The Cornell method is a structured note-taking system, developed at Cornell University, that splits a page into three distinct sections to encourage active processing rather than passive transcription.
The cue column and summary, both completed after the main notes, force you to actively process what you've just learned rather than just writing it down and moving on. The cue column also doubles as a revision tool — cover the main notes and test yourself using just the cues, a form of active recall.
It takes slightly more discipline than free-form note-taking, but pays off significantly when it's time to revise, since the structure makes notes far easier to scan and test yourself on. Our free Cornell notes template sets out the structure ready to use.