Use the three areas for different jobs

Record key ideas and relationships in the notes area, write questions or cue words in the cue column, and summarize the page in your own words at the bottom. Column proportions and line counts are not fixed rules. Cornell’s Learning Strategies Center recommends exploring the method and comparing note-taking approaches for different situations.

Follow Cornell’s five steps

Record key points during class. As soon after class as possible, write Questions in the cue column. For Recite, cover the notes and answer from the cues in your own words. Reflect by asking what the ideas mean, what principles they rely on, and how they connect to prior knowledge or applications. Review previous notes for at least ten minutes each week, as Cornell recommends. This is Cornell’s study procedure, not a guarantee of the same outcome for every learner.

Try a short review example

If lecture notes describe how industrialization relates to urban life, write “How did industrialization change city life?” in the cue column. During review, cover the notes, answer aloud, then uncover them to check which evidence or relationship you missed. This is an illustrative use of the method. If a question is too broad, narrow it to one relationship; summarize the explanation rather than copying the original text.

A completed mini-example (science notes): Notes—“Evaporation: liquid water becomes water vapor. Condensation: water vapor cools and forms liquid droplets.” Cue—“What changes liquid water into vapor? What happens as vapor cools?” Model recall points—“Evaporation is liquid-to-vapor; condensation is vapor-to-liquid.” Summary—“The water cycle includes evaporation and condensation.” During review, answer from the cue first, then compare with the notes and mark a missed direction or condition. This is an illustrative example, not a classroom observation. See USGS water-cycle guidance for the science content.

Adapt the layout to the subject

For a derivation or lab diagram that needs more horizontal space, resize the columns or add a separate diagram. The purpose is to reuse recorded material for questions and recall, not to preserve identical column dimensions in every class.

Sources: Cornell Learning Strategies Center: The Cornell Note-taking System · Cornell Learning Strategies Center: Cornell Note Taking System