Study Skills - Note Taking

Cornell Notes

Have you ever…

·       Taken notes and then had a difficult time understanding them at a later date?

·       Taken notes in class and never looked at them again?

Active Learning

The Cornell learning strategy is based on the premise that most people learn best by doing rather than passively reading or listening.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin 

Pre-Reading

·       Why am I reading this?

·       What do I need to find out from reading this?

o   Quickly flip through readings as a whole, paying close attention to TITLES and SUBHEADINGS.

·       Determine what the authors main point is (what are they trying to tell me, the reader?)

·       Write down some questions about the reading.

o   What interests me?

o   What do I want or need to learn more about from the reading?

Reading

Take notes on what you read!

Divide your paper into the three section Cornell note strategy.

Your paper should be divided in to MAIN IDEAS on the left, DETAILS

on the right, and a SUMMARY at the bottom.

Post-Reading

Summarize!!!

·       Did you find the answers to the questions you wrote down at the beginning? (if not, read it again!)

·       Once you think you have all of the important material in the reading that you need, review your notes and underline important words or phrases in them.

·       Write a summary of the readings, including all its main points and the evidence that backs them up. Generally, a summary of an article should not be more than one-third the length of the article.

Use Your Notes

·       Notes are only valuable if you use them.

·       Test yourself by folding the paper so that only the left slide shows.

·       See if you can remember the supporting details for each main point.

o   If you cannot, you probably need to reread and restudy the article.

Cornell Notes Template