Best Note-Taking Methods
Taking notes will help you recall information that would otherwise be lost. But taking notes the right way isn’t as easy as it sounds. It isn’t simply about jotting down everything that you hear. Taking notes is about summarizing core concepts as precisely as possible in your own words.
One thing that most successful students have in common is that they use a specific note-taking method. A note-taking method will help you to prepare before a lecture, test, or presentation and to review key concepts after a class. It will help you to stay focused during the lecture to pay attention and actively participate. It will help you to organize your notes properly so that you don’t have to worry about losing the overview once you get back to them to prepare for an exam. Below, I give an overview of the best note-taking methods for students, on how to apply each and when you should (or shouldn’t) use one.
1. The Outline Method
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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.
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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
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2. The Cornell Method
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The Cornell 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 summarize 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.
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When should you use this note-taking method
The Cornell method is ideal for all types of lectures or even meetings.
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3. The Boxing Method
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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 (i.e., Notes, Evernote, Simplenote, etc.) are 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.
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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.
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4. The Charting Method
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The Charting Method is an ideal method for notes that involve a lot of information in the form of facts and statistics, that need to be learned by heart. The information will be organized in several columns, similar to a table or spreadsheet. Each column represents a unique category which makes the rows easily comparable.
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When should you use this note-taking method
This is also one of the most-effective note-taking methods for college students when it comes to jotting down heavy content which includes stats and other information. It also works great when you want to cut down on the amount of time you spend on editing and reviewing during test time. I suggest using the method when you need to memorize a lot of information but do not recommend to apply it during classes or lectures. Creating charts with the charting methods takes time. It makes sense to use this method when summarizing whole lectures as a preparation for exams or during intensive study sessions.
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5. The Mapping Method
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When the lecture content is intense, the mapping method works best. It helps organize your notes by dividing them into branches, enabling you to establish relationships between the topics. Start with writing the main topic at the top of the map. Keep dividing it into subtopics on the left and right as you go down.
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When should you use this note-taking method
This technique works best when the lecture content is heavy and you need to organize it in a structured and easy form. It can also be used when you have no idea about the content of the lecture to be presented.
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