Note taking is an integral part of most high school and college courses. It is imperative that you have an understanding of how to take effective notes. Posted below are a few of the strategies that you could choose from, with a list of pros and cons to each, along with the structure and formatting of each.
1. Note-taking method #1: The Outline method
The Outline method is one of the best and most popular note-taking methods for college students. It lets you organize your notes in a structured form, helping you save a lot of time for further reviewing and editing. As the name suggests, this method requires you to structure your notes in form of an outline by using bullet points to represent different topics and their subtopics. Start writing main topics on the far left of the page and add related subtopic in bullet points below using indents.
When should you use this note-taking method
This method can be used in a variety of situations but works best if the lecture or class follows a relatively clear structure.
Pros
- Highlights the key points of the lecture in a logical way
- Ease of use allows the students to focus
- Reduces the reviewing and editing time
- Gives a proper and clean structure to your notes
Cons
- Not suitable for subjects like chemistry and math that comprise of formulas and charts
- Doesn’t work well if the attended lecture doesn’t follow a certain structure
2. Note-taking method #2: The Cornell Method
The Cornell notes method is a unique note-taking method that finds its application in a variety of situations. What differentiates it from other methods is the page layout. The page is divided into three or four sections starting from one row at the top for title and date (optional) and one at the bottom along with two columns in the center. 30% of width should be kept in the left column while the remaining 70% for the right column.
All notes from the class go into the main note-taking column. The smaller column on the left side is for comments, questions or hints about the actual notes. After the lecture, you should take a moment to summarise the main ideas of the page in the section at the bottom which will speed up your reviewing and studying process immensely. The best part is that many people already remember and digest the information while they write a summary like this.
When should you use this note-taking method
The Cornell method is ideal for all types of lectures or even meetings.
Pros
- A quicker way to take, review, and organize your notes
- Summarizes all the information in a systematic manner
- Helps in effective learning as it enables to absorb information in a shorter time
- Helps you to extract main ideas
- Cuts down time for reviewing
Cons
- Pages need to be prepared before a lecture
- Requires some time for reviewing and summarising the key concepts
3. Note-taking method #3: The Boxing Method
This method might be still widely unknown but gains increasing popularity. All notes that are related to each other are grouped together in a box. A dedicated box is assigned for each section of notes which cuts down the time needed for reading and reviewing.
Digital note-taking apps for the iPad are especially helpful for this method because content on the page can be reordered or resized subsequently. That way, you can just write down notes as you would normally do and then reorder them afterward to assign them to particular boxes. Digital note-taking also allows you to zoom in on the page, which helps to focus on one topic at a time during the review.
When should you use this note-taking method
This method works best if you have a class/session that is split into different sections that are still related in a sense.
Pros
- Segregates and organizes your notes in the form of boxes
- Let’s you focus on one box at a time while reading
- Help you memorize the relation between notes in a visual way
- Perfect for people that take notes on an iPad
Cons
- Not suitable for every lecture type
- Doesn’t work well if no overall topics can be assigned to a group of notes
- Requires additional time to group the notes in the end or during the lecture
In my personal experience, the Cornell notes method helped me out with organizing topics, events, and ideas into subcategories that relate to larger themes within history. It is your personal preference as to which style you would like to use, however, your notes are your notes, and will not be graded.