THE CORNELL METHOD
A step-by-step process to learning from lectures
Record
Before class:
Enlarge the left margin on your paper to about two inches.
Record date and topic for the lecture.
During class:
Write only to the right of the margin;
the left margin should remain blank.
Use principles for good note-taking. Leave spaces between topics.
Everything else in this method is done outside of class.
Reduce
Do this as soon after class as possible, no more than 24 hours later.
Write everything you might remember from class -- a story,
additional information, an illustration -- that would help you
remember the lecture in the spaces you left between the topics.
Any term you have not defined or any part of your notes that
is incomplete should be completed by asking another student, asking
the instructor or looking in your textbook.
Reduce your notes to key words which you write in the left
margin. Ask yourself "What word or words would I expect to see on a
test which would cue me to these notes?"
Recite
With a piece of paper, cover your notes so that all you can see
are the key words.
Recite your notes with the key words as your only cue.
Refer to your notes whenever you need to refresh your memory.
Reflect
Mentally review the outline or main points in your notes.
Relate your notes to things you already know or have had contact with.
Write down reflections in the remaining spaces.
Review
Follow the same procedures as "Recite" by covering notes
so that only key words are exposed.
Recite:
1. What you wrote in class (Record).
2. What you wrote after class (Reduce).
3. What you took from your past knowledge
and experience (Reflect).
Go over these notes until you know them without an error. Then review
them once a week until the test.