Note-taking methods
One ten-minute lecture on the three types of rock, written down five different ways. Switch between them to see what each method makes easy, and what it makes hard.
Geology 1 · Rock types
I. Igneous
A. Cooled magma or lava
B. Intrusive (slow, big crystals): granite
C. Extrusive (fast, small crystals): basalt
II. Sedimentary
A. Layers of sediment compacted + cemented
B. Often contain fossils: sandstone, limestone
III. Metamorphic
A. Changed by heat + pressure, not melted
B. Limestone → marble, shale → slate
- Best for
- Organised lectures with clear headings
- Strength
- Fast to review, shows hierarchy
- Watch out
- Hard to keep up when the lecture jumps around
- Turn messy notes into an outline
How to choose a note-taking method
| If the lecture… | Use |
|---|---|
| follows slides with clear headings | Outline |
| is anything you will be examined on | Cornell (it adds the self-test) |
| keeps linking ideas back to each other | Mapping |
| compares theories, periods, species, drugs… | Charting |
| is fast and all over the place | Sentence, then reorganise |
How to take notes, whatever the method
- Your words, not theirs. Paraphrasing forces you to process the idea; transcribing does not.
- Catch the signals. "The key point is…", repetition, and anything written on the board are exam clues.
- Leave white space so you can add to the notes later.
- Do the ten-minute after-step. Within a day, turn the notes into questions, a summary or a study guide. This is where most of the benefit comes from.
Questions students ask
What are the main note-taking methods?
The five most taught methods are the outline method, the Cornell method, the mapping (mind or concept map) method, the charting method and the sentence method. They differ in how much structure you impose while writing versus afterwards.
What is the best note-taking method?
It depends on the lecture. Outlines suit well-organised lectures, Cornell suits almost anything and builds in self-testing, mapping suits topics with many connections, charting suits comparisons (several items judged on the same criteria), and the sentence method is a fallback for fast, disorganised lectures.
Is handwriting notes better than typing?
Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) found laptop note-takers wrote more verbatim and did worse on conceptual questions. Later replications (for example Morehead, Dunlosky and Rawson, 2019) found smaller or no differences. What matters more is processing: summarising in your own words beats transcription, whatever you write with.
How do I take better notes in lectures?
Write ideas in your own words, not transcripts; leave space; mark anything the lecturer repeats or says will be examined; and most importantly, spend ten minutes after the lecture turning the notes into questions or a summary.