The Cornell Note Taking System

The Cornell note-taking method was developed by Professor Walter Pauk in the 1950s. It consists of dividing the note-taking paper into 3 sections, with one section devoted to class notes, one to keywords/comments, and one to a summary.

The first section, the class notes section, is where one should record notes from a lecture while it is happening. Don't worry if you feel that your notes are too simple, the point of this note taking system is that you can expand on them later!

The second section, on the left side of the paper, is where you can write definitions of keywords and clarify meanings.

The third section, on the bottom, is where you can write an overall summary of your notes to make sure you understand them fully.