In class, the Cornell system may be the most effective way of recording your notes:
Get in good habbits after every lesson:
Fill the gaps - re-read slides and add anything you missed
Add key words, concepts, dates, names to the margin of your book
Create a summary at the bottom - Can you summarise the lesson in 3 sentences?
Test yourself! Cover the main bulk of your notes and see if your prompts allow you to remember.
Review previous lessons - start with summaries and margins - do they prompt recall?
1. Record: During the lesson, use the note-taking column to record the lecture using telegraphic sentences.
2. Questions: As soon after class as possible, formulate questions based on the notes in the right-hand column. Writing questions helps to clarify meanings, reveal relationships, establish continuity, and strengthen memory. Also, the writing of questions sets up a perfect stage for exam-studying later.
3. Recite: Cover the note-taking column with a sheet of paper. Then, looking at the questions or cue-words in the question and cue column only, say aloud, in your own words, the answers to the questions, facts, or ideas indicated by the cue-words.
4. Reflect: Reflect on the material by asking yourself questions, for example: What’s the significance of these facts? What principle are they based on? How can I apply them? How do they fit in with what I already know? What’s beyond them?
5. Review: Spend at least ten minutes every week reviewing all your previous notes. If you do, you’ll retain a great deal for current use, as well as, for the exam.