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The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

lsc.cornell.edu

31–40 of 43 posts

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#31

Using this system would mean dedicating a total of at least 3x the length of each lecture to a given topic per day. With 3-4 classes per day, you wouldn't have time to do anything else and also sleep.

Who takes 4 classes per day in college? A full load when I was in school was 12-15 hours of lecture time per week.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#32
During my freshman or sophomore year my high school pushed this system really hard, making it mandatory to turn in your Cornell notes in many classes. The system was atrocious and nobody could stand it. I'm not sure if the reason was that they were forcing us to write notes and evaluating their quality or just a flaw in the Cornell system, but I really struggled to find much merit in the types of notes I was taking after. In my experience, it added a lot of clutter and a lot of work but I never actually went to look back at the summary section (which doesn't make a ton of sense for most subjects) or recall column. Based on studies though it looks like the system has very little positive effect if any, so not entirely surprising.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#33
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether you are aware and just didn't mention it, or are not aware that you have essentially recreated the bullet journal (see: a search engine), might as well go all the way and get a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook for the new year. It has page numbers and a table of contents pre-printed for you. $20, but for something that pretty much lasts the whole year, not overly expensive.

Understood! My system started with franklin covey from back in the day, but I need graph paper for my notes for various reasons.

My system is much like yours in terms of notebook organization- I use it like a daily diary with TOC and all. I use graph-ruled composition notebooks.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#34
post #20
post #16

I tried the cornell system when I started back at school (OMSCS). I didn't really like it. It felt overly tedious to me. I think it's probably an okay starting point if you have no idea how to learn things. At some point you'll figure out your own personalized way of learning and retaining information - at that point you'll become a lot more productive than following some formula. My approach is: * Take lecture notes…

>pausing the lecture to really understand everything no doubt in 2001 we had maybe <1% classes available as pre-recorded. this seems like a good foundational approach, better than "just take notes and pause". What if you are in- you know- an actual lecture? I took copious notes but had no review process or built in repetition (which this does).

That is more of a challenge :). This is why I think pre-recorded lectures are a superior form of teaching. They can be tweaked and revisioned to convey information in the most lucid way possible. Meatspace should be reserved for interactive QA sessions. Schools that accomplish this have a pedagogical advantage over everyone else.

Bar that, I recommend what you do is record the lecture audio while jotting down the major points (note taking apps like Notability work great for this). After the lecture re-review the audio, make sure you understand everything thoroughly, adding any additional notes that are required. This requires having to go through the lecture twice. If you are comfortable in the subject you can probably take sufficient notes during the lecture without having to listen to it again. Then before the exam, go through your notes and make sure you understand it.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#35
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, icons is the way to go here for meeting note-taking. I use a box for things I want to make sure get covered during the meeting, and I check it off after I bring it up or someone else does. And I use a triangle next to a box for things I want to follow up with someone privately or ask about off line after the meeting. And the very important star for things I don’t want to forget or that are important. Most peo…

Whether you are aware and just didn't mention it, or are not aware that you have essentially recreated the bullet journal (see: a search engine), might as well go all the way and get a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook for the new year. It has page numbers and a table of contents pre-printed for you. $20, but for something that pretty much lasts the whole year, not overly expensive.

It actually sounds a lot like what I do, which is a close cousin to the good old-fashioned scientific notebook. This is a neat read that I just found searching:

https://www.training.nih.gov/assets/Lab_Notebook_508_(new).p...

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that 3x is a pretty standard recommentation. For instace, a quick google gave a first link (from cliffnotes.com) that says this. Here's a guideline to what freshman can expect throughout their college years: Each unit of credit requires 2 to 3 hours of outside classwork per week. So, a student carrying 15 credit hours should plan to spend 30 to 45 hours each week studying beyond the classroom.

per week, but not per day. If a student has 3-4 classes a day, they can't reasonably spend 9-12 hours working solely on digesting those lectures that day. They'll have homework at the very least, likely some ongoing projects, normal human activities -- not to mention that in the US they probably also have a part-time (or full time) job.

> per week, but not per day.

Maybe we are talking about the same thing but maybe not. Most recommendations that I see (including the official one from the college where I work) say 2-3 hours outside class for every hour inside class. Maybe not the same day, but if you have a week with 3 hourly classes then the recommendation calls for 6-9 additional hours spent that week digesting the material of those class hours.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#37
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, icons is the way to go here for meeting note-taking. I use a box for things I want to make sure get covered during the meeting, and I check it off after I bring it up or someone else does. And I use a triangle next to a box for things I want to follow up with someone privately or ask about off line after the meeting. And the very important star for things I don’t want to forget or that are important. Most peo…

Whether you are aware and just didn't mention it, or are not aware that you have essentially recreated the bullet journal (see: a search engine), might as well go all the way and get a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook for the new year. It has page numbers and a table of contents pre-printed for you. $20, but for something that pretty much lasts the whole year, not overly expensive.

My note-taking format is actually a simpler version of bulletjournal.

Bulletjournal is a bit heavy weight. But maybe BulletJournal is meant to be an example what you can personalize to meet your own preference.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#38
post #5
post #2

I've tried this system before. It didn't work well when using in a workplace. Mainly because the info/knowledge in workplace is scattered and sometimes incoherent. But, then, I've realised that this is from Cornell, and the note taking system here is for students noting lectures.

The last time Cornell notes was discussed, a user had made a detailed comment on how he uses the system in his IT job. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20271407

This is an awesome reference. I had read the original SA article and skipped this discussion (my focus at the time was more on student techniques). You've linked to an excellent thread.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#39
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most students find the process of taking notes AIDS the assimilation of information in lecture. Just listening doesn't work as well for most people.

I don't think most students have A/B tested themselves on it. Meanwhile outside of school much is remembered without note taking, and what's not is captured for later lookup in superior ways.

This is like peak HN contrarianism right here.

Re: The Cornell Note-taking System (2001)

#40
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think most students have A/B tested themselves on it. Meanwhile outside of school much is remembered without note taking, and what's not is captured for later lookup in superior ways.

This is like peak HN contrarianism right here.

I've never used note taking and I don't miss it.
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