all of the questions you came up with out loud

• Answer all of the questions at the end of the chapter

• See, Say, Hear, Write

Review

• Read the summaries of the chapters• Read over all of your reading notes• Review all notes multiple times