Cornell notes are a note-taking system that divides each page into three areas: a wide column for notes taken during a lecture or reading, a narrow left-hand column for cue questions and keywords added afterwards, and a summary section at the bottom of the page.
How it works
The layout is designed around what happens after the lecture. During class you capture ideas in the main column. Shortly afterwards you reduce them: in the cue column you write questions that the notes answer, and at the bottom you summarise the page in a few sentences. When you review, you cover the notes column and use the cues to test yourself.
That final step turns notes from something you reread into something you recall from, which is the main reason the method has lasted. The summary forces you to identify the most important ideas, and the cue column becomes a built-in set of active recall questions.
How to use Cornell notes (steps)
- Set up the page. Draw a vertical line about a third of the way from the left edge, and a horizontal line a few lines up from the bottom.
- Take notes in the right column. Use short phrases, abbreviations and diagrams. Leave space between ideas.
- Add cues soon after. Within a day, write questions or keywords in the left column that match each section of notes.
- Summarise. In the bottom section, write a two-to-four-sentence summary of the page in your own words.
- Recite. Cover the right column and answer each cue question from memory. Check and mark what you missed.
- Review on a schedule. Repeat the recitation over the following days and weeks using spaced repetition.
Evidence
Walter Pauk developed the system at Cornell University in the 1950s and described it in How to Study in College, first published in 1962. Research comparing specific note layouts is limited and mixed, but the principles behind the method are well supported. Kiewra’s research on note-taking in the 1980s found that reviewing notes, not just taking them, accounts for much of their benefit. The cue-and-recite step is a form of retrieval practice, which Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated as high utility, and summarising in your own words encourages the deeper processing that passive copying lacks.
Using Cornell notes with Duetoday
Duetoday can record or transcribe your lecture and produce structured notes for you, so you can spend class time listening and writing your own cue questions. Use the generated summary as a starting point for your Cornell summary, and turn your cue questions into flashcards with spaced repetition. Duetoday also has a free Cornell notes generator you can try without an account.
