Hi learners,

Have you ever wondered why some of your notes seem to disappear into a void while others stick like superglue? The secret lies in what you're writing and how you're writing it.

Today we'll explore science-based principles of note-taking and a simple strategy for everyday application.

​Research points toward numerous benefits of note-taking. For example, studies indicate that note-taking improves your ability to retain information.

Why? When you actively take notes, it requires effort, which stimulates the creation of new neural pathways and aids in encoding information for better storage in long-term memory. Passive information absorption does not yield the same level of effectiveness.

But how to take notes on days when you are busy anyway? There's a method that takes little preparation and comes with various benefits - the Cornell Note-taking system.

Designed by Walter Pauk at Cornell University, this method encourages note organization, review, and active engagement with the material. The Cornell system involves dividing your page into three sections - the largest one is for your main notes, a smaller one on the side for cues and questions, and a summary section at the bottom. You can use this system for lectures, online courses, and meetings.

What to keep in mind when taking notes using this method?

• Embrace visual aids. Instead of relying solely on written words, incorporating visual elements into your notes is highly beneficial. Research demonstrates that supplementing your notes with sketches significantly impacts learning compared to solely relying on writing. These visual representations can depict concepts, relationships, or terms you wish to enhance your recollection. This phenomenon is referred to as "The Drawing Effect."
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• Quantity outweighs quality. The quantity of notes you take is more crucial than their quality. Evidence suggests that the more notes you take, the more information you will remember later. Therefore, it is advisable to adopt a generous approach to note-taking rather than striving for brevity.

So what makes this method more effective than simply writing down notes, bullet by bullet? There are three key benefits. First, the Cornell system enhances retrieval practice: the cue column is used to write questions or keywords representing the Notes column's main ideas. This practice reinforces the 'testing effect,' which posits that attempting to recall information boosts memory retention. Second, the Cornell system fosters elaborative rehearsal: The summary at the end of the page forces you to revisit and condense the information, ensuring you understand and can articulate the core concepts, which deepens memory traces. Lastly, this method encourages organization. By coherently structuring notes, you can easily identify main ideas and supporting details, helping build a conceptual framework.

By employing the Cornell method, you can align your note-taking with principles of effective learning, such as retrieval practice, elaboration, and organization. For further reading, explore Walter Pauk's "How to Study in College" which dives deeper into the Cornell system.

Happy Note-Taking :)
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Here's a collection of articles I wrote or that I enjoyed reading. All links to my articles are friendlinks, so you can read them without having a Medium subscription.

• 🎒 Albert Einstein Was a Genius, but a Terrible Husband - How his life can change how you look at productivity. (4 min)
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• 💡 How the Metaverse Can Transform Education - by Nick Clegg, President for Global Affairs at Meta
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• 🧠 People Who Have “Too Many Interests” Are More Likely To Be Successful According To Research - By Michael Simmons

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Learning Nuggets

✨ Free Resources on Innovating Education from Harvard

The Global Education Innovation Initiative (GEII) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education is a multi-country research-policy-practice collaborative examining relevant, powerful, and effective education in the 21st century for all students. A research consortium explores three questions:

1. How do educational policymakers and practitioners in various high performing and rapidly improving countries conceptualize and articulate their understanding of the goals and purposes of education for an increasingly interdependent world?
2. How are these ideas expressed and put to practice in exemplary educational programs in these countries?
3. What are the barriers and challenges as well as effective aids and supports to learning and teaching the 21st century competencies, in all contexts, and particularly for marginalized youth?

This resource hub offers free books and summaries that start to answer the above questions.

✨ 9,500+ book recommendations from the most "successful" people in the world

​Goodbooks.io is a free-to-use website that organizes book recommendations by people. You can, for example, explore what (mostly white, cis-male) educators are reading and recommending. Some of my favorite lists include recommendations by Emma Watson, Maria Popova, and Adam Grant.

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"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you."
- B.B. King