Note taking methods: 5 ways to take notes, compared

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There is no single best note taking method. A reasonable starting point: the outline method for an organized lecturer, charting for a lecture that compares things, and Cornell if you want notes you can turn into self-quizzing later. The research points to something less exciting than layout. Complete notes that you actually review tend to do more for you than a clever format you never reopen.

Key takeaways

• Pick the method by how the lecture is built, not by what looks nicest. Organized and hierarchical means outline. Comparing categories means charting. Fast and messy means sentence notes.
• Students record only about one third of a lesson's important ideas, and the biggest payoff comes from reviewing notes afterward (Kiewra, Colliot and Lu, 2018).
• Cornell adds the most value after class, because its cue column turns notes into questions you can answer with the page covered.
• Handwriting has a small edge over typing when you review your notes (Hedges' g = 0.248), but typists capture far more words (Flanigan et al., 2024).
• Mind maps are worth making yourself, but they are a better review tool than a live lecture tool.
• Studycamp has Cornell templates in Notes and a canvas for mind maps, so you can change methods per class without changing apps.

Why the method matters less than what you do afterward

Note taking does two jobs. While the lecture runs, writing keeps you paying attention. Later, the page gives you something to study from. Kiewra and colleagues describe these as the process and product functions, and report that research generally finds the product function stronger, while arguing both matter: students who take and review notes tend to achieve more than students who take notes and never review them (Kiewra, Colliot and Lu, 2018).

The same paper reports that students, on average, capture just one third of the important ideas in a lesson. It also notes that most notes are linear lists that hide how ideas connect, and that recopying and rehearsing notes is a shallow way to review them.

So a good format helps you catch the important points at lecture speed and makes the review step easy to start.

In a well-known experiment, practicing retrieval produced more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping, including on test questions that required inferences (Karpicke and Blunt, 2011). That is one reason the after-class pass later in this post includes a "cover the page and recall" step.

Five note taking methods, applied to one lecture

The snippet below is a short, made-up lecture from an intro economics class. Every example that follows comes from these same words.

Price elasticity of demand measures how much the quantity people buy changes when the price changes. You calculate it as the percent change in quantity demanded divided by the percent change in price. The answer comes out negative, but economists ignore the minus sign. If the number is above 1, demand is elastic: people react strongly. Restaurant meals are a good example, because you can just cook at home. If it's below 1, demand is inelastic: people barely react. Insulin is the classic case, since there's no substitute. Three things drive elasticity: whether substitutes exist, whether the good is a necessity, and how much time people have to adjust. Over a few months, even gasoline demand becomes more elastic.

Method descriptions follow the versions taught at UT Chattanooga and the University of Rochester.

1. Cornell method

You split the page into a narrow cue column on the left, a wide notes column on the right, and a summary strip at the bottom. On a letter page, UT Chattanooga and SUNY Schenectady County Community College both give a 2.5 inch left margin and a 6 inch notes area. In class you write only on the right. After class you add questions in the left column, then cover the right side and answer them. The system was developed by Walter Pauk at Cornell (Cornell Learning Strategies Center).

Summary: Elasticity is how strongly buyers respond to price. Substitutes, necessity, and time decide whether the response is big or small.

Good for: many lectures you will be tested on later, especially structured ones. Weak spot: it costs extra minutes after class, and people skip the cue column. Without it you just have notes with a line down the page. It also fits worked math problems poorly. Our Cornell notes guide covers the full routine.

Evidence for Cornell specifically is thin. A 2025 quasi-experiment with 77 Korean first-year students found that a Cornell group gained more on an English reading comprehension test over 15 weeks than a group using their own notes (mean gains of 20.43 points for Cornell and 8.43 for personal notes). The sample was small and the subject was language learning, so treat it as encouraging, not settled (Seo, 2025).

2. Outline method

You use indentation to show rank. Big ideas sit at the left margin and supporting details indent beneath them.

Price elasticity of demand
  - Definition: how much quantity bought changes when price changes
  - Formula: % change in quantity / % change in price
  - Elastic (above 1): people react strongly
      - Ex: restaurant meals (cook at home)
  - Inelastic (below 1): people barely react
      - Ex: insulin (no substitute)
  - Drivers
      - Substitutes exist?
      - Necessity?
      - Time to adjust (gasoline: more elastic over months)

Good for: organized lecturers who move through a topic in order, and slide decks with clear headings. Weak spot: UT Chattanooga notes that it works best when you have time to organize and that it doesn't capture sequences well. If the lecturer jumps around, you spend the class re-indenting instead of listening.

3. Mapping or mind map

You put the topic in the middle and branch out. Each branch is an idea, and lines show how ideas connect.

                 PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
                 (% change in quantity / % change in price)
                               |
      +------------------------+------------------------+
      |                        |                        |
 ABOVE 1: ELASTIC        BELOW 1: INELASTIC        DRIVERS
 people react a lot      people barely react       - substitutes?
 ex: restaurant meals    ex: insulin               - necessity?
     (can cook at home)      (no substitute)       - time to adjust
                                                     (gasoline: more
                                                      elastic over months)

Good for: subjects with lots of links between ideas. Rochester calls it ideal for complex subjects with multiple connections, and notes it takes considerable space.

The research angle. A meta-analysis of concept maps found a moderate overall learning benefit (g = 0.58). Creating a map (g = 0.72) helped more than studying a finished one (g = 0.43) (Schroeder et al., 2018). That supports drawing your own map. It doesn't say a map is the best way to catch a live lecture, and in the Karpicke and Blunt experiment, retrieval practice beat concept mapping. A sensible split: take fast notes in class, then redraw them as a map when you review. In Studycamp, the canvas is an infinite whiteboard with shapes, arrows, and freehand drawing, which is enough for a review-time map.

4. Charting method

You draw columns before class, one per category, and fill in cells as the lecturer covers each item.

Good for: fast lectures that compare things across the same categories, such as drug classes, historical periods, or verb tenses. Rochester recommends it for comparing topics and for memorization-heavy subjects, and warns it isn't suited to mathematical equations. UT Chattanooga points out the catch: you must know the categories in advance.

Kiewra's group argues that graphic organizers such as matrices reveal associations that linear notes hide (Kiewra, Colliot and Lu, 2018). Notice how the table above makes "elastic versus inelastic" obvious in a way the plain outline doesn't.

5. Sentence method

You write each new idea on its own numbered line, in full sentences or close to it.

1. Price elasticity of demand = how much quantity bought changes when price changes.
2. Formula: % change in quantity divided by % change in price.
3. Above 1 = elastic, people react strongly (restaurant meals, since you can cook at home).
4. Below 1 = inelastic, people barely react (insulin, no substitute).
5. Three drivers: substitutes, necessity, time to adjust.
6. Gasoline demand is more elastic over a few months.

Good for: fast, disorganized lectures where you can't tell what the structure is yet. It takes no preparation. Weak spot: it doesn't show which points are major or how they connect, so it needs a cleanup pass. Reorganize it into an outline or chart within a day or two.

A sixth option: small linked notes

Some students keep short single-idea notes in their own words and link related ones together, an approach often called Zettelkasten. It suits reading-heavy subjects and long projects such as a thesis. It is probably overkill for a single semester course, and it only pays off once you have a pile of notes to link. For most courses, one of the five above is likely enough.

Which method for which class

This table is our suggestion, based on how each method is built. No study compared methods by subject. Adjust it after a couple of weeks. Studycamp keeps one workspace per course, so you can match the method to the class and keep each course's notes and files together.

If the lecturer posts slides, add your own explanations beside each slide. Kiewra's group reviews research on partial notes, where students complete a skeleton, and concludes they are a good compromise between complete provided notes and notes made from scratch (Kiewra, Colliot and Lu, 2018).

How to take good notes: the after-class pass

Whatever format you choose, spend ten to fifteen minutes after class (or that evening) on four things:

1. Fill gaps. Add what you missed while it's fresh. Compare with a classmate if you can.
2. Turn notes into questions. Use the Cornell cue column, or the margin of an outline.
3. Cover and recall. Hide your notes, answer each question out loud or on paper, then check.
4. Come back later. Review again in a few days and before the exam. Our study guide covers how to space this out.

In Studycamp, the notes editor has Cornell templates, so you don't have to rule the page yourself. For step 3, upload your notes or a voice notes transcript to a workspace and generate flashcards or a quiz from them.

Handwriting or typing?

Both work. A 2024 meta-analysis of 24 studies across 21 articles found that typing produced more note volume (g = 0.919), yet taking and reviewing handwritten notes led to higher achievement (g = 0.248) (Flanigan et al., 2024). That is a small effect, and the paper points out that some earlier meta-analyses judged it too early to name a winner.

Our suggestion: if you type, resist transcribing. Paraphrase and leave gaps, then do the review pass. If handwriting makes you miss half the lecture, typing plus a review pass is a fair trade.

Mistakes that waste the effort

• Writing down everything. Aim for the point and one example.
• Rewriting notes neatly. Recopying is the shallow review the Kiewra paper warns about. Quiz yourself instead.
• Switching methods every week. Give one method three or four lectures before you judge it.
• Forcing one method on every class. The Rochester guide says it plainly: no one method is one-size-fits-all.
• Never reopening the notes. This one probably costs the most.

Take notes in Studycamp

Studycamp covers each method above in one place, so you can switch formats from class to class.

1. Cornell: open Notes and pick a Cornell template. The cue column and summary strip are already laid out.
2. Outline and charting: rich-text notes support headings, lists, and tables, and folders keep each course tidy.
3. Mapping: draw mind maps on the canvas, an infinite whiteboard with shapes, arrows, and freehand drawing.
4. Recorded lectures: hit record with voice notes, get a transcript when you stop, and save it to a workspace next to your typed notes.
5. Practice: upload your notes or a transcript, then generate flashcards or a quiz for the cover-and-recall step. Flashcards flip, shuffle, and resume later. Studycamp has no spaced repetition scheduler, so you pick your own review days.
6. Organization: keep one workspace per course.

You can Start studying free on the free plan, which includes 3 workspaces, 1 GB of storage, and 1,500 AI credits a month, and the pricing page lists the paid plans.

FAQ

What is the best note taking method for college students?

It depends on the class. Organized lectures fit an outline, and comparison-heavy material fits charting. Cornell suits classes where you want a prompt to self-test, though it is a poor fit for worked math problems. If you want a single default to try first, Cornell is a reasonable suggestion because the cue column invites a review step. Nothing makes you take it, and the evidence for the layout itself is thin.

Is Cornell better than the outline method?

Not automatically. An outline is faster to write live, while Cornell asks for extra work after class. That extra work is where any benefit probably comes from, and only if you do it. Direct comparisons are limited, so choose the one you will follow through on.

Are mind maps good for taking notes in lectures?

Only if the lecturer is well organized and you have room to draw. For most fast lectures they are hard to draw live. A concept-map meta-analysis found that creating maps helps more than studying finished ones, so redrawing your notes as a map during review is a good use of the technique.

Is it better to handwrite or type notes?

A 2024 meta-analysis found a small achievement advantage for handwritten notes, while typing produced more words. Choose the one you will actually review.

Can I combine note taking methods?

Yes. A common combination is sentence or outline notes during class, then a Cornell cue column or a summary chart afterward. Capture in one format, then reorganize. Studycamp's canvas supports mind maps for the review-time redraw.

Sources

• Flanigan, A. E., Kiewra, K. A., Wheeler, J., Colliot, T., and Lu, J. (2024). Typed Versus Handwritten Lecture Notes and College Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review.
• Kiewra, K. A., Colliot, T., and Lu, J. (2018). Note This: How to Improve Student Note Taking. IDEA Paper #73.
• Schroeder, N. L., Nesbit, J. C., Anguiano, C. J., and Adesope, O. O. (2018). Studying and Constructing Concept Maps: A Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review.
• Karpicke, J. D., and Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772-775.
• Seo, J. (2025). Cornell note-taking strategy instruction for Gen Z: enhancing EFL students' reading comprehension. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education.
• Common Note-taking Methods. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Center for Academic Support and Advisement.
• Notetaking Strategies. University of Rochester Libraries.
• The Cornell Note Taking System. Cornell University Learning Strategies Center.
• The Cornell Note Taking System. SUNY Schenectady County Community College.