Pick a system that matches the material
- Cornell: page split into cue column, notes and a summary strip - strong for lectures you will self-test from
- Outline: nested headings - best for structured, hierarchical content
- Mapping: nodes and links - best for processes and relationships, as in biology or systems courses
- Q-E-C (question, evidence, conclusion): best for argument-driven humanities lectures
During class: capture signals, not sentences
- Write down anything the lecturer repeats, slows down for, or puts on the board
- Mark examples with 'ex' and your own confusions with '?' - the question marks become your study list
- Leave white space; you will add to it later
- Do not copy slides you already have - note what the lecturer said about them
Within 24 hours: rework them
Spend ten minutes writing a summary of the page in your own words and turning your headings into questions. This is the step almost everyone skips, and it is the one that converts notes into recall.
Reading notes are a different job
- Note the argument and the evidence, with page numbers, not the plot
- Paraphrase immediately - copied phrasing becomes accidental plagiarism weeks later
- Keep a one-line 'why this matters for my assignment' tag on each source
Handwriting versus typing
Typing captures more words; handwriting forces selection. If you type, impose the selection yourself - summarise rather than transcribe, especially in conceptual courses.
Key takeaways
- Choose the note system that matches the material
- Capture emphasis and confusions, not full sentences
- Rework notes within a day, in your own words
- Paraphrase source notes immediately and record page numbers