Which is the Best Note Taking Method for JEE Mains Selection?

Note taking is the first and most important act where knowledge transfer happens from a faculty to the student.

And if we are able to bring some structure to this, the entire process of learning becomes much easier and Fun.

Now there are various note taking methods suggested by many professors from Top Universities across the world.

The List of prominent Note taking methods are

1. Outline Method
2. Notes across Slides
3. Charting Method
4. And the Cornell Method

We decided to experiment these various Note taking methods with the students who are preparing for IIT and Medical exams in Kota. Thereafter, we have come out with our own Version of the best Note taking for Competitive exams, the Modified Cornell Method of Note Taking.

Now Lets See the Being Home Modified Cornell Method in more Detail

The Being Home Modified Cornell Note taking method has 3 sections.

Notes section 

1. This happens in your classroom, where you take the briefings of the lecture taught in class.
2. You capture all the concepts, formula and ideas. This is mostly an elaborate content.

Keywords Sections

1. This happens back home or in your hostel, this is where you read through your notes from the Notes section and try to understand and refine the Notes into further Key Concepts. Capturing Just the Keywords from the Notes section.

Summary Section

1. This also happens back Home or Hostel. The summary section is the most Important part, This section will help you understand the concepts much clearly by asking this simple question. “ How Do I explain this concept (content of this page) to someone else in a few sentences”
2. So try and summarise the concepts in a few simple sentence. Keep it simple, if you are able to describe a complex problem in a simple way it means you have understood the problem.

Moving on to the Table section and How this small table can make your life much easier.

The table has three elements Date, Time Spent (in minutes) and Satisfaction score ( 1 – 10 ) 1 being zero understanding and 10 being thorough understanding.

For Day 1 Note down the date, time spent during lecture and give a satisfaction score based on your understanding of the topic.

Now do the same thing the next day or the same day when you try to populate the Key Ideas Section. Note that this time you may spend same or slightly lesser time than your class and your satisfaction score will be better.

Complete the summary section also in the same manner.

Spaced Repetition & Memory Training

Now that you have spent enough time understanding the concept and also having seen the notes at least 3 times. Try and comeback to this notes after a week, but this time Hide both the Notes section and Keyword section with a book or paper and just by reading the summary section, try to recollect what you had written on the Key ideas section as well as the note section,

If you are able to recollect it, then you have gained good understanding.

Incase if you are unable to recollect, no issues, no reveal the key ideas section and then try to remeber the notes section and so on.

Now give a satisfaction score and time during this exercise.

Have you ever experienced during an exam, that you remember the page and area where you had written the answer but do not able to recollect what it was?  Well, if you use the mind training technique discussed here, you have a better chance of remembering where it was written and what was written too, as you have seen the notes multiple times and also training your mind to retrieve the information.

Now incase you are unable to understand, this is high time you get help from your tutor.

Now do the same thing after a month so as to be sure you have understood the concepts clearly.

Prioritisation Matrix

With a satisfaction score given by you for each topic, you can make a Matrix on The relevance of each topic for your final exam to your level of Satisfaction for that topic.

List down all the topics in this chart and then prioritise your preparation so that you can put your best effort. Clearing the Entrance exam is your first step

Read more about the Biggest Problem faced by Students in Kota